We had a professional do an epoxy-flake with transparent topcoat in our 2-car garage. One guy did the whole thing in one day. He etched with a rotary grinder. After dust-removal, he did a fast-curing epoxy (components mixed in the back of a truck)--then he *saturated* this coating with vinyl flakes. After a few hours of curing, he scraped off the excess flakes. Last step was a clear top-coat over the epoxy/flakes. It turned out really nice. I replicated the process with the RockSolid polycuramine system from a BigBox store. But I used twice as much material as suggested and ordered extra vinyl flakes in bulk to saturate the wet polycuramine. After curing 1 day, I scraped off the extra flakes with an old drywall knife on a stick, then covered with a a clear polycuramine topcoat (with anti-slip material added). These products aren't cheap, but they work great if used correctly--same result as the professional. If you use the BigBox products as suggested on the box, with sparse numbers of flakes, those floors can get extremely slippery when wet.
I used the original epoxy shield kit many years ago and it held up great on a 14-year-old garage floor. I skipped the included acid crystals and used muriatic acid from HD. The crystals just didn't seem strong enough based on what others said at the time. This was back in 02 and we sold the house almost 8 years ago and the floor still looked just as it did when we originally installed it. No hot tire pick up and no chipping. The inconsistency that you see is a lack of product in that area.
Excellent informative video. Most coating failures are due to lack of proper preparation. On older unpainted garage floors it is important to thoroughly clean them, removing dirt, grease, oil, break fluid, etc, use muriatic acid to etch the floor which allows the floor coating to penetrate into the concrete for a proper bond, make sure the floor is completely dry before application and finally allow the product to properly cure before parking on or using the space. Previously painted floors should be prepped professionally via grinding or shot blasting to allow proper adhesion of the new coating. Unfortunately most home owners and so called handymen skip this vital process thus resulting in chipping and peeling, wasting time and money. Do it right the first time.
Got my floors done professionally 423 sqft for about 2400$ with polyaspartic. I started to look into how to DIY it and came down to a few conclusions. One was that the equipment rentals, materials, and prep would get me close to the professional cost but there would be savings. Two, the lack of experience with polyaspartic can definitely end up with poor results. Shot blasting floors is better then grinding them so a shot blaster would have cost me nearly $1000 to rent out for the project. Paying a professional was worth their experience and the difference in cost was maybe $500-$700 more then a possible bad DIY.
I have a 3 car which is about 550 sq ft. I had 2 quotes polyaspartic. One was nearly 5k and the other over. Crazy. Needless to say my floor is still raw concrete.
Did a DIY Rust-oleum floor and it lasted about 3 years before it started flaking up under normal use. Then a got a pro company "Guardian Floor" to replace it. More expensive but worth it. I guess it depends on how much you want to spend. Great video.
I used the Rust-Oleum on my floor back in 2015 and it is still there today. Rough winters with brine & salt and sand. I am just now getting a few places coming up.
Yes, we rented a floor scuffer and then recoated with the solvent based epoxy and did a top coat. So much better than our original coating (just the water based epoxy)@@ben_is_tall
I am in the 1 - 3 years currently and my floor is perfect. But I also sanded my floor with a floor polisher and a diamond sanding disk. Also I used the Rock Solid on my floor.
Thanks for taking the time to produce this video on a very practical topic. You are a wonderful educator. Great presentation style without attitude & distracting music. Bravo!
Great video! The best way to test hot tire pickup is to let the hot tire sit on the epoxy long enough for the tire to cool before moving it. I understand it rained. Nice work on the installation.
Great video! Many of us have epoxy coated garage floors that have long since deteriorated. I think a great video would be dealing with a previously coated floor that needs to be re-done.
@@MrCabimero These are interesting... I like the look. I'm considering this for my garage gym, but they don't appear to be waterproof. Am I wrong or do they have openings to the floor below? How do they feel? Do they squish down at all with a heavy object on top?
@@jarich0327 they have slits in them so any moisture will drain through. They are some type of plastic. I would not be dropping weights on them as I'm sure they would crack with time. Supporting a car weight is one thing but dropping weights from your arms onto them is another. if you contact them they will send you a sample so you can put it in your hand and see what it feels like. I can't say enough good things about them and as I mentioned I have no personal or financial connection with them. I'm just a happy customer
I got the best result when i ground the old floor, applied a layer of self level and then epoxy coating. Epoxy can be applied to the self level within a few days
Great comparison. I’v used the epoxy shield on several homes before the rock solid came on the market. Unfortunately after a couple years, I noticed tire marks, stains, and some flaking. I used the rock solid on my brother’s home a few years ago with much better results!
Great video Scott. I like your meticulous effort in the details of prepping which is the key to any projects. Your survey about the durability was another plus to the video. Keep up the great work!
Scott, Our floor was done impromperly by a "professional" a number of years ago, so we have old chipping and peeling. Don't think they etched. Some have suggested we need to belt sand all that off first. Also some have suggested using a sherwin williams william concrete sealer and just paint. Any thoughts? P S, i renovated my moms 100 year old farmhouse myself using your videos. And a rental. When contractors come over and talk to my husband, I'm like eyes over here buddy! Thanks.
Likely the effect of the grinding and etching on the epoxy based repair material vs. concrete. The epoxy likely doesn't need cleaning and etching, either
My floor looks amazing after a year. Prep is key, don’t skimp, I bought 10 lbs of flake & applied heavily. The flake included a metallic color. After it dried, we scraped flakes that were popped up, with a floor scraping blade. Then a heavy seal coat.
I used the Rock Solid on my double garage. Coverage was half what it stated on the box kit. Prepped as instructed and had bubbles form while it cured. Had to spray acetone over the bubbles to pop them. Still see rings from the popped bubbles but I can live with it, at least I don't have bubbles all over the floor. Overall pretty happy with Rock Solid. Used the other kind for another section and it's flaking in spots. The RS is resistant to solvents but not the flakes/chips in the finish.
Awesome upload. For DIY project ur results look fantastic using both products. Would be satisfied with the results! Hopefully it lasts more than 5 years! Learned a lot from ur vid pros n cons. Kudos for saving me some time n frustrations when I decide to resurface my garage. Anticipating ur next one. Peace
Very useful video! I watched it twice already and will do at least a couple of more times when I do the actual job! I had been putting this off for so long but after watching your video I am re-energized! 😊
Pretty good demonstration. I think the rock hard epoxy is much prettier and easier to apply. Congratulations on getting the Truck. It looks very beautiful. Thank you for sharing
Great content. I like that odors or fumes didn't seem to be an issue. I have a 2 1/2 ft below the foundation pit in front of a large stone fireplace that needs this makeover thanks!
Forgive me if I missed it, but what product would you recommend for a moisure type sealant that would be applied underneath the epoxy? Kilz? Thanks for sharing this video. It's very helpful and educational. 👍🏻👍🏻Great charts!
I've had my Epoxy Shield in one garage for 4 years and another for 2 years, and I love it. Proper prep is critical (grinding, patching, etching, dryout, etc) and I was 100% set on using clear coat finish (I think it's a must). The only failure point I've had is some cracking above what I know to be the house's main drain line that runs through the garage to the driveway. The previous sellers had the drain line fully replaced, so it's only 3-4 years old. I'm stumped as to why it failed there. Hopefully not from any new moisture.
For the prep, id just grind off the top layer and open the floor up. Way faster. At that point you can put down a vapor barrier, then prime on top of that, then use your finish product.
I live in Florida. Slab moisture is a big deal and will make virtually all epoxy peel eventually. Moisture barriers MIGHT help. I ended up putting in Swisstrax tiles. they are slotted and allow moisture to evaporate thru. Only floor prep was to sweep it out. My wife and I did the installation on a Saturday. Looks great, wears like iron and never peels. I have no financial interest in Swisstrax. Great product. Great customer service. In my opinion looks better than the epoxy; you can make your own design .
Divian makes a great truck. I have always been a Tesla fan and put the reservation 4.5 years ago thinking they would be the first to autonomy. Hopefully will get FSD on the Cybertruck in June or July 🤞
@@EverydayHomeRepairs well it looks like the rental and RU-vid business are treating you well if you’re out there buying big battery electric toys. I think you need to add a battery electric 301.9 mini excavator to the mix.
There is a guy on youtube who does this professionally and also sells the products he uses. The channel name is Concrete Floor Solutions. He has some great videos on this. He says one of the biggest reasons for failure is the acid etch.
Thanks for the feedback, I am actually working with Jeff and Jason that own Concrete Floor Solutions for the "Pro" floor I will be putting down next. They do great work and have awesome products 👍👍
Roughly 10years ago I did a 2-part epoxy coating on our garage floor and it looked great for about two months. Unfortunately, it began to blister. Our house is about 40yrs old and the garage floor does not have a vapor barrier, resulting in a lot of moisture. We recently had a pro come out for an estimate and he said that any epoxy flooring would fail in our garage. I will probably install a floating tile system.
Getting ready to do the Rock Solid tomorrow. I was curious about the flakes and if you can feel them when you run your hand over the floor? I’m debating on if I need to do a gloss coat to seal the flakes in or if it’s even needed? Thanks for the video!
Sorry for the delay, if you do a light flake you will not feel the flakes. I think a clear coat is a good idea but mix in the anti-skid additive to avoid being slick when wet.
I'm want to use the Rock Solid on an enclosed patio floor. This floor has been protected from the weather for 30 years. My problem is there are 2 expansion joints. There is about 1/2 in. elevation difference. What I do with the elevation difference?
That is a bit tough, even if you grind one side and fill the expansion joint to smooth everything out it will move and crack within the first year. What about epoxying the slabs and leaving the expansion joints. Tremco Vulkem 45 SSL could be used to seal the cracks and they have a lot of different colors to help you match.
I am on vacation so this is going to take all week so the floor can dry. The good news is that I am in California so it is still 90+ degrees outside and no humidity.
Where's the video for what you did on your house? We are turning our screened patio into a 3 seaaon and want to epoxy the floors first. It will be open to wind, etc while we prep and apply since its only screened.
I am going to rent a dual head diamond grinder coming up for another floor. I think prepping without the water and doing a complete grind is a much, much better way to prep. We shall see 🤞
@@EverydayHomeRepairs you did mention that I know, but just so other people know. Prep is absolutely key like mentioned in the video. Personally I did a grind job on mine and used the rustoleum kit and it still peeled after a year. I had to grind it all off again and the next go around I used Rust bullet epoxy. $190 a gallon but I can drag anvils across my floor with no issue. Great content 👍
an idea? I have bought the epoxy sheild- but I bought the dual garage kit but only need 1 bag- I'm thinking of doing two coats of the epoxy shield - probably "cant" hurt?
How do you recommend cleaning and etching a floor in a Barndo with no floor drain. I’m not sure how to get the water out with a door threshold and no drain.
Honestly the prep from the DIY kits is my least favorite part of the process. You might want to consider a full grind. It is a lot of work but the results usually will be superior. This video I do the full grind on this floor. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KheIlf387aw.html
I have an epoxy shield floor put on my garage 20 years ago. It needs to be redone. Can I just repaint over it? Or is there some type of prep that I need to do?
Would it be possible to do this with a $400-$500 budget? Also is it worth it? Half garage is a home gym then the rest is space for a car(not used often) and workspace
I tried to stick to the standard installation but totally agree a primer would be a better approach. I will be doing another option for Epoxy Flooring where I grind the concrete down and also use a primer in addition to superior product for Epoxy, Flake, and Top Coat.
Anytime I hear that a coating, any coating, is already peeing off within a year, it's always due to prep. Either it wasn't cleaned enough, dulled enough, or it wasn't tested for moisture. As long as the coated surface is clean, dry and sound, you should not have peeling at all.
Seems like a ton of work for marginal benefit. If I wanted to make a garage floor look nice I’d just put down the rubber mat flooring- easy to replace pieces if needed.
Depends on your use case. If all you do is use it as a storage room for your cars and or stuff it'll work. For those that work on vehicles or use their garage as a shop, those tiles become an absolute nightmare. This makes it way easier to clean up spills and leaks without the nasty oil stains left behind
@@Cr480mxEvery mechanic I’ve ever been to has an unfinished concrete floor in the shop. I would think if you’re expecting to regularly get oil and grease on the floor no flooring is going to look good in the long run, no matter how expensive.
I really need to do this to my 36' x 25' garage but it's going to be a chore. I'm wondering if doing it in warmer ambient weather or in the cooler fall, like 70°.
There are instructions in the kits that specify the dwell time based on the temperature but the 70 degree weather would be a better time to do it. Epoxy will cure below 40 eventually, but you don't want to apply it if the temperatures of the surface being coated, the air and the product aren't between 60 to 85. I'm in Florida. I can't do this until November, maybe October at best. Other areas can do them year around.
The wife and I did our garage years ago, but it needs to be redone. Going to hire it done this time. Getting too old. Thumbs up on the truck. I have my name on one.
I am the owner of a professional epoxy business. A professional epoxy floor shares no similarities to these crappy Home Depot rustoleum kits. Most of my business comes from homeowners who “tried to do it themselves”… then I have to charge more to grind it all up and apply a proper 100% solids system.
At least muriatic acid wash. He literally had the grinder in his hands that would have added years to the life of this floor. Sometimes spending a little more can make a huge difference. If I did this floor real products and a grind I’d expect at least a Seven year life.
I will be doing a full grind in the coming weeks on this floor which some higher quality and much thicker product to show the other end of the spectrum of options if you are willing to pay more for equipment and product.
You make good videos Scott but gotta say that I lost a bit of respect for you seeing that you are driving a Cybertruck. What is your last name Kardashian? Obviously RU-vid has been good to you! : )