My new shop

[RDuke]

As you already know stay away from DIY epoxy kits.

Here's some help from a lot of research I've done through experience and the forum on garagejournal.com

Option 1: Tile. This is how I'm planning on going with my 40x30 shop. A good ceramic or porcelain tile in large sizes with small joints. Use epoxy grout to help fight the oil and grease.

Pros: Looks good, extremely durable against impacts, welding, etc. Easy clean. If a tile is ever damaged you can replace a single tile.
Cons: Can be slick depending on the texture tile you get. Proper mortar bed and instillation is critical to get no air pockets under the tiles.


Option 2: Pro installed 100% epoxy solids epoxy. You have to get the good stuff and you have to get it pro-installed with warranty.

Pros: Looks good, easy clean up, impact resistant.
Cons: Will not hold up to welding and grinding. Heat will cause damage. Once there is damage it's basically done and extremely hard to repair without grinding up and starting over.


Option 3: Plastic flooring (Racedeck, ect).

Pros: Quick install, looks good, easily replace a damaged piece.
Cons: Cleaning is a pain. You'll always have debris under the tiles and dust that has fallen through. It won't hold up well to welding and grinding as it will damage like epoxy.


Option 4: Stain.

Pros: Looks good, it's basically like your normal unfinished concrete but looks a little better.
Cons: Usually has to be done with a fresh slab. Old stains and damage make it a challenge to stain over.


Option 5: Concrete unfinished.

Pros: Cheap, doesn't stress you out when you damage or spill something on it because it's just the shop floor.
Cons: ugly


Good luck with your project and please post finished pictures with whatever you decide.

[clill]

Get a guy with a diamond polisher and polish the bare concrete.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

If you are going to coat it go with a pro with a warranty. They use the good stuff. Kelly Moore and Sherman williams is good stuff. In the long run it will be cost effective.

We did our shop for $4500 and they took 2 days, it was dry in 4 days. 78 degree high humidity helped that.

[mitch_04]

Garage Forums has a flooring section with a huge amount of information. Race Deck seems to be the best for a used-hard shop, but is very expensive. Epoxy seems to matter most on the condition of the concrete, tons of prep and a quality product go a long way.

[jy211]

Originally Posted by mitch_04

Garage Forums has a flooring section with a huge amount of information. Race Deck seems to be the best for a used-hard shop, but is very expensive. Epoxy seems to matter most on the condition of the concrete, tons of prep and a quality product go a long way.

You will have more people over there to just tell you to use the search function to look for what you want...I'll save you the post!

[Che70velle]

I have a good friend that is a dealer for the race deck stuff. He did his garage with it, and it looks great, but you can forget about rolling an engine hoist over it. The wheels sink in, and your stuck. The stuff is too soft.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Originally Posted by Che70velle

I have a good friend that is a dealer for the race deck stuff. He did his garage with it, and it looks great, but you can forget about rolling an engine hoist over it. The wheels sink in, and your stuck. The stuff is too soft.

Plus it's a pain to keep clean. Oil, fluids and dirt gets trapped in it.

[rwhite692]

I have Armstrong "Imperial Texture" VCT tile (The name is odd since it has no texture) in my 24x36 shop. It's been down for about 4 years now, I'm quite happy with it. Occasionally gets a weld burn on it but since the color runs through the whole 1/8" thickness, you can take a razor blade to it and scrape it off. It's pretty damn durable, more than I had expected (note how well it holds up to pallet jacks, etc next time you are at your local supermarket.) And it was very cheap, and easy to repair if I ever decide I want to replace any tiles. The pics shown are right after I put it down, I have not done anything to maintain it since, other than to mop once in a while, and it still looks pretty decent, after four years of complete neglect. I think I will move stuff around one of these days and give it a buff and polish, seeing these pics again reminds me of how nice VCT can look, when it's treated well, LOL.

I just couldn't see spending $3k on a high end 100% solids epoxy process like Wolverine, which is about the only type of epoxy system I'd go with, if I were to do epoxy. I think that the concrete polishing/staining/sealing process is another nice option. -Rob

[DRJDVM's '69]

Another factor to consider is once its coated, how anal are you going to be about it looking perfect for the rest of its life?

I did a Home Depot DIY kit and it looked awesome for a year or so....it has some peeling and stains that wont come off now, but overall I'm still happy. I did it in white and it made a HUGE improvement in the overall brightness of the shop.....

Its doesn't look perfect anymore but its way better than a standard concrete slab

If you are going to be anal about it staying perfect forever...good luck....none of them will

Think of it like a car paint job.... get something decent and don't worry when it get rock chips and scratches in it when you beat the snot out of the car....or spend a fortune and worry about every last bug that hits the paint and lose sleep over a couple of rock chips.... your choice....