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Epoxy Floor Paint (Garage or Hangar)

f1rocket

f1rocket

Well Known Member
New house and hangar are just about done and it's time to explore options for the floor of the hangar. I want paint the floor with some high quality two-part epoxy paint designed for hangar floors. I already know that the cheap stuff at Home Depot, etc. are not worthy. What brands have others used with success? Where did you get it (web site)? How much did it cost?

I'd really like to hear your experiences. Thanks.
 
I can't give you any recommendations, but I can give one caution. They painted the hangar & shop floors at the Air Guard, looked great, but slicker than a wet fish when wet or when walking onto them with wet shoes.

I would look at other options.
 
Hangar floor

I have been through some very high dollar hangar floor projects at work, and if I was starting with a new, clean hangar floor, I would take a good look at concrete staining processes. I have seen a large corporate jet hangar with stained concrete and it is really nice. It does not look as nice and showroom shiny as a fresh epoxy, but is pretty durable and nice looking. I have not studied the issue enough to know if you have to put a sealer over it or not, but I would sure look into it.
 
Google nonskid concrete floor paint...

...got many responses. I just put "Durabak" bed liner on the top deck of my houseboat (260 square feet) and although a little pricey ($120.00/gal) I like the results. It covered well (one gallon for two coats per 60 square feet) with the provided rollers, provides UV protection, non-skid, sealant suitable for outdoor use in many colors. Of course time will tell.
http://www.durabakcompany.com/
 
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Slippery epoxy floor

Floor painters have a very fine sand-like powder they mix in the paint that can give the floor some grip. My hanger floor was pressure washed, acid etched, rinsed, and given two coats of epoxy applied with lamb's wool rollers. It is not a perfect job but sure is nicer than concrete. Oily messes just wipe up and the reflected lighting is better. However, when I have on my leather-bottom shoes or damp running shoes, it is all I can do to pull RVs in and out.

One option advertised in TAP is polishing the floor with a portable machine that seems like a rolling bead-blaster. Large warehouses and plants often use that process to eliminate ever having to redo epoxy.

I just had about 10,000 square feet done in my workplace with two coats of epoxy plus sealer and already the high traffic areas are showing wear. I will have the areas power-sanded and a new top coat of epoxy applied. We used the anti-skid material I mentioned.
 
I have been looking into this recently for a new garage floor (concrete). I think the best solution is to polish the concrete, stain and seal it. See for example http://www.marblerestoration.org/concrete.htm.
Also have a look at the Forum subject "Most Beautiful Hanger - Hands Down", which looks like it has a polished floor.
I like the idea of polishing rather than putting on a coating.
I say all this without having actually done it yet - so, take it as an idea for consideration.

Bill
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6 under construction on a new but still unfinished concrete floor
 
UCoat It

I did my 3000 sq. ft. hangar with http://www.ucoatit.com/.

All white, makes finding those dropped parts and screws easy. I used the aluminum oxide to roughen the surface on part of the floor, but it makes cleaning a little harder. I like the slick surface. I have no problem when wet if wearing my sneakers.

White also brightens the room and allows you to see the bottom of your airplane in the reflection. ;-)

The web site has a color selection page and cost estimator.
 
www.epoxy-coat.com

I used the small kit to do my 500 sq ft shop at home and so far it has been great. Oil wipes up easily but sharp metal can scratch and scrape it. It was $320.00 shipped to my door. The hardest part is all of the cleaning and prep work. Be sure if you do this to read and understand the directions completely before you do anthing. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I enjoy it? No.
 
Garage/Shop Floor Epoxy

One of the things I like to do is browse builders web sites a look at the way they have their shops set up. It's almost as fun looking at the shops and tools as it is building. I decided to epoxy my floor a couple weeks ago and documented it if anyone else was considering doing this to their garage/shop. :cool:

http://www.nippaero.com/garage_floor.php
 
Do it

Hi Mike,

I have my hangar and garage epoxy coated in grey. I had mine professionally done with an industrial epoxy (not water based). The durability was important because I was going to be building. I paid a buck 40 a sq ft. Things are a little slower now and you can probably get a better deal. Whoever you get, make sure they are licensed and use a non water based product. There are a lot of fly-by-nighters out there.

A couple of my neighbors have used the Home Depot stuff with terrible results. It just won't take, dropping tools and the wear and tear when you are building. Both will have to have it redone when their projects are completed. This is pay now or pay later situation.

Another tip is to NOT get a finish with any multicolored speckles in it. Dropping a screw, nut or washer can turn into a search that will rival the one for Jimmy Hoffa.
 
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Had problems with the Rust O leum Product

I did my garage in Illinois using the RustOleum Epoxy kit, and was not happy with the results. The epoxy would stain, most noticeable was the tire rubber from the autos. I had my garage in Arizona done professionally, and the results were much better.
 
I agree that the non water based stuff is a lot more durable. If I had a real shop building or hanger, I would definitely spring for the professional results. I had some problems with the hot tire marks with the home depot Behr stuff. We'll see how the Rust-Oleum brand holds up.
 
Litex

I used a water based 2 part epoxy that used to be sold by Home Depot in my workshop.

http://www.litexinc.com/2PART-EPOXY.html

It's now a direct purchase from the manufacturer.

It has held up well (5 years), but no car tires are present in the workshop....:)

Other airpark hangar owners painted their floors with it in a "quickie" fashion with no real prep, and their paint is still in a reasonable condition 5-6 years later.

One interesting item, they recommend a cleaning with TSP or their own citrus based product, and a mechanical abrade (such as a wire brush) for problem areas. They specifically do not recommend an acid wash.

This winter I'm going to try it on a section of my hangar floor that got screwed up with battery acid.....

gil A
 
Griots Garage

I haven't done my shop, but I did do my 2 car garage floor.
I used Griots Garage Epoxy paint. Way better than the HD stuff, but is still water clean up. (before it sets up) Aparently has more solids than others. It costs 60.00 a gallon.
They have a several page PDF file on their website on how to apply the paint, and lots of prep work getting it ready, actually applying the paint was fun compared to getting the floor ready.
I am very happy with the results I'm seeing.
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_3000&L2=L2_3080&SKU=90011
Good Luck
 
I'm glad to see this subject come up. I'm planning on 'finishing' my new shop floor as soon as it's done getting built. I gather epoxy is best. Whether water based or not and which brand to use is what I'm interested in finding out. Also, I think thats a good point about 'solid' color and being able to find small screws and stuff. I would imagine a lighter shade of solid color would also be a good thing in order to reflect the light and keep the overall shop brighter too.
 
Tip from a pro!

First off this is my first post. Promise you will see many more. I look around the site and you guys really impress me by your knowledge of aviation....I am overwhelmed actually. I rarely find a place in these forums to put in my two cents as all of your half dollars worth of knowledge trump mine. I do however know a thing or two about pulling heavy objects on epoxy floors as I have been pulling (by hand) thousands of pieces of aircraft support equipment on these floors for many years. I am active duty Air Force and from my experience the epoxy flooring has its positives and negatives.

The first thing when you think of getting these floors is ease of maintenance. Think again. The floor can chip, bubble or just become impossible to clean sometimes. The flooring makes it extremely hard to pull equipment around on....sandy grit or not. I have learned how to pull thousands of pounds of equipment on these floors and have busted my butt trying many times. One oil, or worse hydraulic fluid spot can mess you up big time, even after being mopped up.

My suggestion is plain old treated concrete, sealed. The epoxy might look good but it is a hassle. I am also a pretty young guy sans children, so falling on the floor only hurts my pride, but some of the older guys in here with a full family to support should think twice about breakin a bone or two.

My perfect hanger is has a concrete floor...no epoxy.


P.S. Two buildings I have seen professionally done were also botched and the floor bubbled....so if you do end up doing it....don't go with the lowest bidder.



It is an honor to be among giants!:D


Thanks for listening and teaching

-SD
 
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Using Racedeck

I started with Rustoleum, but was so unimpressed with the results decided to put in Racedeck flooring instead. Was pricey, but easy to install as it snaps together. Gives good cushioning both for dropping stuff and easy on the feet. The only downside I have found is that it expands dramatically if directly in the sun (for example when the shop door is open), and causes heaving. Goes away when the area is shaded again.

Another benefit is you can get different colours and make your own pattern. I definitely would do it again - a lot of hours are spent here.
 
I have been looking at this too... Do any of you who have the epoxy coating have any problems over the years with scratching or chipping when dropping stuff? That is my main concern... I just got a quote today from a guy that will do a solvent based epoxy coating with a polyurethane (sp?) clear coat so its shiny... is this a good idea? Is it slippery when wet? sure looks good! Runs about $3.00 /sqft

garage_13.jpg


garage_32.jpg


garage_42.jpg


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danielhv said:
I have been looking at this too... Do any of you who have the epoxy coating have any problems over the years with scratching or chipping when dropping stuff? That is my main concern... I just got a quote today from a guy that will do a solvent based epoxy coating with a polyurethane (sp?) clear coat so its shiny... is this a good idea? Is it slippery when wet? sure looks good! Runs about $3.00 /sqft
Click to expand...

$3.00 a foot is way to high. Get some qoutes. The most expensive I've ever seen was $2.40 a foot and it was two coats with texturing.

You can ask for a light "no slip" finish. I would not recommend the slick stuff, it is way to slippery.

As I noted, mine was $1.40 a foot, two coats of industrial epoxy and a slight no slip finish.
 
cure & seal

Also, if your flatwork isn't finished yet, talk with your concrete contractor about any plans to coat the floor. When I built my shop last fall, I subbed out the concrete work; I had in mind that I wanted to coat the floor somehow, but didn't know anything about it yet. The concrete guys put a product called Cure & Seal on the slab (supposedly helps it cure stronger? it does seal the concrete somewhat, compared to the untreated slab in my parent's garage), and later when researching epoxy coatings, I was told by several representatives that in order to get a satisfactory adhesion, I would have to grind the entire floor to remove the Cure & Seal. I ultimately decided to skip out on the coating (very bummed...); at least at the time, the cost and labor to grind the floor seemed overwhelming.

The Cure & Seal, I also discovered later, becomes tacky when you spill gasoline on it, though engine oil comes up readily if you get to it quickly.

FWIW, after considerable research, I was looking at either:
- Sherwin Williams ArmorSeal 1000HS
or
- UCoatIt(.com)
 
Armstrong Vinyl Tile

Has anyone installed Armstrong Vinyl Tile in their garage or shop recently. I was considering an epoxy floor paint until I saw the problems two of my friends had with Home Depot's Behr floor paint under the tires of their cars. They followed the directions for applying also.

Amrstrong's Vinyl tile flooring has been around for a long time. There are about seven colors at Home Depot and about fifteen from a local flooring contractor. A box of 12"x12" tiles is $26.10 or $30.10, depending on the style and the box covers about 45 sq ft. Add to that the price of the adhesive, cutter and rental of the heavy roller.
 
All the vinyl tile I've ever seen becomes a PIA because it's impossible to have perfectly tight edges, the corners come up, etc. Good idea, though. What about vinyl sheet goods? Hmmm...I need to head over to the Lowe's website.
 
Floor Paint

I recommend Valspar. I have used many of their products and have been very pleased. They are very high quality and yet moderate in price; primarily because most of their advertising is business to business vs. consumer. Look them up in the phone book. Ususally they have trade stores with consumer walk ins. they are big with the professional painters and also automotive body shops. good luck.
 
What I Did

Here is what I did: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1086

Several friends have also done theirs, with some mistakes, so I am able to contrast what works vs what doesn't.

1. Don't use any "grippy" mix-in material like sand. It'll just tear up mops & squeegies, and it'll be tough to clean and it'll end up looking like ****.

2. Don't use "speckles" for multi-color finishes. You'll have a hard time finding small screws that you drop.

3. Don't use a dark color. If you use a light color, you'll immediatly notice things like oil drops, which means you'll investigate and clean it up right away.

Based on my experience, I'd do it again.

Building a plane in there right now too... :D

Patrick
 
Counter Opinion

Had a hangar, painted the floor. Spent numerous hours cleaning and mopping the floor. The paint makes the dirt show up.

Built a new hangar, and based on the previous experience, did not paint the floor. Now I don't spend anywhere near the amount of time cleaning the floor: more time to fly and fix.

After all, it's just a hangar!

"To each his own."
 
Concrete sealers

There are silicate based (water cleanup) penetrating sealants for concrete. These products don't act as a coating but fill the voids and make stains harder to penetrate. If you epoxy coat your garage floor, a builder friend says that he's been to contractor seminars warning them about doing work for people that paint their garage floor (he didn't say this but it probably applies to engineers also).
 
Floor Option

Recently resurfaced a hangar floor with failing epoxy and beneath the epoxy was ASR which had to be mitigated. A non-acrylic white overlay was applied which breathes is stain resistant and was diamond polished to 3000 grit. This made the floor very reflective and less slippery than a vinyl floor. Additionally the only maintenance required is periodic scrubbing.
 
Since I am in the process of buying a hangar, I'm wondering if anyone has any updates on this thread? Looking for something reasonably simple to put down and not too expensive. I'll probably have to clean/etch/prep the floor also.

Greg
 
Dayton did his shop and garage floors last year with the stuff from HD or Lowes. I plan to see how they look after a year and might go that way for our hangar.
 
I have done 2 hangars, my garage and basement shop floor in the water cleanup epoxy garage floor epoxies from HD or Lowes and they have held up over 10 yrs just fine. These are not the super high shine finishes found in corporate hangars but serve to provide a lighter color finish that doesn't absorbe oils, are easy to clean and makes finding dropped hardware easier. I occasionally drag a drill press and band saw around and if you take some care they dont scratch the floor. No tire marks. With new concrete make sure is aged per instructions. While not in the instructions, I etch the concrete with a dilute Muratic acid solution the day before painting and after cleaning with pressure washer.

I have used the sprinkle on chips or not. Chips are slip resistant somewhat, but harder to keep clean. Reasonable to do yourself, fumes are low and water cleanup

Hope that helps
 
Rustoleum epoxy pirep:

A little less than two years ago I did my 3-car garage floor with the Rustoleum garage floor epoxy paint kit from Home Depot. I rented a diamond grinder and ground the floor with that, so it was completely oil-free. Mixed and rolled the paint according to directions, used the paint chip sprinkles. I did not clear-coat it.

The 2/3 where I do the airplane building is great. No scrapes, nice and clean, easy to scrub stuff off of, no complaints. I drop and drag stuff and it doesn't leave a trace. The 1/3 where my wife parks... well, there are places where the paint is coming up or wearing off. It's not BAD, but as a hangar/construction area paint I'd give it an 8, as garage floor paint maybe a 4.

If I had it to do over again I'd use a different color (like blue) and NO paint chips. I'd put it on a little thicker, and clear coat with traction additive. I spent very little on it, even with the diamond grinder rental I think it was under $100 per bay. I'm sure there are better products out there, but my next door neighbor has his done for $2500 and his doesn't look any better.
 
Polyurea/Aspartic vs Epoxy

I'm going to have my present epoxy floor stripped and recoated. I've read this thread and it comes down to one basic question for me. What to have put down. I've recieved two estimates one for industrial epoxy and one for Polyurea/Aspartic. Both claimed they are the best. The Polyurea/Aspartic is less brittle than Epoxy but I dont know about durability. Any floor experts/chemical engineers on the forum care to chime in? thanks
 
I painted my garage floor prior to building my -10 in 2010. I used a water based paint, etched the surface prior to painting. The paint required wetting the floor during the application process. It took two coats and as I recall was around $600 for the three car garage floor. After the project was moved to the hangar in 2012 and cars have been in the garage ever since. The floor has never chipped up and essentially looks like new with the exception of where I dripped paint, epoxy, and overspray. Unfortunately I don't remeber the name of the product.
 
SMO said:
I started with Rustoleum, but was so unimpressed with the results decided to put in Racedeck flooring instead. Was pricey, but easy to install as it snaps together. Gives good cushioning both for dropping stuff and easy on the feet. The only downside I have found is that it expands dramatically if directly in the sun (for example when the shop door is open), and causes heaving. Goes away when the area is shaded again.

Another benefit is you can get different colours and make your own pattern. I definitely would do it again - a lot of hours are spent here.
Click to expand...

I know this is very old but how has the Racedeck held up over the years? I just emailed them for info.
 
Wow, that was 12-13 years ago. We moved in 2011, but I pulled up the racedeck from the old shop and took it with me. New shop is quite a bit bigger so I bought more racedeck and tiled the whole shop. Product holds up real well but is a bit difficult to keep clean. If I had to do it again......I would do it again!

Empty%20Shop.jpg
 
Thank you. I've owned hangars for decades and have always wanted to paint or epoxy the concrete but always hear the horror stories so I've resisted the urge.

Now I have 3 hangars I poured in the last year and that devil voice has come up on my shoulder again telling me to do it while the angel voice is on the other shoulder is telling me not to :)

I saw your post and googled the company and see they have a few more products that lock together the same way and seem easier to clean since they're solid without holes.

Also since it's been so long maybe their patent has expired and they have competition at a better price. Either way I emailed them so we'll see.

Thanks again for replying to an old thread !
 
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