On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:40:31 -0400, the infamous "Bill" scrawled the following:
>> Bill | 2009-08-14 | 5:37:28 AM wrote:
>>
>>>My garage floor is badly stained too--from trans fluids, paint
>>>stains, and who knows what...
>>>I've heard there are some good options
>>>painting the floor (epoxy-related)--I haven't learned yet how much
>>>prep they require.
>>
>
>
>"SteveBell" wrote
>
>> Yes, some of the floor products are good, but the good ones are very
>> expensive, and the ones you buy at the big-box stores aren't the good
>> ones. All of them need a good, clean surface to bond to, so you'll
>> spend tons of time cleaning the concrete beforehand. You might even
>> have to rent a concrete grinder. Before you make up your mind what to
>> do, look at options like rubber tiles and roll coverings.
>>
>> --
>> Steve Bell
>> New Life Home Improvement
>> Arlington, TX USA
>
>I called a fellow (Indiana): $2000 to prep and surface my two car garage >with
>something claimed to be 4 times as strong as epoxy.
He saw YOU coming, eh?
He said the prep
>(concrete grinder)
>is the expensive part when I said that I don't need to have it look like an >auto
>showroom--that I mainly was interested that it be cleaned.
>
>Since then, I learned that I can locally rent a big gas or electric concrete
>grinder for $95/day (I
>will call to find out if I should expect other expenses such as grinding >disks). >
>A gallon of epoxy covering from Lowes is about $60 and is supposed to cover >250 square
>feet. My garage is 450 square feet, so I'll need two gallons. If this sort
>of product is only
>"good", then what other coverings might you recommend ? Epoxy "Paint" seems
>more desirable to me than rubber tiles or roll coverings.
>
>Any thoughts welcome of course.
I recommend forgetting the acid cleaning, grinding, and epoxy paints. They're overkill. Just clean and paint.
I scraped mine down and found the concrete had already been sealed. I then mopped (paint thinner or denatured alcohol, I don't recall), let it dry, and rolled on porch paint. I've had to touch up some scuffs, where I dragged metal feet around, but it has otherwise worn really well for about 7 years now.
Anything's going to get scuffed, so just use a good grade floor/porch paint and get on with it. I spent lots of time scraping off the glued-down carpet padding, but the paint only cost me $30 or so. Mine's a 2-car shop with attached home.