Lorie's Garage Floor Makeover!

This weekend we undertook a big project to resurface our garage floor. It had two different colors of spilled paint randomly all over the floor (dark green and white-- LOVELY!!), along with 6+ years of oil stains and other unknown car liquids. Not very appealing to come home to every day. I have been wanting to do this for years, and this weekend, the kids were gone camping and the weather was nice, so it was just the right time.

Our intrepid handyman, Dave, helped us with this project since he had done it before. We bought the Quikrete Garage Floor Epoxy coating kits at our neighborhood hardware store, which you can have tinted in many different colors. We chose an olive green, and when you speckle it with the included flakes, it looks kinda like granite, if it ever naturally occurred that color.(?) (you can click on all of these photos for a larger version) Anyway, it looked good with our cabinets and we love it!  Basically you buy one kit per garage bay. We also chose to buy the optional clear sealant to put on at the end. It's about $60 per kit, so the cost for the 3-car garage was $180 for the epoxy coating and $120 for the sealant.

It's a 3-day operation... Friday we took everything out of the garage and got the paint off with this stuff called Jasco (thank goodness for that magical potion!). Then we applied the detergent/etcher that comes in the Quikrete kit. This prepares the surface so that the epoxy will bond properly.

After it dries for 24 hours, you can do the epoxy coating. You paint with a normal paint roller in little sections and then sprinkle the flakes on it in a nice pattern. Saturday Dave did the rolling on of the coating, and my husband followed behind doing the sprinkling. Here is a photo of my sweetie sprinkling the flakes on one of the last sections at the end. It's kind of like a parmesan cheese shaker!

Sunday, after it dried another 24 hours, we put on the final clear coat. Now we are supposed to wait to park our cars on it until at least Wednesday (sigh). Here is a photo of the final product. We keep going out there to admire it!

I realize there are a lot of garage companies out there who do this as a service, and they claim to have higher-quality epoxy, etc. I am sure that is probably true, but this works for us right now and I will let you know if it isn't holding up. However, it really may be worth your time to have someone completely do it for you, since it is pretty time-consuming.   

I hope you like it! It was fun to do... I really believe in making your home a nice place to come home to, and this is the first thing I see when I am driving in.

Comments

[Connie]

Does your new floor get slippery when it is wet? Our garage floor is just horrible and this might help.

[Lorie Marrero]

Hi Connie,

Our floor is not slippery when wet, but I think that is because our concrete was "broom finished" when it was originally poured... meaning there are a lot of streaks across it that roughen the surface. The kit we used comes with this grit that you can add to the clear coat that is supposed to be non-skid, but we didn't use it. I think the flakes that you sprinkle on also make it less slippery.

- Lorie

[Megan @ Disorder2Order]

I have been wanting to do this forever too Lorie, it's nice to hear your perspective on the project. I appreciate your breakdown and oh my, it looks fantastic! Great job and keep admiring how nice it looks...

[Connie]

Thanks Lorie! If I try it I will let you know

[Sherry Eastman]

Hi Lori,
Found your info interesting as we just did the Quikrete Epoxy Coating last weekend. We followed the prep instructions to the letter. The surface came out with numerous areas dull, then others glossy. We were told this is caused by the porous differences in the concrete and the way the product absorbs. Did you notice this with your floor?

We are considering following up with the clear topcoat application as well. Does it give the surface a more uniform tone? Does it give a semi gloss or high gloss finish?

Would appreciate your input as this is a fairly new product with not alot of information out there to review. Thanks Sherry

[Lorie Marrero]

Sherry,

We did get some uneven areas as far as the gloss and even the color, but it did not matter that much to us. We did do the top coat and it evened it up pretty well. I would say it's more of an eggshell or semi-gloss finish. I think the top coat is really important.

In the meantime, it's holding up pretty well, if anyone is interested in an update. There are some "milky" spots on it where the top coat may have been put on too thick or something, but overall, we are still going out to admire it all the time!

- Lorie

[Ben]

Hi Lorie,
Great job. I just went to Lowes to buy the Epoxy Garage kit from Rustoleum. They had Quickrete there as well. Have you done any comparisons with the epoxy products before buying the Quickrete? I was wondering which was better or if I should choose a different brand altogether.
Thanks!
Ben

[Lorie Marrero]

Ben,

I don't have any personal experience with Rustoleum's kit, but I would compare the two and see if one makes any particular claims about drying time, guarantee, etc. over the other. We used Quikrete because our handyman had already used that kit before with another client.

Thanks for commenting!
- Lorie

[Ben]

Thank you Lorie,

I will probably stick with Rustoleum Epoxy for Garage for my current project. Probably wait til the weather is a little warmer consistently before starting. If I find anything interesting with my DIY project, I will be sure to post it here.

Ben

[Ben]

Thank you Lorie,

I will probably stick with Rustoleum Epoxy for Garage for my current project. Probably wait til the weather is a little warmer consistently before starting. If I find anything interesting with my DIY project, I will be sure to post it here.

Ben

[Justin Krauss]

Hi,

Have you considered using products other than epoxy on your garage floor? Have you had any issues with Hot Tire Lifting? Did you consider the use of garage floor mats or garage floor tiles?

Justin Krauss
Operations Manager
JNK Products, LLC
http://www.jnkproducts.com

[Lorie Marrero]

Hi Justin,

I have not had any problems with the floor... so far so good! We just went with this solution because the person helping us already had experience with the product and it was a quick decision. I have seen floor tiles before and they look great too. I know there are lots of other great options out there, and it looks like your site has several. Thanks for participating in the discussion!

- Lorie

[Justin Krauss]

Let us know if you want to do a section on some garage storage. We would love to help. Great site

Justin S. Krauss
Operations Manager
JNK PRODUCTS LLC
877.873.3736 Ext 201
http://www.jnkproducts.com

[Justin Krauss]

Let us know if you want to do a section on some garage storage. We would love to help. Great site

Justin S. Krauss
Operations Manager
JNK PRODUCTS LLC
877.873.3736 Ext 201
http://www.jnkproducts.com

[Erik]

Hi Lori,

I was wondering if you could tell me the exact name of the clear you used. Was it this http://www.quikretecoatings.com/quikrete/highglossSealer.jsp

Reason I ask is that when I went to Lowes the guy told me that if I went to Dunn Edwars I could get a clear epoxy top coat there to apply over the "Quikrete Kit". For some reason none of the home centers around me sell the Quikrete Clear. Anyways, both Dunn Edwards and Vista Paints (Professional Paint Suppliers in my area) said that they would NOT recommend apllying their brand or anyone elses over different manufactures epoxy paint. I really want a clear and on the Quikrete site it says apply their epoxy clear over a 1 part exposy paint. The kit is a 2 part.

Any ideas?

Thank you - Erik

[Lorie Marrero]

Erik,

We used this:
http://www.quikretecoatings.com/quikrete/epoxyPremiumClear.jsp

After we used this:
http://www.quikretecoatings.com/quikrete/epoxyGarageFloorCoat.jsp

We did not use the sealer product you referenced.

I hope this helps!
- Lorie

[Suzette]

What color of flakes did you use with the Olive base?

[Lorie Marrero]

We used the "tan mix" flakes.

Hope that helps!
- Lorie

[garage floor coating]

This is an extremely well done job, congratulations.

[Carolyn]

Hi Lorie,

We just bought the kit and are applying it tomorrow. Is yours still holding up well?

Thanks,
ck

[carlos cubilette]

Hi lorie, I was wonder if could appy two gallon for 2 day twice clear coat top , it that make the floor more thick with same brand ??..

[Lorie Marrero]

Hi everyone- still holding up great! In fact, just this weekend my kids did a project and oversprayed white spray paint on it-- I was kind of upset until I realized it would come off rather easily with some cleaning solution and a cloth. So that is fantastic! As far as Carlos' question, I think that is one for the manufacturer. I would recommend calling Quikrete to ask them.

- Lorie

[Jeff]

Been thinking of doing this. Thanks for the great article and photos. I plan on doing when the weather is a bit nice.

[David]

Hi,
I think I have a problem putting down the Quikrete epoxy system. I've used 4 different garage floor cleaners including Quikrete Oil Stain Remover (to remove 40 years of oil drippings,etc.) Last night I finished using the Bond Lok which comes with the kit, but was disappointed to find that on one quadrant of my garage floor, the Bond Lok did not "fizz" like it was supposed to. I had planned to paint the epoxy today, but I'm concerned that the area that didn't fizz won't hold the epoxy. Apparently you didn't run into that problem, but I wondered if you had any suggestions. I'm considering getting some plain Muriatic acid to etch that nasty quadrant, but I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary.

[Lorie Marrero]

Hi David, I have only done surfacing on my one personal garage so I have no idea what to tell you here-- sorry! I do know that when we had a question we called the Quikrete support line and did get to speak to someone who was helpful. I am sure they could point you in the right direction. Thanks for reading and commenting!

- Lorie