# Painting the garage floor?



## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Hi folks,

going to sort the garage out soon, new shelves, paint walls etc...

One things I am thinking of doing is the floor.

Now, I believe I should seal, then 2 thin coats of epoxy paint. Not cheap **** either, I would rather spend more money, to get it done right.

Or, go to Costco and buy that garage flooring stuff, that will empty the wallet.

What products would you recommend for painting, I could just go to B&Q, but would like to know your experiences. Don't want any paint coming up on my tyres etc.

Cheers,
Mark.


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## tonz (Sep 21, 2008)

Iam looking to do the garage floor myself , when the weather warms up .

Have seen a couple of things , before I decide on paint or not

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NW-160SQFT-AN...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:7|39:1|240:1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BROAD-RIB-RUB...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:7|39:1|240:1318


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Cool. The first one seems a bit more cost effective.

I may paint the walls now, and do the floor when it gets warmer. Seal, then two coats.

Not in a rush to do it, so can easy wait for best time to do it.


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## tonz (Sep 21, 2008)

Mark M said:


> Not in a rush to do it, so can easy wait for best time to do it.


Same thoughts here . I will enjoy doing it when its warmer .

Than freezing to death at the moment :thumb:


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## Stew (Jul 9, 2007)

I have the first one in my garage from costco. 

Nice and soft and suprisingly warm.

My motor bike sits on it on paddock stands and it's good stuff.


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## tonz (Sep 21, 2008)

Stew said:


> I have the first one in my garage from costco.
> 
> Nice and soft and suprisingly warm.
> 
> My motor bike sits on it on paddock stands and it's good stuff.


What sort of size garage do you have ? and what sort of price was it ?

Cheeers


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

I think it is £125 a roll?

I have a double garage, but sitting on the boat the now, so can't give square footage etc.


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## GTIRed (Jan 12, 2007)

I did my garage floor when I moved into my new house. It was the first thing I did so my GTI had some where to go otherwise the removal boxes would have claimed their stake first...

I made sure the floor was really clean first or any loose dirt that is painted ontop of will just lift at a later stage. If the waether permits then pressure wash the floor and walls, allow a good couple of drying days to let the concrete fully dry out. I know that might be difficult up here at the best of times....If not, like me use a hoover to really get everything clean prior to painting. My new neigbours must have thought I was mad, no just suffering from early stages of OCD.

I used x2 coats of International concrete sealant on the walls and floor. the amount of coats required will depend on how porous your concrete is. The sealant is easy to apply as it is like water. The amount of sealant coating you apply the better as you will need less top coat in the long run. My walls were like sponges and needed several coats.

The walls were then coated three times with Sandtex white exterior wall paint which really gave a good finish. The floor then received two coats of International floor paint and left for a week to cure. Still looking great after 18 months or so. Top tip, instead of cleaning your paint rollers each time just cover them with cling film between coats. This saves you having to clean them but more importantly wasting paint by having to load them up each time you apply a new coat. Then simply throw away at the end. I did my double garage for about £250 and a box of Bud for my mate who helped out. Much cheaper then the £750 the builder was offering to do it.


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## chisai (Jan 1, 2009)

Haven't looked into this stuff yet but seen it advertised in a US car mag I get sent. http://www.ucoatit.com/pgs/main.htm


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

I've used floor paint, but they just dont cut it if you use your garage above the average drive in, get out, drive out again. Its wears and lifts within a month or so.

If you are going to paint, buy some mats or tiles for where the tyres sit, wet tyres which then dry, lift the paint in my experience.

For me, the most cost effective way has been the rubber lining. Costco do a new one, 17 ft by 7.5ft at £150 ish. By the time you have painted the floor, twice etc, and then time etc, its worth the money to just buy, roll out, job done! and you could just pull it out and pressure washer to clean up when needed.


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## philworrall (Nov 17, 2006)

My garage floor was painted properly before I bought the house and it has lasted nearly 20 years with no more than a little wear.
Done properly a painted garage floor will last for years IMO

Phil


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

i would recommend spending a lot the first time, rather than spending even more with a second attempt.

you certainly need a 2 pack epoxy paint. 2 coats at about 5-7litres per metre squared.

leave a day between coats and then re-apply. this will leave you with a bullet proof finish and you wont be needing to start all over again in 12 months! 

oh and as for a manufacturer, http://www.regalfloorpaint.co.uk/

thats where i got mine. its works out about 5.30/sq metre. which is dam cheap for a two pack epoxy floor paint!


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

oh and by the way, that paint is for heavy traffic areas. 

if you have a parked car on a painted surface, and you turned the wheel when the car was stationary, you would pull the paint up, with this kinda stuff you wont! 

you can run a forklift on it!


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

Mark M said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> going to sort the garage out soon, new shelves, paint walls etc...
> 
> ...


Mark - do you know any local joiners or can lay your hand on timber?

I am going to floor my garage in 2 x 1" timber batten laid on its side with flooring sheets of ply / sterling board on top. Admittedly I am only doing one half for the motorbikes but that way I can keep the tyes etc off the cold floor and stop them going off. Also its warmer to lie on when messing around the bikes.

I have tried sealing and painting, matting etc but nothing really cuts it. The bike tyres are hot and grippy when you come back in and just lift the paint like nobodies business.

Measure it out mate and cost it, you might be surprised, particularly if you know a friendly joiner!!


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## philworrall (Nov 17, 2006)

JPC, looking at that website I think you may have meant square metres per litre. Not the other way round. Am I right?

Phil


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

haha, yep, what i mean was 1litre = 5-7 SQM


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2009)

Hi there JPC. 
If I had this 2 pack epoxy on my floor, would I be able to jack the car up for example, and not damage the flooring? 

I'm having a garage built at the moment, and looking for some floor covering, and would appreciate your advise on this. It looks pretty good to me, just wondering how tough it is. 

Thanks a lot.

Stuart


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## Eeza (Sep 13, 2008)

Finerdetails said:


> I've used floor paint, but they just dont cut it if you use your garage above the average drive in, get out, drive out again. Its wears and lifts within a month or so.
> 
> If you are going to paint, buy some mats or tiles for where the tyres sit, wet tyres which then dry, lift the paint in my experience.
> 
> For me, the most cost effective way has been the rubber lining. Costco do a new one, 17 ft by 7.5ft at £150 ish. By the time you have painted the floor, twice etc, and then time etc, its worth the money to just buy, roll out, job done! and you could just pull it out and pressure washer to clean up when needed.


This is where my thinking is taking me.... Painting the floor is like shaving as a teenager. I looks great when its done but you never stop having to do it...

I imagine although more expensive in the first instance, a covering is a better long term bet....


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

I used the International garage floor paint and did seal it before hand (not using the International one) and the paint has flaked and lifted where the tyres sit and has lifted again after re-painting so not sure what to do apart from be stuck with it now!


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Veedub18 said:


> Hi there JPC.
> If I had this 2 pack epoxy on my floor, would I be able to jack the car up for example, and not damage the flooring?
> 
> I'm having a garage built at the moment, and looking for some floor covering, and would appreciate your advise on this. It looks pretty good to me, just wondering how tough it is.
> ...


i would have thought it wouldnt damage it too much. i doubt it would pierce the paint, but it would expect to see evidence of a jack. i.e indent.

if you do two good coats, and let the paint fully cure on each coat, you wil be laughing


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

ryand said:


> I used the International garage floor paint and did seal it before hand (not using the International one) and the paint has flaked and lifted where the tyres sit and has lifted again after re-painting so not sure what to do apart from be stuck with it now!


was this water based paint?

a 2 part paint?


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## gogsie (Sep 24, 2006)

Hey Mark, Just noticed this post,

A cheaper option to seal the floor is to get white PVA floor tile laying glue and water it down then give the floor a few coats of the stuff. Its what professional floor tiler's use before laying tiles.

When i worked at Schlum we were always painting the floors and used 2 pack epoxy stuff from Spencer's paint in ABZ think it was around £40 for 5L tin at the time but it's good stuff.


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2009)

JPC said:


> i would have thought it wouldnt damage it too much. i doubt it would pierce the paint, but it would expect to see evidence of a jack. i.e indent.
> 
> if you do two good coats, and let the paint fully cure on each coat, you wil be laughing


Thanks bud :thumb: I guess I could place a square of wood under the jack to make sure the floors not damaged at all.


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## Dean_82 (Feb 21, 2007)

it depends if its bare concrete, new concrete etc. i would say that if you require floor paint that is really durable i.e. chemical and forklift resistant then i'd recommend bradite ec88[solven based]or ew99[water based] both are two pack paints. for a simple one pack paint then i'd say bradite dp5. this is not as durable as the two packs but is durabe enough for a normalgarage floor.


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

so is a 2 pack in 2 packs and you mix it or is that just the term used to describe it?

i used this: http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...rtNumber=920200&Trail=searchtext>GARAGE+FLOOR


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

yep, two packs means its an epoxy type paint.

if you buy 20 litres of Two pack epoxy paint, you will get 15 litres of grey paint and 5 litres of A resin/activator.

It will look like golden syrup, wont smell like it! 

mix it all together for a good few minutes.

the activator activates the paint, believe it or not!  and it makes the paint set like rock. i guess its a type of glue?
im hardly a chemist, but it makes it set harder and quicker.


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Thanks to all for the posts :thumb:

Some good info there.



dubnut71 said:


> Mark - do you know any local joiners or can lay your hand on timber?
> 
> I am going to floor my garage in 2 x 1" timber batten laid on its side with flooring sheets of ply / sterling board on top. Admittedly I am only doing one half for the motorbikes but that way I can keep the tyes etc off the cold floor and stop them going off. Also its warmer to lie on when messing around the bikes.
> 
> ...


I could easily find a joiner to do a homer, and some good thoughts there!

It is just for aesthetics, so really don't need to paint it, but the car is now sitting for prolonged lenths in the garage when I am at work.

Maybe a solution would be to tile the whole floor, if I could source some tiles for cheap...


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

Mark M said:


> Thanks to all for the posts :thumb:
> 
> Some good info there.
> 
> ...


On a good base that would be an excellent idea, very Mediterranean "Casa Del Mark M":thumb:


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## bricktop20 (Dec 2, 2008)

When painting a garage floor make sure you prep the floor first by giving it a good sweep out and deagreasing it first especially on concrete then allow it to fully dry overnight , first coat of paint should be thinned but depends on the finish on the concrete if it has been machined to a polish finish which then is much harder for a paint to adhere to or just a trowel finish then the paint can get a good key to it after 1st coat allow to dry overnight then apply 2nd coat,if prepared right the paint does not lift,
hope this helps


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

what about re-painting a painted surface with 2 pack stuff?


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

make sure the floor isnt dusty, give it a good sweep. then a degrease and rinse. then let it dry.

make sure the existing paint isnt peeling tho!


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

thanks, but what if it is?!


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

eeak....id try getting a floor scraper. get as much off as you can. maybe try with a pressure washer too. 

then let it dry and apply a floor sealer. should keep any existing paint stay put. then two coats of two pack on there!


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## bricktop20 (Dec 2, 2008)

On a repaint you need to scrape floor any loose bits need to be scraped back to a hard edge, then deagreased ,washed, also depends if oil based or water bourne paint thats already down ,you can get a reaction if using cellulose or 2 pack ,you get a chemical reaction which lifts the previous floor paint. i would go for basic floor paint as long as you get the prep right it will be ok.


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## brian245 (Nov 20, 2007)

I'm looking at floor painting also and wondered if anyone has advice on degreasers as my floor has the odd oil stain from spils etc, also a bit of overspray, but that seems to be stuck quite well. Any suggestions would be appreciated
thanks,
Brian


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

dubnut71 said:


> On a good base that would be an excellent idea, very Mediterranean "Casa Del Mark M":thumb:


:lol:


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

JPC said:


> eeak....id try getting a floor scraper. get as much off as you can. maybe try with a pressure washer too.
> 
> then let it dry and apply a floor sealer. should keep any existing paint stay put. then two coats of two pack on there!


well I did seal the concrete before painting, have no idea if the international stuff I used is water based or not.

the only peeling/flaking is around where the tyres go, the rest is ok.

cant use the pressure washer as way too much stuff would get damp in there! what do you degrease with, white spirit?


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## gogsie (Sep 24, 2006)

Mark M said:


> Thanks to all for the posts :thumb:
> 
> Some good info there.
> 
> ...


If your gonna tile it why not fit some under floor heating elements too keep the Golf nice and cosy, I'm a dab hand at the tiling game have most of the gear too if your needing some help!.


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## olliecampbell (Jan 30, 2007)

I'm not sure what's in ours, but it's a nice thick layer of paint. Great stuff, more like a thick hard layer of plastic over the top.

It's quite nice being able to mop the floor every now and again as it comes up good as new.


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