Epoxy or paint for a garage floor?
Question:We were all set to Epoxy our cement garage floor tomorrow until we watched the DVD that came with it, and realized how long it would take (so much washing, rinsing, scrubbing, drying, and then coating it). Maybe just painting the floor would be easier and quicker? Would the paint stick to the cement and stay? Any advice would be very helpful to me.
Answers:
I did this to my garage a few years ago and I too was shocked at the time. But let me tell you, it was well worth it. The floor still looks good to this day. Nothing out there holds up to the beating an epoxy floor will. The one thing you have to realize is if your floor is relatively clean then you don't have to do as much cleaning. Just make sure you have a fan to blow on the floor while it is drying between cleanings. That shortens up the time considerably.
They have a type of tar that you can use to fill the cracks and a paint that will seal and grib on your floor. It comes in gray or black. They have it at home depot and they have a book that walks you through the whole thing.
Regular paint is going to come off much faster and end up spotting where your tires rub the paint off if your going to be parking in this garage. An epoxy would be much better, you'll get a longer life out of it and if you have any fluids dripping out of your car, or just plain spills from garage work, they will clean up much easier.
Epoxy lasts well only if the preparation is done well. I suggest you get the cheapest acrylic (water based) paint in your desired colour that you can find. It sticks well to a clean surface and when it starts to look shabby and marked, roll on another quick coat. Cheap, easy to apply and always looks good.
Sherwin williams sells a great quick drying product to paint cement surfaces, my neighbor painted her cement walkway with it and it was dry within an hour! I would definitely go to your local paint store and ask them for something durable and fast drying. Go to Sherwin Williams, or Benjamin Moore, whichever you have near you.
As long as its clean and been etched you can use an oil base flor and porch enamel and it will be ok will take a few days to dry depending on where you live, but epoxy is a hard way to go
Paint of epoxy no matter which, each of these the garage floor hasto be cleaned and prepped and they apply the same way..epoxy is higher but more durable..Home depot has an epoxy garage floor kit..you simply mix the two products in the kit together..one the base and the other is the catalyst.the same amount of prep, and they both brush and roll on..the epoxy kkitd have some little chips to sprinkle over it as you roll 5 x5 areas sprinkle a few..roll more sprinkle more...the chips give it a granite effect..but you can opt to use these or not..same amount of work in either way...you have to clean the floor.The kits are more expensive(epoxy) but the job will be scrubbable without fading, and last way longer..
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