I have epoxied 3 workshop floors and highly recommend epoxy over sealer. A couple of thoughts:
- The first floor i used the Rust oleum brand from the box store and it held up pretty good for the first year then started to fail. The other two i used the industrial epoxy from Pittsburg paints and it has held up for well over 3 years. The idustrial epoxies have 75 to 90% solids vice the 25 to 40% in the Rust Oleum brands so after the solvent evaporates you end up with a thicker coating. The industrial cost more up front but if you calculate the cost of three coats of RO, the industrial version is cheaper in the end.
- Even new concrete needs to be etched. You can by the acid etch materials at your paint supplier. You mix it with water and flood the floor and then rinse when done bubbling. The sales rep recommended scubbing it into the floor while it is bubbling in order to ensure it get a good etch for the paint to grab hold of. I rented a floor buffer from HD and used it to go over the floor several times while the etch solution was bubbling. Depending on the size of the floor a stiff shop broom will work too.
- The epoxy recommended that you use a squeegy so you get the right thickness, but you can use a thick nap roller if you want. The key is that you have to apply it thick enough to cure and seal properly. Different brands will recommend the roller nap thickness.
- No matter what expoxy or sealer you use it will be slippery when wet if you don't use some type of additive. My personnal experience is that the paint chips spread ontop of the wet paint will tend to last longer
garage flooring cincinnati. The silica additive provides better traction initially but tends to breakdown over time if you have any shearing action, ie. sliding material across the floor.
- No mater what what product you use, the prep work is the most important part of the process.
Good Luck,
Dave