Having used an epoxy coating in two different garages I can't emphasize how important it is to properly prep your floor. The degreasing/acid wash method is not adequate. Grinding down the concrete is an absolute must. Failure to do so will ensure poor adhesion of any product. Scott does a wonderful job of explaining the process. Don't shortcut any steps. Good materials cannot overcome poor prep.
I was not expecting flashbacks to the summer I spent running a grinder in commercial moisture mitigation. Some tips: 1) Rent the stand up grinder. Running a hand grinder on your knees will humble you real quick, and hitting those edges is going to suck. 2) The vacuum is only gonna get like 80% of the concrete dust. Make sure you have the correct respirator and ppe. Once that silica is in your lungs it don't come out. Throw plastic sheets over anything left in the garage. 3) We had much longer mixers (3-4ftft), which are much easier on your back when mixing 4) Get a roll of heavy construction paper and tape it down either outside the garage or in the hallway as a safe area to mix, change shoes, etc 5) We used large, cheap paint rollers for our epoxy - toss the rollers as soon as you're done and pop another one on if you needed it
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Apologies if that sounded critical. Your video was great, I actually learned a lot myself - just sharing some knowledge for the guys who are about to take the plunge (who aren't as young as they once were)
Yeah buddy I have done it myself with a kit & that is ridiculous from the sound of it. I have a 2 car garage, I used a 2.5 car garage kit, cheaper kits though & as he stated at the beginning, which I think most people that purchase these kits do, i did not do an extended prep & follow all the steps to the T as far as prior to application but I did take my time & take it very seriously but after you do it once, you will have it down. My application lasted about two years before having it spot/crack/etc. here & there but it still looks much pretty good & honestly I have really given given it a pretty good beating with things (heat/walking+trailer wear, dragging, etc. I think if you truly do your prep well, you can make any decent kit last a long while but again as far as paying 4k, lol. I would never recommend hiring anyone to do this job, unless you just really don’t want anything to do with this or truly don’t mind paying the significant extra finance that it will take, in order to be it done properly hopefully be done right 100% with great quality products/crew. I spent around $350 give or take for a decent/nice looking garage, I loved my transformation but I am thinking about re-coating/re-doing this entire process but if I know I am going to be at that home for 5 plus years, I would recommended researching & buying the products (mixtures speaking + make sure you know what color you are getting & what it should look like before purchasing!) from a company. The tools/equipment - I would just get here & there (good/proper quality) from Lowe’s/Home-Depot/Online/what have you. Side note : Flakes - if you decide to add these, I would recommend tossing these up little bits at a time in palm & tossing straight up but not directing it into a certain area necessarily & working your way outer driver way (from road to house). Follow directions on this, as instructed on included booklet (instructions) with any kit you buy but always do little, rather than too much because you can go back over & add more. Lastly, add on a clear gloss - protective coating to add a layer to your application to better protect it & make it pop ! This is for anyone thinking of or researching about doing this application to their home themselves or otherwise.
my Rustoleum lasted 10yrs, ended up thinning out, hot tires damaged it too diamond grinding off the old coating, and layering on the new epoxy+clear 5+ yrs ago; bombproof - and like others have commented; it the prep / grinding. also note; there's 2 different Rustoleum products being sold Rock Solid is the better option.
That floor looks amazing and you clearly put a ton of work into getting it like that. I used the DIY kit from the box stores back in 2017 in my last house and it failed within a year. It started peeling up under where the cars parked at first (I noticed it was where the water would drip off of the cars and sit on the ground) but then continued to spread. By the 3 year mark before I moved, the floor looked absolutely horrible. It was always peeling and chipping and those peices of the coating would always be all over the garage floor and would always find their way into the house. I tried many times to peel it all up, but with just a scraper it would never come up and would just chip away in random places over time. If anyone read this far, avoid the DIY kit at all costs unless it's going to be used on a low foot traffic area that will have no sitting water on it.
Another thing is you can use the angle grinder and grind the side concretewalls right below the drywall, and then use a paint roller and put on more epoxy + flakes, gives you a really nice clean look on the edges too! Plus its more waterproof kinda like caulking your corners in the shower!
I’m about to grind my old concrete floor and am going to acid stain instead of using epoxy. I think my problem with epoxy is that I’d constantly be subconsciously worried about it - even if I did the perfect prep job and used superior products. I’d constantly be waiting for that morning that I walk out into the garage to find paint coming up somewhere. With acid stain, it actually soaks into the surface, reacts with the minerals, and becomes part of the concrete. Couple that with a nice clear coat and you’ve got a maintenance free, durable floor.
Nice video. I did this when we bought our home seven years ago with a 3-car garage during a week when it poured rain the whole time in Seattle. The Oneida Dust Deputy was a good addition for the shop vac to help with concrete dust (yes, there's lots of it). Used a different product with only a single step epoxy but quite similar otherwise. It's held up great except for cracking using a floor jack to lift cars (added a plastic sheet to distribute weight under jack which solved that problem). I was surprised at how far what seemed like a small amount of epoxy spread on the floor. I do it myself again.
Thanks for the feedback. It is a nice project where if you follow the steps and take your time the results are awesome. Also, not bad saving $2,000 - $3,000 as compared to getting it hired out.
Yes. I watched a few videos from another channel. It was a professional doing the garage floor treatment. He said grinding is the only way to have a good long lasting epoxy coating. Your floor coating looks really good.
One recommendation that I always make, and I consider cheap insurance, is to always put down an application of a moisture vapor barrier as your first coat. Water vapor is constantly trying to move through concrete slabs, and if there is enough of it, it will cause the bond of your epoxy to your concrete to fail. The other option is to do a moisture test- but this can get complicated for the average person. Also, did you scrape your flake before you put your top coat on?
Thank you for the video. My garage floor has been done twice now over 17 years, with two times it was professionally installed and they grinded cement. The killer of this stuff is new tires and water, so new tires and pulling in after raining. In the morning, you will pull out, and the section of epoxy will suction cup to the tire. Leaving a bare cement spot. The spot will look ugly, it sticks out. You can try patch painting it, but it will never match exactly until you redo the entire floor. It's been eight years now since the last painting, and I'm considering doing it again, but I am optimistic this time about full flake. The last two times was regular partial flake. I'm thinking that more texture will prevent the suction cup effect. Also, another problem with epoxy floor is winter time, it can be really slippery. My garage is heating, so after driving in snow, park all night in morning there's usually a pool of water held back by the door. I open the door and have to squeegee it out to the driveway. That area, about two feet back from door rest area, cam get super slippery like a skating rink. It's worse when unexpected, obviously . It's usually unexpected when it's just a slight amount of water. I'm also hoping full flake will prevent that situation of unexpected slipperiness as well. Tip, you want to read this: get a plastic sheet and tape it to seal the door entry to your house. The first painting I had done I didnt do that and the smell through out the home was unbearable, couldn't sleep there for two nights. The second time i sealed the door and no issue at all. I hope my experience helps someone. Take care
Coworker just got a 600sqft 3 car garage quoted at 2850 8/2024 same day install same materials. Mine was 2350 in 2021, 410sqft. So 1800$ + 357/day grinder. It's not worth the headache in the PHX market. Hiring is the way to go here.
Great Video mate. I have watched both the DIY version and this one, and just want to make sure - you mention not to wet the floor for the professional product. Is grinding the floor enough to get rid off the oil drip spot on the floor?
If you have oil I would get the specific primer they make for the oil problem spots to give you the best shot of it lasting. concretefloorsolutions.com/store/epoxy/cfs-oil-stop-primer/ and don't forget the promo code "ehr10" at checkout for a 10% discount 👍
Love the video tutorial. I have one question, with new construction garage floor, they have 2 control joints running vertical and horizontal running across the center of the floor, should those be filled before apply any of the epoxy items ?
You can confirm with Jason from Concrete Floor Solutions (he is a wealth of knowledge) but from my understanding they usually cut the joints again to open up new concrete and then fill with a fast set epoxy.
It ideally wouldn’t need to be said, but if you’re using a gas powered grinder, make sure you leave the garage door open and set up ventilation to blow the byproducts of combustion out. If you have living space above the garage, ventilate that too.
the reason rustoleum epoxy doesnt work for people , is a couple reasons , 1) the surface isnt clean or dry enough , its gotta be bone dry zero moisture let that garage dry out for three days after your acid wash . 2) the kits dont have enought epoxy primer or compound to lay thick enough before it cures . buy 2 for one . and mix both parts from each kit ie primers and compounds together separately so you dont run into color differences when it dries . 3) order extra flake and sealer . work fast but take your time and it holds up
Did a friend’s garage with the Rust-Oleum epoxy and their clear coat over a year ago. The space is being used as a shop with lots of wear and tear. Despite having some deep patches, the floor has performed beautifully. The only caveat is the minor inconsistency in the epoxy coat due to absorption, which could have been remedied with a concrete primer. Granted it was done dry, without acid etching, instead using a cup grinder. So, I can’t report that it has been problem free for twenty years, but it has all of the indications of good adhesion with a solid product. All that said, if you clear coat, don’t forget the grit unless you want to know what your favorite looney tunes felt like.
I *always* knew there were superior, industrial grade epoxy floor products available out there because I've seen really durable epoxy floors in commercial buildings that are definitely more durable and resilient than the Rustoleum product. If I ever do my basement I will be sure to use this far superior product. Here's a question: Are the flakes just for aesthetics, or do they actually add structure to the epoxy coating?
How does the total cost of this project with pro-grade materials compare to the cost to hire the whole project out to the pros? I saw a video recently of a project hired out to pros in Alabama for a 3-car garage, polyaspartic, full flake, clear coat, that only cost $3600. I was shocked how low the price was!
Best vid I've watched so far on this subject. Thanks. So, can I just order an epoxy vapor barrier primer, then throw flakes onto that. Let that dry overnight, then one top coat of Polyaspartic with the anti-skid powder thrown onto the ground first. And thats it? Will that be strong enough to allow my two cars to pull in/out evry day.
Scott, if I need to go budget friendly, can I still use the RockSolid Kit but more flakes with the top coat? I also watched your DIY video. I wish to make it good quality but also realize that at somepoint I will move. Wonder If this could last for 5 years?
Thanks for taking the time to post this, it's very informative. While the product you used is far superior to the cheap kits, some of us just don't have $2k to spend on a garage floor. Do you think using the same prep method (grinding) but just using the cheap kit would at least give a decent result? Thanks!
HI Scott, Excellent video. How did you clean up the rollers between products? Or did you throw them away & use fresh roller for each product? Thanks again, dean
If you are doing a "Full Flake" there is often a scrape and collection of extra flakes. In my case I did a heavy flake and didn't do any collection of extra flakes and everything turned out great. You want to avoid clumps of flakes that would not be covered by the clear coat as that will change the final sheen and look of the surface.
Just to clarify, if you’re going to grind you should not degrease first? I think I saw another video where they degreased and then grind so just making sure lol.
What if you use the DYI kit, but go with the grinding method for prep… have you heard of success with that? I’m in DFW and I’m getting professional quotes for about $2k. Seeing that going DYI, the good material is almost $2k, it makes me wonder what they are using
Looks great!! That's A LOT of work for the avg DIYer. Not sure I would tackle that one. Given the cost of almost $2000 for materials, what would be and avg. cost of having a professional do it?
Awesome job!! Great info! Did you scrape or pickup any of the loose flakes before the clear coat? Is there any difference in the grinding profile between the hand grinder and the rental?
I left all the loose flakes in place. If I would have spread a bit more flakes I would have done a scrape and collection of the loose flakes prior to clear.
How many devices would you recommend renting rather than buying? You're putting a lot of confidence into someone who is newer into DYI @@EverydayHomeRepairs
If you don’t: * Diamond grind the floor?, * Test the hydration level seeping through? * Seal-Coat prime PRIOR to installing the epoxy, then flake, then Aspartic clear. Might as well not even bothering doing it.
Coatings will only last a long time, if it’s a fresh concrete pad. The curing of the cement will absorb the coating to hold. And it will cure for months
22:46 The problem is, Scott, you grinded away the more budget friendly products before we could even see how well it held up. I respect that some people had it not last that long, but others did have it last. You usually are very good at doing things thoroughly and I would have liked to have seen how it fared for you over time. It would have been more beneficial to me at least.
Thanks for the feedback, unfortunately this house will be sold soon so I wouldn't be able to give the update in a couple years. Thanks for the feedback and I will keep that time of testing in mind for future garage floors 👍
Did you get any quotes for professional? It seems like your rental costs and materials and nearly what the average cost to have it professionally done are. Not being critical just curious
The idea of grinding the floor with a grinder is crazy! To prepare the floor for epoxy you need to use floor sending machine with sandpaper both can be rented/purchased from home depo.
I think the results would be somewhere in the middle. The DIY kits usually don't come standard with a primer so if you get their primer as well and also used the clear coat you would have a much, much better shot of it lasting as compared to degreasing, etching, and apply the Epoxy/Flake which is the standard kit/process.
This definitely does not seem DIY. And as others said on the last video- the tools and chemicals are so expensive you’re barely saving money over using a pro- who will almost certainly do a much better job. I still vote for buying rubber mats if you want to make the garage floor prettier. 🙂
Did you look into any other companies for supplying the product? Curious if there was a specific reason you used concrete floor solutuons over someone else.
I had seen their videos and reached out as I liked the idea they were professional installers actually doing floors and also offering the same products they use for purchase. I worked with them on repairing a crack last year with their rapid set epoxy with great results. That is why I was confident in selecting their Epoxy floor Kit. 👍
At the end of the video he stressed that the prep was the biggest difference between the products. Does that mean that the rustoleum is a good product if same prep was done?
You really want 100% “solids”. The big-box store products are usually 50% or less (allows for longer drying and set-up time). If you go with the more solids mixture? Don’t leave it in the bucket you need to mix it in the bucket & then almost immediately start ribboning it out on the floor because it is vulcanizing in nature to set-up & the more concentrated it is (as in a bucket) the quicker it will set-up because it’s captured in such a small area…..Whereas ribboning it out onto the floor buys some more set-up time.
@@CasmigeThe main reason this happens is that the curing process is an exothermic chemical reaction (polymerization) that produces heat , and heat speeds up that same reaction. Thus you need to spread it out horizontally to avoid trapping and concentrating all that heat, which can basically cause a chain reaction of premature rapid curing. Same goes for bondo, quickset drywall mud, plaster of paris, RapidSet cements and mortars and so on..
I agree for these type of projects where you are putting in some time it is nice to use the professional-grade products and have it last for a long time avoiding the same project coming up in 3-5 years.
Save yourself a lot of aggravation down the road. Just put down Swisstrax or Racedeck plastic tiles. No concrete prep necessary and they just snap together. Probably half the price of epoxy. No I don't work for them.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs You have some choices. You can pick solid tiles. Otherwise, you can vacuum up debris or use a leaf blower. If you're OCD you can unlatch the tiles, pull them out of the garage in long sections and clean underneath. Then slide them back. You can unlatch sections and spot clean underneath too. Look on CZcams on how it's done. At most probably once a year if that.
Why does it look like you are removing the two epoxy coatings that you just installed on your "rental" garage floor??? Are they so bad that you are replacing them after only a couple of months? you said, in that video, that you were doing the less expensive DIY coatings in your rental garage and you would use the professional-grade in your personal garage at home? I am trying to figure out how much truth is in these videos beause of you redoing the DIY floors in your "rental".
Having used an epoxy coating in two different garages I can't emphasize how important it is to properly prep your floor. The degreasing/acid wash method is not adequate. Grinding down the concrete is an absolute must. Failure to do so will ensure poor adhesion of any product. Scott does a wonderful job of explaining the process. Don't shortcut any steps. Good materials cannot overcome poor prep.
Amen, thanks for the feedback!
I have no reason to watch this video, but yet I’m intrigued.
It is a interesting process 🙂
lol same here ! 😂
I was not expecting flashbacks to the summer I spent running a grinder in commercial moisture mitigation. Some tips:
1) Rent the stand up grinder. Running a hand grinder on your knees will humble you real quick, and hitting those edges is going to suck.
2) The vacuum is only gonna get like 80% of the concrete dust. Make sure you have the correct respirator and ppe. Once that silica is in your lungs it don't come out. Throw plastic sheets over anything left in the garage.
3) We had much longer mixers (3-4ftft), which are much easier on your back when mixing
4) Get a roll of heavy construction paper and tape it down either outside the garage or in the hallway as a safe area to mix, change shoes, etc
5) We used large, cheap paint rollers for our epoxy - toss the rollers as soon as you're done and pop another one on if you needed it
All great points, thanks so much for the feedback!
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Apologies if that sounded critical. Your video was great, I actually learned a lot myself - just sharing some knowledge for the guys who are about to take the plunge (who aren't as young as they once were)
Just had a quote for this job from a professional company. $4200. This is well worth the effort for the savings and results! Well done!
Was the $4,200 for a 1 day project? There are some new-ish companies and processes that get in and out in 1 day.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs yes. 1 day and done. That was their deal.
Yeah buddy I have done it myself with a kit & that is ridiculous from the sound of it. I have a 2 car garage, I used a 2.5 car garage kit, cheaper kits though & as he stated at the beginning, which I think most people that purchase these kits do, i did not do an extended prep & follow all the steps to the T as far as prior to application but I did take my time & take it very seriously but after you do it once, you will have it down. My application lasted about two years before having it spot/crack/etc. here & there but it still looks much pretty good & honestly I have really given given it a pretty good beating with things (heat/walking+trailer wear, dragging, etc.
I think if you truly do your prep well, you can make any decent kit last a long while but again as far as paying 4k, lol.
I would never recommend hiring anyone to do this job, unless you just really don’t want anything to do with this or truly don’t mind paying the significant extra finance that it will take, in order to be it done properly hopefully be done right 100% with great quality products/crew.
I spent around $350 give or take for a decent/nice looking garage, I loved my transformation but I am thinking about re-coating/re-doing this entire process but if I know I am going to be at that home for 5 plus years, I would recommended researching & buying the products (mixtures speaking + make sure you know what color you are getting & what it should look like before purchasing!) from a company. The tools/equipment - I would just get here & there (good/proper quality) from Lowe’s/Home-Depot/Online/what have you.
Side note : Flakes - if you decide to add these, I would recommend tossing these up little bits at a time in palm & tossing straight up but not directing it into a certain area necessarily & working your way outer driver way (from road to house). Follow directions on this, as instructed on included booklet (instructions) with any kit you buy but always do little, rather than too much because you can go back over & add more. Lastly, add on a clear gloss - protective coating to add a layer to your application to better protect it & make it pop !
This is for anyone thinking of or researching about doing this application to their home themselves or otherwise.
I'm loving the beetle or whatever it is, it's been with us through the whole process so far :)
😂, just hanging out the whole time
my Rustoleum lasted 10yrs, ended up thinning out, hot tires damaged it too diamond grinding off the old coating, and layering on the new epoxy+clear 5+ yrs ago; bombproof - and like others have commented; it the prep / grinding. also note; there's 2 different Rustoleum products being sold Rock Solid is the better option.
That floor looks amazing and you clearly put a ton of work into getting it like that. I used the DIY kit from the box stores back in 2017 in my last house and it failed within a year. It started peeling up under where the cars parked at first (I noticed it was where the water would drip off of the cars and sit on the ground) but then continued to spread. By the 3 year mark before I moved, the floor looked absolutely horrible. It was always peeling and chipping and those peices of the coating would always be all over the garage floor and would always find their way into the house. I tried many times to peel it all up, but with just a scraper it would never come up and would just chip away in random places over time. If anyone read this far, avoid the DIY kit at all costs unless it's going to be used on a low foot traffic area that will have no sitting water on it.
Great video Scott. After watching your video I'm going to hire it done. I'm old and not up for that much of a DIY challenge. Thanks for sharing.
You bet, at least now you have an idea of the different steps even if you get it hired out. Knowledge is power 👍
Another thing is you can use the angle grinder and grind the side concretewalls right below the drywall, and then use a paint roller and put on more epoxy + flakes, gives you a really nice clean look on the edges too! Plus its more waterproof kinda like caulking your corners in the shower!
I agree and would have done that exact thing if I didn't have the expansion joint all the way around.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs oh wow that was a joint? Just looked like the edge my bad! Interesting spot they put it!
I’m about to grind my old concrete floor and am going to acid stain instead of using epoxy. I think my problem with epoxy is that I’d constantly be subconsciously worried about it - even if I did the perfect prep job and used superior products. I’d constantly be waiting for that morning that I walk out into the garage to find paint coming up somewhere. With acid stain, it actually soaks into the surface, reacts with the minerals, and becomes part of the concrete. Couple that with a nice clear coat and you’ve got a maintenance free, durable floor.
Nice video. I did this when we bought our home seven years ago with a 3-car garage during a week when it poured rain the whole time in Seattle. The Oneida Dust Deputy was a good addition for the shop vac to help with concrete dust (yes, there's lots of it). Used a different product with only a single step epoxy but quite similar otherwise. It's held up great except for cracking using a floor jack to lift cars (added a plastic sheet to distribute weight under jack which solved that problem). I was surprised at how far what seemed like a small amount of epoxy spread on the floor. I do it myself again.
Thanks for the feedback. It is a nice project where if you follow the steps and take your time the results are awesome. Also, not bad saving $2,000 - $3,000 as compared to getting it hired out.
My question does pill off when tires are hot ,does pill off after how many years
The Dusty Deputy caught the concrete dust? I would think that dust would be too light to settle at the bottom of the pail. Thanks for the tip.
Yes. I watched a few videos from another channel. It was a professional doing the garage floor treatment. He said grinding is the only way to have a good long lasting epoxy coating. Your floor coating looks really good.
💯
I think this is amazing. I had the DIY coating on a concrete floor and it did fail at the 6 month mark chipping etc.
Thanks for the feedback!
Wow. It is definitely shows the best out of the three. You get what you pay for. Well done.
Hmm I think I'll leave the concrete uncoated after all. The grungy look gives it character lol
One recommendation that I always make, and I consider cheap insurance, is to always put down an application of a moisture vapor barrier as your first coat.
Water vapor is constantly trying to move through concrete slabs, and if there is enough of it, it will cause the bond of your epoxy to your concrete to fail.
The other option is to do a moisture test- but this can get complicated for the average person.
Also, did you scrape your flake before you put your top coat on?
Thank you for the video.
My garage floor has been done twice now over 17 years, with two times it was professionally installed and they grinded cement. The killer of this stuff is new tires and water, so new tires and pulling in after raining. In the morning, you will pull out, and the section of epoxy will suction cup to the tire. Leaving a bare cement spot. The spot will look ugly, it sticks out. You can try patch painting it, but it will never match exactly until you redo the entire floor. It's been eight years now since the last painting, and I'm considering doing it again, but I am optimistic this time about full flake. The last two times was regular partial flake. I'm thinking that more texture will prevent the suction cup effect.
Also, another problem with epoxy floor is winter time, it can be really slippery. My garage is heating, so after driving in snow, park all night in morning there's usually a pool of water held back by the door. I open the door and have to squeegee it out to the driveway. That area, about two feet back from door rest area, cam get super slippery like a skating rink. It's worse when unexpected, obviously . It's usually unexpected when it's just a slight amount of water. I'm also hoping full flake will prevent that situation of unexpected slipperiness as well.
Tip, you want to read this: get a plastic sheet and tape it to seal the door entry to your house. The first painting I had done I didnt do that and the smell through out the home was unbearable, couldn't sleep there for two nights. The second time i sealed the door and no issue at all.
I hope my experience helps someone. Take care
Coworker just got a 600sqft 3 car garage quoted at 2850 8/2024 same day install same materials.
Mine was 2350 in 2021, 410sqft.
So 1800$ + 357/day grinder.
It's not worth the headache in the PHX market. Hiring is the way to go here.
What would your opinion be of a more budget friendly rock solid kit, with the proper prep work of a grinder?
Nice work. It looks like those spiked shoes really make it a lot easier not to mess up the sequence and flow of things.
Absolutely and those are a must have for this type of installation
I love what Walmart's been doing to their concrete floors. They are just buffing it
You get what you pay for, no brainer this is the better product!
Great Video mate. I have watched both the DIY version and this one, and just want to make sure - you mention not to wet the floor for the professional product. Is grinding the floor enough to get rid off the oil drip spot on the floor?
If you have oil I would get the specific primer they make for the oil problem spots to give you the best shot of it lasting. concretefloorsolutions.com/store/epoxy/cfs-oil-stop-primer/ and don't forget the promo code "ehr10" at checkout for a 10% discount 👍
I wonder if application of weld-crete would be better than grinding , acid treatment and vacuuming.
Love the video tutorial. I have one question, with new construction garage floor, they have 2 control joints running vertical and horizontal running across the center of the floor, should those be filled before apply any of the epoxy items ?
You can confirm with Jason from Concrete Floor Solutions (he is a wealth of knowledge) but from my understanding they usually cut the joints again to open up new concrete and then fill with a fast set epoxy.
It ideally wouldn’t need to be said, but if you’re using a gas powered grinder, make sure you leave the garage door open and set up ventilation to blow the byproducts of combustion out. If you have living space above the garage, ventilate that too.
Thanks Scott, another perfect video as usual!
Thanks so much for the feedback and support 👍
the reason rustoleum epoxy doesnt work for people , is a couple reasons , 1) the surface isnt clean or dry enough , its gotta be bone dry zero moisture let that garage dry out for three days after your acid wash . 2) the kits dont have enought epoxy primer or compound to lay thick enough before it cures . buy 2 for one . and mix both parts from each kit ie primers and compounds together separately so you dont run into color differences when it dries . 3) order extra flake and sealer . work fast but take your time and it holds up
Did a friend’s garage with the Rust-Oleum epoxy and their clear coat over a year ago. The space is being used as a shop with lots of wear and tear. Despite having some deep patches, the floor has performed beautifully. The only caveat is the minor inconsistency in the epoxy coat due to absorption, which could have been remedied with a concrete primer. Granted it was done dry, without acid etching, instead using a cup grinder.
So, I can’t report that it has been problem free for twenty years, but it has all of the indications of good adhesion with a solid product.
All that said, if you clear coat, don’t forget the grit unless you want to know what your favorite looney tunes felt like.
how long did you let the primer, epoxy coating, and anti-skidding sit before applying the next?
I *always* knew there were superior, industrial grade epoxy floor products available out there because I've seen really durable epoxy floors in commercial buildings that are definitely more durable and resilient than the Rustoleum product. If I ever do my basement I will be sure to use this far superior product. Here's a question: Are the flakes just for aesthetics, or do they actually add structure to the epoxy coating?
I had my floor professionally done and the installer wouldn't do it without flakes because it makes it so much more resilient.
500 ft garage is 80% the size of an apartment here. Geez that much storage space would be nice
This is a great video. Please let us know how it lasts. Great job in both the installation of the floor and the making of this video!
Thanks so much!
How does the total cost of this project with pro-grade materials compare to the cost to hire the whole project out to the pros? I saw a video recently of a project hired out to pros in Alabama for a 3-car garage, polyaspartic, full flake, clear coat, that only cost $3600. I was shocked how low the price was!
Looks amazing. Great video. I think its worth the extra money.
Agreed and thanks for the feedback!
Best vid I've watched so far on this subject. Thanks. So, can I just order an epoxy vapor barrier primer, then throw flakes onto that. Let that dry overnight, then one top coat of Polyaspartic with the anti-skid powder thrown onto the ground first. And thats it? Will that be strong enough to allow my two cars to pull in/out evry day.
New home with DIY kit from home depot lasted 7.5 yrs b4 I sold the home. Prep is key no grinding needed on new construction.
Thank you. This convinced me to not use the Rustoleum product.
I don't have a garage... still watched! 👍
Do you need to grind a fresh concrete surface from a new build?
Great video Scott. Very informative.. What an awesome result.
Scott, if I need to go budget friendly, can I still use the RockSolid Kit but more flakes with the top coat? I also watched your DIY video. I wish to make it good quality but also realize that at somepoint I will move. Wonder If this could last for 5 years?
do you have to broadcast flake? i like the grey, used to put down sikaguard 62 years ago, loved that grey look.
@everydayhomerepairs ...wondering how adding the traction material affects how hard it is to sweep?
How would you manage relief cuts or expansion joints when applying a product like this?
Yes, def worth the upgrade. Great job.
Great video and excellent results, thanks for this demo!!
You bet!
Thanks for taking the time to post this, it's very informative. While the product you used is far superior to the cheap kits, some of us just don't have $2k to spend on a garage floor. Do you think using the same prep method (grinding) but just using the cheap kit would at least give a decent result? Thanks!
Yes. Rustoleum Rock Solid will work just fine so long as you prep the heck out of the floor. See a video by Maz for more details.
@@JustADude1900ish Who is Maz?
Great video! How does the time, energy and risk (no warranty) compare to a professional service?
How did you keep the garage door from sticking to the epoxy while it’s drying?
HI Scott, Excellent video. How did you clean up the rollers between products? Or did you throw them away & use fresh roller for each product? Thanks again, dean
Fresh roller for each of the 3 layers 👍
How did you prep the corners?
Any thoughts on cutting additional expansion joints before applying the product?
🤔
Was there a sweep/vacuum after the flakes cured in? Wouldn't there be some amount of excess to remove before clear coating over it?
If you are doing a "Full Flake" there is often a scrape and collection of extra flakes. In my case I did a heavy flake and didn't do any collection of extra flakes and everything turned out great. You want to avoid clumps of flakes that would not be covered by the clear coat as that will change the final sheen and look of the surface.
Just to clarify, if you’re going to grind you should not degrease first? I think I saw another video where they degreased and then grind so just making sure lol.
Nope, if you grind just start grinding and keep the water off the floor 👍
if the concrete is brand new, new build, do I still need to prep the floor with either an acid wash or grinding?
Wouldn't it have been better to wait until the fall for temps that wouldn't risk a bad seal of the coatings?
What if you use the DYI kit, but go with the grinding method for prep… have you heard of success with that?
I’m in DFW and I’m getting professional quotes for about $2k. Seeing that going DYI, the good material is almost $2k, it makes me wonder what they are using
Looks great!! That's A LOT of work for the avg DIYer. Not sure I would tackle that one. Given the cost of almost $2000 for materials, what would be and avg. cost of having a professional do it?
$7-$10 per sq ft.
I detail my car in my garage. Some of which are harsh chemicals. Would this hold up?
Was this the same floor you repaired that big crack in? How’d it hold up over time?
Nope, that is a different floor. This one only had one small little hairline crack.
Awesome job!! Great info! Did you scrape or pickup any of the loose flakes before the clear coat? Is there any difference in the grinding profile between the hand grinder and the rental?
I left all the loose flakes in place. If I would have spread a bit more flakes I would have done a scrape and collection of the loose flakes prior to clear.
The grinding scratch/profile was pretty similar between the diamond cup wheel I had on the 4.5" and 7" grinders and the diamond pads on the rental.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Awesome! All this info gives me the confidence to diy. Thanks!
Is a one coat epoxy application done by a local company? Or should 2 coats and then a primer be definitely done??
Being realistic, for a DYI how difficult would you call this medium, hard, pro, legendary?
I would say Medium to Medium-Hard.
How many devices would you recommend renting rather than buying? You're putting a lot of confidence into someone who is newer into DYI @@EverydayHomeRepairs
If you don’t:
* Diamond grind the floor?,
* Test the hydration level seeping through?
* Seal-Coat prime PRIOR to installing the epoxy, then flake, then Aspartic clear.
Might as well not even bothering doing it.
what about putting porcleain outdoor pavers in garage instead? Why don't people do that?
Coatings will only last a long time, if it’s a fresh concrete pad. The curing of the cement will absorb the coating to hold. And it will cure for months
22:46 The problem is, Scott, you grinded away the more budget friendly products before we could even see how well it held up. I respect that some people had it not last that long, but others did have it last. You usually are very good at doing things thoroughly and I would have liked to have seen how it fared for you over time. It would have been more beneficial to me at least.
Thanks for the feedback, unfortunately this house will be sold soon so I wouldn't be able to give the update in a couple years. Thanks for the feedback and I will keep that time of testing in mind for future garage floors 👍
Any reason why you did not beyonds the garage door?
Scott, what products did you use? We're doing this soon and do not want to go the kit way.
So is the epoxy inert when dry or does it continue to off-gas chemicals?
Did you get any quotes for professional? It seems like your rental costs and materials and nearly what the average cost to have it professionally done are. Not being critical just curious
The idea of grinding the floor with a grinder is crazy! To prepare the floor for epoxy you need to use floor sending machine with sandpaper both can be rented/purchased from home depo.
The one big problem here is that the floor kit you are using has a stratospheric price tag.
Used the same rollers on all finishes?
Yep 👍 same type of roller from the kit but new roller for each of the 3 coatings.
Apologies if I missed it in the video. Total cost and square footage for this garage?
With grinding tools/rental and materials $5 per sq ft.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs I'll have to confirm but sounds like about 50% to 75% of paying to have it done. Good to know!
So what would happen if you did the full grind, but the non commercial kit?
I think the results would be somewhere in the middle. The DIY kits usually don't come standard with a primer so if you get their primer as well and also used the clear coat you would have a much, much better shot of it lasting as compared to degreasing, etching, and apply the Epoxy/Flake which is the standard kit/process.
Are the flakes purely esthetic?
This definitely does not seem DIY. And as others said on the last video- the tools and chemicals are so expensive you’re barely saving money over using a pro- who will almost certainly do a much better job.
I still vote for buying rubber mats if you want to make the garage floor prettier. 🙂
Rubber mats seem like a good idea lol
Did you look into any other companies for supplying the product? Curious if there was a specific reason you used concrete floor solutuons over someone else.
I had seen their videos and reached out as I liked the idea they were professional installers actually doing floors and also offering the same products they use for purchase. I worked with them on repairing a crack last year with their rapid set epoxy with great results. That is why I was confident in selecting their Epoxy floor Kit. 👍
Thanks for the response! And nice work!
Informative video, thanks.
You bet!
how long was the curing time between the primer and intermediate coat?
I waited about 7-8 hours. Between 8-24 hours is ideal assuming temps around 80F
Do you have to grind all the time before applying the priner and epoxy? I watched a few videos on epoxy coating but i havent seen them do it
Chemical coating doesn’t last and it’s crap you always need to grind
Link to shoe covers?
concretefloorsolutions.com/product-category/accessories/ and don't forget the promo code "ehr10" at checkout for a 10% discount 👍
At the end of the video he stressed that the prep was the biggest difference between the products. Does that mean that the rustoleum is a good product if same prep was done?
You really want 100% “solids”.
The big-box store products are usually 50% or less (allows for longer drying and set-up time).
If you go with the more solids mixture? Don’t leave it in the bucket you need to mix it in the bucket & then almost immediately start ribboning it out on the floor because it is vulcanizing in nature to set-up & the more concentrated it is (as in a bucket) the quicker it will set-up because it’s captured in such a small area…..Whereas ribboning it out onto the floor buys some more set-up time.
@@CasmigeThe main reason this happens is that the curing process is an exothermic chemical reaction (polymerization) that produces heat , and heat speeds up that same reaction. Thus you need to spread it out horizontally to avoid trapping and concentrating all that heat, which can basically cause a chain reaction of premature rapid curing.
Same goes for bondo, quickset drywall mud, plaster of paris, RapidSet cements and mortars and so on..
excellent video, very informative
A lot of work but worth it. Longevity is better than cheap way.
I agree for these type of projects where you are putting in some time it is nice to use the professional-grade products and have it last for a long time avoiding the same project coming up in 3-5 years.
Save yourself a lot of aggravation down the road. Just put down Swisstrax or Racedeck plastic tiles. No concrete prep necessary and they just snap together. Probably half the price of epoxy. No I don't work for them.
What do you do with water, oil, and dirt getting under the tiles down in all the holes?
@@EverydayHomeRepairs You have some choices. You can pick solid tiles. Otherwise, you can vacuum up debris or use a leaf blower. If you're OCD you can unlatch the tiles, pull them out of the garage in long sections and clean underneath. Then slide them back. You can unlatch sections and spot clean underneath too. Look on CZcams on how it's done. At most probably once a year if that.
You should have kept going onto the concrete driveway 😜
The Flakes make it hard to see dropped nuts and bolts.
Yes they do 💯
Depends on the flake colors
You forgot to actually test it... Anything can look great before use... No costs at all..
Holding up well so far 👍👍
Dang, once you throw in the eq rental costs, you can hire a professional for cheaper... that's insane.
Leave the cement ALONE!
Epoxy floor in basement, yay or nay? Why?
the off-gassing of these products is a concern for enclosed spaces.
Humidity would be a concern you would need to add a moisture barrier but if you have plenty of ventilation it could be fine. Would be a pain to clean
TV static from back in the day
Wow
10:22 I hope that bug didn't get in the epoxy!
We had 3 or 4 that made there way in but overall that was less than I was expecting.
Lee Helen Jones Gary Brown Maria
$1800 isn't bad. To hire someone would cost $10000
Why does it look like you are removing the two epoxy coatings that you just installed on your "rental" garage floor??? Are they so bad that you are replacing them after only a couple of months? you said, in that video, that you were doing the less expensive DIY coatings in your rental garage and you would use the professional-grade in your personal garage at home? I am trying to figure out how much truth is in these videos beause of you redoing the DIY floors in your "rental".
Rewatch the video where he did the 1/2 and 1/2 epoxy floor and at the 25:04 mark he says he will be redoing the floor that he does in this video
Pro grade ftw
👊
Please, just leave your garage floor the way it is. It's a garage floor, stop wasting your money.