Painting a New concrete floor

[Engine Mike]

I am in the middle of building my new pole barn. Concrete just poured this week. I wondered if anyone has any advice on putting a protective coating on it. Paint or sealer or something else. I would like to protect it from leaking machinery or anything else that may spill. Anybody have any experience with concrete coatings?

 

[glennm]

If it's polished epoxy is great. I have it in my garage and it will last for ever! Must be a proper commercial epoxy though

 

[Bird]

Our daughter and son-in-law put this on their garage floor:

Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield 1-gal. Semigloss 2-Part Epoxy Garage-Floor Coating Kit-203006 at The Home Depot

I liked it so much that I did our garage floor, in the other color and with help from the son-in-law. We did our garage floor on March 30, 2012, so it's over 2 years old and I'm very happy with it.

Son-in-law did say he had done his Mother's garage floor and that she parked a hot car with hot tires on it too soon and some of the paint pulled loose on her tires. So I didn't put the cars in the garage for a couple of days, and I put down some of the thinnest, cheapest little carpets I could buy to be under the wheels; still have them there, but I take them up occasionally to wash out the garage floor and no damage to the paint yet.

 

[boggen]

there is a huge amount of coatings out there. every product is going to be different, and you need to pay extra attention to manufacture statements. some may want some sort of special chemical put down and then thoroughly washed off, some may require X amount of days for concrete to cure, to needing multi primer like coats to be put down first. again every product out there even products from same manufacture. read the instructions, and if unsure, call manufacture first.

PREP WORK can be a very big thing in how well things work, and not having any blistering or pealing later on down the line.

being that this is a week old, concrete has not has initial "curing" done, ya you might be able to walk on it, but it may take 30 or so days or longer before you can put anything on it. again double check the product instructions and with manufacture.

 

[Bird]

Well put, and all good advice, Ryan.

 

[crackerjack222]

I did my garage 20 years ago with 2-part epoxy (Sherwin Williams, I think). It still looks good, there are some stains where the tires run and sit, but there has been no peeling. Oil spills wipe up, easy to sweep or mop. It does get slick when wet. I would do it again in a heart-beat.

 

[AStanton]

They also make snap-together rubber tiles for a garage floor. This might be another way to go. If the tiles get stained or damaged, you can replace em. Just be sure to buy extra tiles, so you will have some on hand to do the replacements.
As a side note, someone I knew did the epoxy finish on his garage floor. The floor was wet in one area, and the man's wife did a Dixie and fell. I would recommend mixing in a sand finish, if you think this could be a problem for you. The man's wife now walks with a cane and blames her husband.

 

[s219]

Be sure to wait long enough for the floor to fully cure. Otherwise there will be moisture buildup under the paint and it will bubble up. How long to wait depends on the floor thickness, mix type, etc. But at a minimum, I'd say 30 days. Someone else may know better.

By the way, you could have had the concert burnished to give it a protective skin. We did that in our garage, and it's amazing how liquids bead off. Eventually stuff will sink in, but it takes hours. That was new to me.

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

Ive used a Sonneborn Kure n Seal product on my driveway, patio, and brick edging, not cheap $100 for 5 gallons. Its a conctrete sealer, Ive seen highway workers use it in a pump sprayer on new concrete. I don't think a pump sprayer gets enuff coverage. 2 coats (criss cross on 2nd coat) using a wide, low nap roller. It sure stinks putting it down, also slick when wet. It fills in the pores and keeps stains & salt from getting thru. I would do it again and when I concrete my barn, I'm seriously thinking of doing it, probably will. Also wait at least 30 days. It does darken it, almost looks wet all the time. Almost like an epoxy.

 

[Tollster]

You can tape a clear piece of plastic on the floor over night, sat one square foot, and use duct tape all the way around, if it shows any moisture over 24 hours, refrain from painting of coating as it will peel and blister, leading to a much bigger job.