Garage floor: Sealer or epoxy?

[SailTrac]

I just had a new garage built, and the question is epoxy or a sealer? I live in Central New York, so snow, freezing temps, and lots of road salt will be applied almost daily to whatever I put down.
Thank you for your input and suggestions.

Mike

 

[MotorSeven]

If your going to do it don't chinch....the cheap paint/epoxystuff will not hold up at all and in 6 months will look like ****. The bad part is that the "good stuff" will cost over $70 a gallon. I can't advise on the sealer as I never tried any.

 

[frogfish]

and floor preparation is a big part to a successful application for the epoxy to last.

 

[9973720wb19]

check out this website for some floor options. I found it on a fourm called "the Garage Journal" ...Garage Flooring, Garage Floors, Garage Tiles, RaceDeck

good luck!

 

[jonyyuma]

Approach this very carefully, Epoxy has been applied here at work 3 times for same project. Plus it brings out ALL imperfections, don't expect it to cover large flaws...Kind of like when we painted the kitchen floor at home 12 gallons of primer, paint and several different colors for the patterns.

 

[Fixemall]

Clear concrete sealer from your mix supplier is your best bet, oil and grease will hose right off, epoxy etc will not handle prolonged exposure to salt, brake fluid, round up, and hot tires.

 

[Car Doc]

I have used sealer on one of my garage floors and I cant tell if its still working or not but an actual color cote would help imo.

I have done a concrete breezeway floor in china mart gray epoxy at my rent house and I like it a lot easy to clean its a visible covering, dont know how long it will last but it sure looks good for now.

 

[JB4310]

I used an expensive moisture cure, single part colored urethane on my basement floor that held up perfectly, but did not hold up good at all on my garage floor.

I would stick to a good quality clear sealer and just reapply when needed, works great for keeping the dust down.

JB.

 

[sawduster98]

I had good luck with a 2 part epoxy paint on my last garage floor. It lasted 4yrs before showing any problems however it was extremely slippery when wet. It was so bad that the company sent me replacement paint and silica sand to mix in.
I just built a 5 car garage and applied a sealer to the half that will be my wood shop. The parking area I left a little rough so epoxy paint has something to bite into. I'll do the 2 part epoxy again.

 

[beppington]

I've read that moisture in the concrete before applying the coating is about the biggest problem there is. And, if it's new concrete, it's prob still damp? There have ways to check it; you should research them as I can't recall how.

I wanted to paint our garage floor, & after reading so many horror stories of the coatings peeling, chipping, etc., I decided it wasn't worth the gamble/ money/ effort/ time, etc. Doesn't look that bad as-is, & could certainly look worse.