Garage floor paint

Anybody got any recommendations or avoids for garage floor paint?

The concrete was laid in October, and I'm just sealing it now - sodium silicate-based sealant from the local BM.

The garage is going to be used for reasonably heavy-duty car maintenance, so likely to get spilled on, and is definitely going to have axle stands etc used on it. I don't want something that's going to peel in days - but I don't need to worry about short curing times so I can get the car back in.

Ideally, a decent range of colours available, too... I don't want just concrete grey, but I do want something fairly light.

I'm leaning towards Ronseal's Diamond Hard -

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- anybody tried it?

Reply to
Adrian
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I successfully used International Paint's garage floor paint on all my factory floors, which got a lot harder wear than the average garage floor will.

Reply to
Nightjar

Not relevant, but I had 20 years of usage out of two coats of oil based undercoat with a litre of enamel added to the gallon of undercoat.

I've been tempted by the plastic garge floor tiles, but can't quite persuade myself that they will withstand impacts when things are dropped.

Reply to
Capitol

Epoxy would be the toughest - but even that will probably get dinged by axle stands.

For less expensive, the Leyland floor paint Screwfix sell is not bad (I have used it on tiled windowsills outside and it seems to be surviving the heat and cold - but I cannot comment on abrasion resistance.

But not a great range of colours...

Reply to
Tim Watts

We used Watco floor paint at my church several decades ago and it did a good job. 19 colours listed:

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Reply to
Tony Bryer

I got very tempted this morning... then I looked at the prices. A grand or more for the 50sqm+? Frankly, bollocks to that.

Reply to
Adrian

Many of these floor sealants prevent paint adhering to them.

Reply to
harryagain

£1K amortised over 20 years is not too bad. It's whether they will withstand 20yrs usage with only minor replacements that I don't know. It cost me >£700 to redo the garage ring mains (240V/120V) and replace the lights and that was a worthwhile exercise.
Reply to
Capitol

True. And as a percentage of what's been spent on turning a muddy patch into a garage, it's not that big.

But I'll let you have that chat with the bank of SWMBO...

B'sides, if I paint it, and the paint starts to lift and peel in a year, then I've got a better business case.

Reply to
Adrian

Hmm. There's more colours than Screwfix list...

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Hmm. I wonder how dark Empire Green is in reality? It's that or Apollo...

Reply to
Adrian

Thanks for that, harry. That confirms to me that everything's going to be just fine.

Reply to
Adrian

Is that so shit-fer-brains?

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Reply to
harryagain

I just noticed the comment on axle stands. IME these punch straight through a paint layer, so it's worth having a plywood pad underneath them. The advantage of a painted floor over a plastic tiled one is that water from a wet car just sits on top of the paint and isn't trapped under tiles. However the black foam 2 ft square jigsaw edged interlocking tiles I find to be very tough and comfortable to stand on when used around a workbench and very forgiving of abuse.

Reply to
Capitol

What does the panel think about polished concrete as a surface? I'm thinking of more than strictly 'car' uses - for instance in a retail unit you might have the sales floor, the office and the delivery bay all on the same surface. Or at home you could have a garage/workshop/utility in the same area.

Theo

Reply to
Theo Markettos

Isn't that what all the big DIY sheds / hypermarkets etc do anyway?

With lots of insulation under the slab it's ok but for round a bench or machine tools with someone working there all day then some rubber matting makes a huge difference to fatigue.

Reply to
The Other Mike

Yes, that makes sense.

Fluid/oil/fuel spillages, too.

Leyland have got back to an enquiry as to suitability, to suggest that the Johnstones two-part epoxy (either solvent- or water-based) would be a better product. Hmm. BIG price difference...

54m2 of HD floor paint needs 5l, £35-worth. 54m2 of solvent epoxy needs 16l, £300-worth. 54m2 of wb epoxy needs 22l, £400+-worth...

Do I feel lucky...?

Reply to
Adrian

It can't be stripped - it soaks into the concrete and chemically bonds with the lime in it.

Hey-ho. It's had a second coat now. Soddit. In for a penny, in for a pound. It's certainly FAR less dusty than it was, and the second coat went on very differently to the first (put down on Weds AM).

TBH, and thinking a few years down the line, I'd rather the floor was bare concrete than manky, peeling paint... and there ain't no way it's ever going to be completely clear again once I start to properly move in...

Reply to
Adrian

Indeed. Especially over the two-pack epoxy option.

For once, no.

Reply to
Adrian

I like it myself and its extensively used by colonials right thruout Africa etc.

Reply to
john james

I used Garacoat two-pack epoxy paint from

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Pretty happy with the result.

Reply to
Zapp_Brannigan

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