Author Topic: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?  (Read 12889 times)

jeromedawg

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5174
  • Age: 2019
  • Location: Orange County, CA
Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« on: May 26, 2017, 10:24:54 AM »
We're in a condo unit w/ a 2-car garage and I've seen several other homeowners who have had their garage floor coated. I'm assuming it's some sort of epoxy-material? How hard is it to DIY this? Is it worth it, especially in terms of selling our place later (will it increase resale value?). If it's not advisable to DIY, do you guys think paying someone to do it would still be worth while?

AlanStache

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3175
  • Age: 44
  • Location: South East Virginia
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2017, 10:28:05 AM »
Why?  In most every way I think a garage floor should look used and stained like you have done something in there.  Tools should be cared for but if they look pristine they have not been used as tools. 

jeromedawg

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5174
  • Age: 2019
  • Location: Orange County, CA
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2017, 10:49:17 AM »
Why?  In most every way I think a garage floor should look used and stained like you have done something in there.  Tools should be cared for but if they look pristine they have not been used as tools.

Good point. Where I live, HCOL, ppl seem to be into the "clean" look probably because of all the new developments popping up with pristine-looking garage floors. Seems to be part of the overall 'curb' appeal. I dunno. We do have cracks in the cement and various oil stains. I don't think the cracks are anything major but they could be off-putting in terms of that 'curb' appeal haha.

Papa bear

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1838
  • Location: Ohio
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2017, 10:49:45 AM »
I've done a few with my dad previously.  Used the rustoleum 2 part epoxy.  We used it on a few rentals and his garage.  The older products 12+ years ago, didn't hold up great, as heat from car tires would pull up the paint. The newer stuff he used 5 years ago or so, has held up better.

There are better products on the market now.  In my experience, prepping your floor is the most important piece of this and took most of the time.  You have to have it CLEAN for anything to adhere to the floor.  Especially any oil stained areas.

If you live in an area that salts roads often and you park your car in the garage, you may want to move forward with the coating. Over time, the concrete will be spalled, oil will soak into the porous floor, etc.

 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

sokoloff

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1191
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2017, 10:57:33 AM »
It won't add a single penny to resale value of a condo in all likelihood.

There are cheap and crappy DIY garage paints and less-cheap but still fairly crappy DIY epoxy systems sold at big box home stores. IMO: Avoid all of them. Durability and tire pickup is a problem with these systems.

There are more expensive and labor-intensive DIY epoxy solutions that border on the pro materials. Figure $2-3/sq ft for the materials and at least the same again for professional labor (if you don't DIY). Smaller garages cost more per square foot in labor and maybe in material waste. We DIY'd my dad's 3-car garage for about $2K in materials and 2.5 days of labor. It's held up OK, but not great and he wouldn't do it again.

For safety reasons, you want to put traction sand and/or color flakes in the finish to provide some traction when wet. Unmodified epoxy finishes are like black ice when wet.

There is also an acid staining process for concrete that gives pleasing results visually and is inherently less susceptible to tire pickup, flaking, cracking, etc, because it stains the concrete itself, rather than being a film over the concrete. That is less expensive and less labor intensive than a high-quality epoxy/urethane finish, but doesn't seal the concrete from future oil spills, etc. (It however likely makes them less noticeable.)

For any film process, prep is 90% of the determination of the final product's durability.

For DIY research, have a look at Garage Journal's flooring forum.

For my own account, I've decided that I'm going to do a solid-body porcelain tile when I get around to finishing the garage at our spendy-pants city place as the base concrete is too far gone to make any simple film or stain process work.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2017, 10:59:09 AM by sokoloff »

HipGnosis

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1824
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2017, 11:48:24 AM »
Epoxy is the most common, best known.  But there are many products out there now.
It will only add value if it's installed by a reputable Co. that gives a transferable guarantee, which means $$$.   But it may be a deciding factor to a buyer looking at multiple homes.
If you consider DIY, you should get a professional opinion on how to deal with the cracks.

For other options see:
http://allgaragefloors.com/garage-flooring-guide/
http://allgaragefloors.com/siliconate-penetrating-sealer/


FiftyIsTheNewTwenty

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 244
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2017, 01:49:34 PM »
I think it's a great idea, that will improve a buyer's impression of your home -- at low cost if you DIY.

It's easy enough to do, but messy if you're not a careful worker, and prep is very important.  There are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it.  I can vouch for the 2-part Rustoleum that's widely available.

Make sure you have no moisture problems, or it can bubble up.

BlueHouse

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4136
  • Location: WDC
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2017, 02:34:08 PM »
Why?  In most every way I think a garage floor should look used and stained like you have done something in there.  Tools should be cared for but if they look pristine they have not been used as tools.
My neighbor has the most beautiful garage floors and I am a bit jealous, but it comes back to this.  It's just silly and I'm competing with the Joneses. 
One of the options when I bought my house was for painted(finished) garage walls.  $1500.  No thanks.  But, it was one of the first things I did after I moved in.  I couldn't paint the ceiling though, and still haven't.  It no longer bothers me.  At all. 

My advice:  Get over it and find something else to think about. 

sequoia

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 614
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2017, 09:41:29 AM »
We're in a condo unit w/ a 2-car garage and I've seen several other homeowners who have had their garage floor coated. I'm assuming it's some sort of epoxy-material? How hard is it to DIY this? Is it worth it, especially in terms of selling our place later (will it increase resale value?). If it's not advisable to DIY, do you guys think paying someone to do it would still be worth while?

IMO, yes. We would do it again. 

We epoxy the garage right after we bought it ~14 yr ago. Still look pretty good. Part of the epoxy where the wheels from the car sat has flaked off but for a 14 yr old product I can not complain. I have dragged all kind of stuffs and spilled oil (I do my oil change) and other car fluids numerous times, and the floor still look good. It looked a lot better than neighbor's garage with concrete only and stains. Newer epoxy is probably nicer and will hold up better in long run.   
« Last Edit: June 01, 2017, 09:45:05 AM by sequoia »

Fishindude

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3075
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2017, 09:47:25 AM »
Epoxy is basically a high grade paint.    None of the coatings will last and look great forever, and once you paint a garage floor, you are painting and re-painting it forever.
I prefer a real nice slick finish on the concrete and a clear sealer.   Existing concrete can be polished to look great.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2017, 03:45:11 PM »
My neighbor has an epoxy floor and he spends more time keeping it clean of spilled fluids, tire marks, etc. than I do accomplishing work in my garage. He also spends time working in his driveway on messy tasks that he doesn't want to do on his epoxy floor which kind of defeats the purpose of having a garage in my opinion.  I'm not jealous in the slightest.

Tony_G

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Location: CO
    • Cheapest House on the Block
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2017, 10:33:50 PM »
As someone else said, preparation is key.
Having said this, I'll never use epoxy (or similar products) ever again, I've heard way too many horror stories, even when they've been installed by pros for thousands of dollars.

I'll go against the flow here and tell you that a nice garage floor is definitely worth it to us. We installed porcelain tile in our current garage and could not be happier. We are not worried about breaking it as the last poster's neighbor, we use it and are not scared to get it dirty. After all, it can be easily cleaned.

cadillacmike

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 60
  • Location: FL
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #12 on: June 07, 2017, 07:57:46 PM »
My garage floor has so many stains, I don't think there a single square foot that is unmolested by something or other. There's transmission & oil from 20 years of the old 1968 DVC, coolant from the boss lady's water pump blowing, more oil from the old Eldo conv, battery acid, tire shine overspray / drip down, hydraulic fluid, grease, gasoline, etc...

I think the tile route is a decent idea, IF the tiles can handle the weight of 2 4,600 lb cars on them all the time.

I had the driveway done with epoxy, with the anti-slip material added. It had several oil stains from mishaps with oil changes and the occasional parking of the 68 DVC on it. In addition the bottom end had gotten so porous, you could see and hear the water "sizzle" into the concrete. This would eventually lead to those sections requiring replacement, so I had it epoxied. A couple others in the neighborhood had theirs done and they looked good. Mine looks good, but Every crack re-appeared (the person said it would, so no issue there), And while it is pretty impervious to grease and oil, gasoline or any distilled petroleum product will eat that stuff away!?!

Cost was approx $1,800 for the two car width driveway (20' x 35') and the small walkway that goes off to the left and up to the front doors. This is a larger SqFt area than a typical 2 car garage which, if you're lucky, is 20' x 20' nowadays.


« Last Edit: June 07, 2017, 08:34:19 PM by cadillacmike »

Can't Wait

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2017, 06:18:05 AM »
I did the kit from the big box store on my garage floor because it had numerous oil stains and just looked nasty. As others have said, prepping the floor is the most intensive part. You have to really get everything cleaned up as best as you can. The kit from the big box store worked great for the most part, but I am already starting to get some hot tire pick-up and it's only been on the floor for like 4 months. The epoxy coating on the floor makes cleaning anything up a breeze- I do some woodwork and also do preventative maintenance on my vehicles. It also makes the floor look great.

I wouldn't expect the epoxy floor to increase your property value at all, however, if I were looking to buy a house and saw one that had a coated garage floor, I'd take note of that.

Can't Wait

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2017, 06:25:24 AM »
My neighbor has an epoxy floor and he spends more time keeping it clean of spilled fluids, tire marks, etc. than I do accomplishing work in my garage. He also spends time working in his driveway on messy tasks that he doesn't want to do on his epoxy floor which kind of defeats the purpose of having a garage in my opinion.  I'm not jealous in the slightest.


Your neighbor is an idiot. An epoxy coating on a garage floor makes clean up easy, so doing messy jobs on his uncoated driveway to prevent spilling anything on a coated floor is just plain stupid. lol.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #15 on: June 09, 2017, 09:41:28 AM »
My neighbor has an epoxy floor and he spends more time keeping it clean of spilled fluids, tire marks, etc. than I do accomplishing work in my garage. He also spends time working in his driveway on messy tasks that he doesn't want to do on his epoxy floor which kind of defeats the purpose of having a garage in my opinion.  I'm not jealous in the slightest.


Your neighbor is an idiot. An epoxy coating on a garage floor makes clean up easy, so doing messy jobs on his uncoated driveway to prevent spilling anything on a coated floor is just plain stupid. lol.

You're missing my point. The point is that because he has a beautiful looking floor, he has to do things that someone with a plain concrete floor doesn't bother with. He mops away tire marks. Yes it is easy but it is something I have never done. He easily cleans up any drop of paint that spills. I have never bothered with that. He does stuff outside in the cold winter or hot summer that I do in my (somewhat climate neutral) garage because he knows that when he is done he will have to clean his floor again. Yes it is easy to clean but not having to do anything is even easier. My garage floor looks like a garage floor and not the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. I sweep it maybe three times a year and that is it. I'm guessing it is 15 minutes a year versus the 15 minutes a week my neighbor spends easily cleaning stuff off his floor.

Can't Wait

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #16 on: June 09, 2017, 11:17:17 AM »
My neighbor has an epoxy floor and he spends more time keeping it clean of spilled fluids, tire marks, etc. than I do accomplishing work in my garage. He also spends time working in his driveway on messy tasks that he doesn't want to do on his epoxy floor which kind of defeats the purpose of having a garage in my opinion.  I'm not jealous in the slightest.


Your neighbor is an idiot. An epoxy coating on a garage floor makes clean up easy, so doing messy jobs on his uncoated driveway to prevent spilling anything on a coated floor is just plain stupid. lol.

You're missing my point. The point is that because he has a beautiful looking floor, he has to do things that someone with a plain concrete floor doesn't bother with. He mops away tire marks. Yes it is easy but it is something I have never done. He easily cleans up any drop of paint that spills. I have never bothered with that. He does stuff outside in the cold winter or hot summer that I do in my (somewhat climate neutral) garage because he knows that when he is done he will have to clean his floor again. Yes it is easy to clean but not having to do anything is even easier. My garage floor looks like a garage floor and not the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. I sweep it maybe three times a year and that is it. I'm guessing it is 15 minutes a year versus the 15 minutes a week my neighbor spends easily cleaning stuff off his floor.

Gotcha. I envy your attitude on garage floor cleanliness. Lol. I make a lot of mess in mine, but I'm pretty anal about keeping it clean with or without the epoxy coating. I put the epoxy down to help with the clean up. lol.

Sibley

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7428
  • Location: Northwest Indiana
Re: Worth it to resurface/coat/seal garage floor?
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2017, 01:41:39 PM »
Honestly, I would be satisfied with a door that is openable (door is broken, ever mind the springs & automatic opener), and not having 2 inches of dirt all around the edges. Plus whatever else is in there.

If you're happy with it as is, don't bother. You're welcome to come help clean up mine though!