I am enclosing my 1200 square foot pole barn and plan to use the space for my wood shop. I covered the concrete floor with a vapor barrier and
3/4 T&G plywood, intending to paint the floor.I partitioned off about 300 square feet for storage. Needing the space rather badly, I painted that room, including the floor, and installed lighting as soon as I could. I've painted the walls and ceiling in the rest of the building, but I decided to put off painting the floor until all of the electrical work was done (I'm installing a new service, and all of the interior wiring is surface mounted in conduit). That work is almost complete.
It has now been about three months since I painted the storage room. I used top of the line Sherwin Williams latex products, including a flat floor paint. I applied the floor paint as directed, in two coats, using a roller. I'm disappointed with the floor, and now that the time to paint the rest of the floor is near, I'm wondering what to do.
The floor in the storage room looks okay, but it is still tacky. The "grab" is very noticeable on items left on the floor for more than a few minutes, particularly plastic feet (like those on my step ladder). Things with plastic or rubber feet or wheels left in place for a substantial amount of time (a week or more) do tend to leave a mark. It does not look like the paint is lifting. I know that latex paints can take a long time to fully cure, but three months seems rather long.
Suffice it to say, I am not very enthusiastic about putting my wood working machinery on a tacky floor.
My primary objective in painting the floor is to make it easier to keep clean. The bare plywood near the entrance is already starting to look dirty, and its not going to be easy to clean it, short of sanding.
A friend suggested an epoxy paint, like that sold for concrete garage and basement floors. But that stuff is really expensive, as are the two-part urethane products used on high traffic wood floors (like gymnasiums). If I wanted to spend that much money, I'd go for a hardwood floor or maybe one of the interlocking plastic tile systems. But I don't.
Quite some time ago I refinished a red oak strip floor with a water based polyurethane. I don't remember having any issues with that finish drying - I'm pretty sure I'd remember if it took more than a few days to dry tack-free. So I am considering putting down the S-W floor paint, and covering it with a coat or two of water based polyurethane. Does that seem like a reasonable plan? If not, what are the alternatives?
I have not yet consulted the folks at the S-W store, but I will before making a final decision.