# Garage floor finally done (more or less...)



## impster (May 2, 2007)

The new garage and concrete floor have now been down for over 6 months, and was ripe for some sort of flooring 'solution' - the dust coming up off it was crazy, so after looking for numerous ideas to get it sorted I finally bit the bullet and got some professional advice off a local experienced builder.

The garage - rebuilt as part of a house extension - measures around 5x3m, so 5litres of thompson's concrete sealer was applied (2 coats), and tonight the first coat of 2 from a 2.5litre tin of ronseal diamond hard garage floor paint has been put down. Wasn't sure if there'd be enough for 2 coats, but with less than half the tin gone for the first coat I'm sure I'll be ok for the second coat tomorrow evening.

The dust was driving me crazy, the sealer helped a lot, but the floor looked a mess (6 months of constant use prior to this particular job), so opted for the slate grey finish.

First impressions (with the paint still wet) are good - it rolled on easily, and whilst 'thick', it's plenty thin enough to get into the little nooks and crannies.

Total cost around £55 for the sealer and paint.



















Will keep you posted on results over next few months, as I know that this may be useful for others contemplating what to do with their garage floors.

Impster

Edit - yes I know the wall on the left looks a mess... Will be sorting that later on this year!


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

I'll be interested to know how the paint holds up a few months down the line.

I had problems with dust from my recently poured floor, after it had been down about 8 months I decided to grind the top layer of concrete back to remove all the loose particles, I then sealed it with Nufins Curecote Super. I have bought epoxy resin paint but am loathe to use it as I like the finish I have now


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## Storry (Jun 8, 2008)

I've just bought my first house and will be planning on doing this in the garage. What sealer and paint did you get and where from? I was going to go for the same colour on the floor and paint the walls white.


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

Sealer was a 5L tin if Thompsons' Concrete Sealer, paint was Ronseal Diamond Hard Garage Floor Paint (2.5L).


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## Storry (Jun 8, 2008)

impster said:


> Sealer was a 5L tin if Thompsons' Concrete Sealer, paint was Ronseal Diamond Hard Garage Floor Paint (2.5L).


Thanks mate, I guess B&Q yeah?


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

I got the paint from B&Q, got the sealer from Travis Perkins (although B&Q probably sell it).

Now put the second coat of paint down, used about half of what I used for the first coat.

Seems very good stuff so far, quite impressed with the difference in 'cleanliness' of the garage, no dust etc.

Impster


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## RROSSI (Apr 10, 2010)

Love the floor and that 4 poster hoist!!!

God I miss my hoists!!


RR


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

impster said:


> I got the paint from B&Q, got the sealer from Travis Perkins (although B&Q probably sell it).
> 
> Now put the second coat of paint down, used about half of what I used for the first coat.
> 
> ...


I used that paint. Have you tried parking acar on it yet ? Has it peeled up like mine has???


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

robertbentley said:


> I used that paint. Have you tried parking acar on it yet ? Has it peeled up like mine has???


That's what bothers me about using paint on the floor


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

No problems so far - had the car in yesterday to change the oil, drove it out and the paint was still on the floor.

So far so good.


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

47p2 said:


> I had problems with dust from my recently poured floor, after it had been down about 8 months I decided to grind the top layer of concrete back to remove all the loose particles, I then sealed it with Nufins Curecote Super........


I've just read your garage build thread - stunning work ! Did the concrete sander have a big metal grinding wheel under it ? I think I need to polish my floor in a similar way, it is slightly sandy, and hence the pressure of the tyres (when I park on it) means that overnight the paint sticks to the tyres, and pulls up when I drive away the day after. Was the job a dusty one ??
Thanks,
Rob


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

The concrete grinder uses different grades of carborundum stones starting with a coarse stone, then medium stone and finally fine stone. The initial grind was dusty because it was just a soft material but once that was out the way there wasn't much dust


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

Hmm - I might have a go at that. How much depth was removed, and can you remember the cost for a day's hire approx ?

I'd only want to remove a few mm, as the level is correct currently...

Cheers,

Rob


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

I removed around 3 or 4 mm from the surface, cost for 4 days was less than £120. Best hire for a bit extra time as it works out cheaper.


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

4mm I could handle ! Thanks for the info.

I'll have to investigate a dust extraction unit though, as I don't really want to have to empty the whole garage out - I have loads of stuff in there. Did it take you a whole day to do ? Was it noisy as hell ??

Thanks,
Rob


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi guys,

I bought a new house about 6 years ago and considered a number of options, including the ronseal garage floor paint. A neighbour painted his and it started lifting within about 8 weeks.

I went to B&Q during one of their sales and bought cheap floor tiles. The cost, including adhesive and grout was approximately £200 - that being said i laid them myself so labour cost was nil.

6 odd years down the line and they're still like new. No issues around peeling, flaking or dust. Lifetime job if you ask me!

Cookies


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

Cookies said:


> I went to B&Q during one of their sales and bought cheap floor tiles. The cost, including adhesive and grout was approximately £200 - that being said i laid them myself so labour cost was nil.
> 
> 6 odd years down the line and they're still like new. No issues around peeling, flaking or dust. Lifetime job if you ask me!
> 
> Cookies


Interesting stuff - do you jack your car up in there? I trust they don't crack ?? Are they slippy when it's been raining, and you walk in with wet feet ?
Got any pics you can show us?
cheers
Rob


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

Quick update on the floor - had cars, trailers, fairly heavy foot traffic in the garage, and the paint is rock solid - no peeling, cracking, lifing or anything else for that matter. Ok - only been a week or so since doing it, but seems to be holding up fine.

Going to properly cut in the edges tonight and make a start on the walls.

Any advice on how to paint concrete blocks? 

Iimpster


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

impster said:


> Any advice on how to paint concrete blocks?
> 
> Iimpster


Paintbrush to get into all the nooks, messy job that will take ages


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

47p2 said:


> Paintbrush to get into all the nooks, messy job that will take ages


oh. I might leave it until next week in that case...

standard emulsion ok you reckon?


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## Braz11 (Aug 28, 2009)

Yeah same thing happened to me, parked my car after 24 hours and started peeling. The sealer i used was B&Q.


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

impster said:


> standard emulsion ok you reckon?


Emulsion should be fine as long as the walls are dry, I used exterior paint on mine but that was my choice.


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Looking very good Impster. I used this type of paint on my old home studio concrete floor and it wore very well. I had to re-coat every couple of years in high traffic footfall areas, but other than that it was very good.



Cookies said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I bought a new house about 6 years ago and considered a number of options, including the ronseal garage floor paint. A neighbour painted his and it started lifting within about 8 weeks.
> 
> ...


With having a poor concrete surface in my new garage, your solution sounds very interesting to me. What thickness of tile did you use? When laying the tiles did you put down enough adhesive to cover the entire tile surface so that weight is distributed evenly? Or did you 'spot' adhesive them down in the corners? Would be cool to see some pix :thumb:

PS. Impster - Machynlleth is a stunning part of the UK


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## MCZ2047 (Oct 10, 2007)

I have been wanting to paint my garage floor for a while now, but was never sure what would be the best way to go about it. After seeing this i'll give it a go over the weekend. Before you put down the concrete sealer did you power hose the floor down or did you just give the floor a good brush and hover? And is that the slate grey colour u have used Any other tips would be great.:thumb:


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

The floor was dusty - and had a good brushing with a stiff broom, then a softer one, and finally I went over it with a soft handbrush (the type you get with a dustpan & brush) three or four times. Didn't need to hoover after that.

The floor got 2 coats of the sealer, exactly as per the instructions on the tin.

3 days later got the first coat of paint down, followed by a second coat the next day.

Colour is slate grey.

Best advice is to stick closely to the instructions, and get it as clean and dustless as you can. 

Make sure you've got 2 rollers and 2 roller trays, and plenty of kitchen roll to clean up.

Start from the end furthest to the door (makes getting out once you've finished easier...).


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

Just a quick tip it may have been mentioned before.

we have 4 peices of rubber mat cut to a sft and any vehicle that is parked on our painted floor the rubber mat is placed under each wheel and this has solved any probs with the paint lifting .

Saffronx


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

DETAIL said:


> Just a quick tip it may have been mentioned before.
> 
> we have 4 peices of rubber mat cut to a sft and any vehicle that is parked on our painted floor the rubber mat is placed under each wheel and this has solved any probs with the paint lifting .
> 
> Saffronx


ditto! 

as seen here....


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## Wozza (Mar 3, 2007)

robertbentley said:


> 4mm I could handle ! Thanks for the info.
> 
> I'll have to investigate a dust extraction unit though, as I don't really want to have to empty the whole garage out - I have loads of stuff in there. Did it take you a whole day to do ? Was it noisy as hell ??
> 
> ...


About 3 years back, I bought a couple of Bosch floor grinders (like big angle gringers) and a few alsorted grinding discs. I used them to level of my floor before painting it with 2 part expoxy resin paint - still looks great now - I use cheap rubber car matts to stop the wheels making prolonged contact with the floor. It is noisy and dusty (I hired an industrial dust extration unit - big vacuum) I still have both grinders and a few discs so if someone is interested they I would sell them.


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## Stevoraith (Mar 15, 2008)

DETAIL said:


> Just a quick tip it may have been mentioned before.
> 
> we have 4 peices of rubber mat cut to a sft and any vehicle that is parked on our painted floor the rubber mat is placed under each wheel and this has solved any probs with the paint lifting .
> 
> Saffronx


Me too, although I use carpet tiles from B&Q. Only cost about £1 each and they match the colour of my floor!


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

yetizone said:


> PS. Impster - Machynlleth is a stunning part of the UK


Aye - it's not bad at all!


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2010)

JPC said:


> ditto!
> 
> as seen here....


stop showing off


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi all,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you - havent been on-line in a while.

I've attached a pic of the garage floor, well part of it at least. Those of you with kids will know that you gather an incredible amount of stuff and i had to do a little moving to clear a space to photograph. Hopefully you'll see what i've done. There were several reasons for doing it, one being because the garage is connected onto the house and there was a considerable amount of dust in the first few months of being there - so i was under strict instructions to do something.

With regard to the adhesive, the 5 blobs on the back of the tile wil never work in a garage environment as any load on the tile needs to be evenly supported by the adhesive.

The floor was quite uneven and i went through quite a lot of adhesive as i was evening out some low points to keep the tiled surface level. I basically screeded the floor with a good layer of adhesive and dropped the tile into position.

The car has been in position without problem, although if you have any hollow spots under the tiles they'll soon make themselves known - it's useful to use a reasonably big tile spacer in case you have to drill any cracked tiles out. I havent had any bother to date though.

Anyway, here are some pics - you will notice that i have been very careful not to picture the crap that is in the rest of the garage!!










It appears to be catching on as a few of my neighbours have asked my advice on it recently.










THese are the tiles i used - i didnt really care about brand or quality considering they were for the garage. I just made sure i bought a few extra boxes just in case!!










The depth of the tile-









The finished job around the steps into the house - you can see the bottom of my 'Man Fridge' too - only for bevereges!










If anyone needs any more of my limited knowledge about this I'll b pleased to share.

Good luck

Cookes.


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

I spoke with one of my clients who has a tiling business. He suggested that if I wanted to tile my garage floor 10.2m x 6.7m the best product to use would be quarry tiles as they are much stronger than standard floor tiles and can cope with the weight load better. Sadly just to buy the tiles was well in excess of £5k so it isn't going to happen


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi 47p2,

I'm sure your friend knows what he's talking about, although I havent had one breakage in 6 years of use. I'd reckon about £300 would buy the 'B&Q specials' to cover your floor area.

Good luck with it whatever way you decide to go.

Cookies

By the way, a friend has his floor painted (B&Q stuff) and has 2 rows of carpet tiles that he drives the car on. Neat job i have to admit. My parents have their garage done completely in dark grey carpet tiles, which looks great with white walls and white kitchen units.


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## robertbentley (Sep 17, 2007)

I've got those tiles in my porch !


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

Cookies said:


> Hi 47p2,
> 
> Good luck with it whatever way you decide to go.
> 
> Cookies


Hi Cookies, I decided that I wasn't going to put anything other than a sealer on my floor. 
I spent 3 days grinding it smooth and then a coat of Nufins Curecote Super and that is how it has been left.

No dust no mess easily cleaned, that will do for me


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Looks like a good job mate!

I think anything that keeps the dust down can be seen as a success!!

Cookies


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## Storry (Jun 8, 2008)

I bought a 2.5L tin of sealer and a 5L tin of garage floor paint. Do you think the sealer would be enough for your average garage? I also bought a 10L tub of masonary/exterior wall paint and i'm wondering whether its too much or not?! :-/ Not opened it yet, so any advice would be great, as I'll exchange it otherwise.


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## salsheikh (Jul 5, 2010)

thread resurection!

Impster - how is the floor looking now?


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