Epoxy Floor Paint Recommendations?

[Joe in NH]

It is going to take a whole lot of climate change before I have to worry about condensation. I have some sodium silicate and was planning on applying it first as a sealer/densifier, maybe a radon blocker. This first area is the test bed for what I do with the rest of the areas.

Were it mine I would not "seal" the concrete prior to paint. For the same reason that oil doesn't soak into the concrete, paint might be "challenged" in its adhesion - which relies heavily on a "porous" surface to anchor.

Paint should supply all the barrier you need against radon which is hazard in the "gas" (Daughter's house/well has radon in her water to 5x the recommended federal limit - this is not unusual here in rocky Cow Hampshire)

Ventilation is far more valuable in reducing radon.

Joe in NH

 

[magneticanomaly]

We are planning to finish a concrete floor, too, and want to use sodium silicate. Having trouble finding source for dry powder/granular form, as opposed to liquid solution. Do not want to buy water....Can you recommend a source for dry form?

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

We are planning to finish a concrete floor, too, and want to use sodium silicate. Having trouble finding source for dry powder/granular form, as opposed to liquid solution. Do not want to buy water....Can you recommend a source for dry form?

I looked at the dry powder (amazon), did some reading and iirc it was a process to make it liquid, not just add water and stir, so I got 5 gallon concentrate (amazon).

Joe in NH
I have been waffling back and forth on whether to do sodium silicate seal on floor, for same reason you mention. I have a 5 gallon bucket of concentrate, 1 gallon to 4 gallons of water is what I read somewhere on mixing, have other places to use it, namely front porch (ceiling over the shop).

 

[RCPDesigns]

I did the Rustoleum two part and it worked great for me. It has been over 10 years. As already mentioned... it is an absolute slip and fall hazard if it gets wet... even with the flakes though those do help. I also have it in the garage and when it is raining and a car comes in soaking wet there are puddles. If you happen to not see one when you're moving quickly it gets interesting real quick. I did do the etch as there was oil/etc on the surfaces before I painted them.

 

[Frank R]

I want a solid color so have no intention of using the flakes.

You may want to check in with others who have used your paint without the flakes. I noticed after applying the wet paint that the gray color was unevenly distributed in the epoxy. It was not like a regular coat of paint.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

A light tan, do not care for the flakes, just want a solid color.

Better than green or blue, anyhow.

What do you think about red ? Or red with white trim ? Brighten the place up a little

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Better than green or blue, anyhow.

What do you think about red ? Or red with white trim ? Brighten the place up a little

I'm doing ceiling and upper half of walls in white, bottom 4 ft a light gray, plain outdoor satin latex paint. I think light tan floor will be brighter than red in terms of illumination, and easier to spot little dropped parts without the flakes.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

As usual I forgot to take any before pics, so snapped a few in progress pics yesterday morning. The wall seen in pic 2 has the asbestos drywall compound smeared on it, I am most likely going to paint floor first before it gets any cooler, then strip that wall before painting it. The piece of C channel welded to roof beam in pic four is for the light fixture, there is a reason its off center, can't wait to get rid of the light tower.

 

[dundeeshopnut]

Nice! Keep the pics coming. Not to hijack but there seems to be a lot of expertise in this thread, how well do these epoxy coatings hold up to hot slag or freshly cut or burnt metal landing on it? I would sometimes like to be rid of concrete dust, although it works well absorbing small oil drips/spills, and hey it's already "on scene".

 

[m-lud]

The floor color looks good. Keeping with all pastel colors is easy on the eyes. Your shop has an interesting ceiling and I see the arched what appears to be a concrete arched doorway. The building wasn't previously a bunker was it ?
It looks like something the military would build.
There's nothing better than rolling scaffolding to work on.

 

[Greg Menke]

can't wait to get rid of the light tower.

OMG I still remember how good it felt to close the master switch on the shop's breaker panel and get proper light in there for the 1st time in almost 100 yrs since the building was put up, then walk thru the yard rolling up the extension cord thinking "never again!" still had drop lights and clamp-on floods for a while but they were so much brighter on a proper circuit.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

I ended up going with the Rustoleum 2 part solvent based epoxy, ordered it thursday before last, did not arrive till Monday morning. Temps are dropping again tomorrow, so I got it down yesterday as it might be spring before it warms up enough to use epoxy again. Spent every day last week scraping up old paint and adhesives, grouting floor joints and patching divots, no idea if the patches will hold, but they look good for now.

Edit: This room was a test bed for what I want to do in the area I live in, solvent fumes were wicked last night in the shop area, I will try the water based epoxy in the living area.

Dundeeshopnut
My Tx shop had the SW epoxy paint, same shade I used here, if you cut/weld at table height most of the spatter/slag will be cool enough by the time it hits floor that it leaves minimal marks, hot steel landing on floor will discolor or burn it right off. If you weld/cut at floor level, expect to see damage. As for concrete dusting, that is what I am hoping to get rid of.

mllud22
No military connection, it was a small company town YMCA, built at a time where they knew how to build, I'm the first person to use it as a bunker

Greg
I'm still a ways away from that point, only 5750 sq ft to go to finish this floor

 

[dundeeshopnut]

Thank you Girl. Your experiences confirmed my thoughts. As some of the previously utilized met,, er crap I start with, I don't always get a beautiful clean cut, so a pile of molten slag [plus the offcut] which I really don't want to retrieve right away generally lays there until it chills a bit. Curious. From the sounds of this thread, are you planning to LIVE in part of your shop area?

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Thank you Girl. Your experiences confirmed my thoughts. As some of the previously utilized met,, er crap I start with, I don't always get a beautiful clean cut, so a pile of molten slag [plus the offcut] which I really don't want to retrieve right away generally lays there until it chills a bit. Curious. From the sounds of this thread, are you planning to LIVE in part of your shop area?

Its a 20K sq ft building, 4 floors, upper 3 were gutted by PO. I'm working on basement, its 3 areas, shop space, living space, and a swimming pool room.

 

[rons]

Maybe something stronger, like muriatic acid, instead ? TSP, in my experience, is not that aggressive.

TSP is not that eager to rinse away. It has to be scrubbed off.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

If the current paint is failing, you should probably strip it all. If you can rent a concrete grinder, that would be the way to go, I think.

Did you use the solvent based or water based Rustoleum epoxy? I used the Sherwin Williams epoxy on the Tx shop floor, the areas that only see foot traffic have held up well, the front area that gets real work done on it is in serious need of a recoat.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

thank you so much for your suggestion

Still interested in knowing if you used the water based, or solvent based Rustoleum? I used the solvent based in my new shop, but fumes would be too much for the living portion of the building, unless I moved out for a week minimum.

 

[dundeeshopnut]

Still interested in knowing if you used the water based, or solvent based Rustoleum? I used the solvent based in my new shop, but fumes would be too much for the living portion of the building, unless I moved out for a week minimum.

Do you really want painted concrete for your living quarters, especially being of the female persuasion? A guy maybe,,,, but even yours truly, once the boots come off at night, my tired socked feet much prefer a warmer and and a little bit softer surface than redimix.

 

[stoneaxe]

Do you really want painted concrete for your living quarters, especially being of the female persuasion? A guy maybe,,,, but even yours truly, once the boots come off at night, my tired socked feet much prefer a warmer and and a little bit softer surface than redimix.

A hard floor is the perfect excuse for finding nice oriental rugs!

 

[stoneaxe]

We have a tiny machine shop space as an assist to our wood shop. The floor is concrete, and after reading a lot on this board about floor paint, decided to forgo the various preps for epoxy. I mopped the one year old floor with TSP and water, mopped it again with white vinegar and water, and used a single part paint from sherwin marketed as a concrete paint. It can be tinted. The stuff went down well, but I was unprepared to have a "acrylic" product smell so much. It took months for the smell to go away. I suspect it had acid in it as a etching component.
On the other hand, it is stuck down tighter than a bulls ass in fly time. Can't get it off with a putty knife. Just took a look in the paint room, but the can is long gone, so can't recall the exact product- only that it was definitely not a two part mix.
I know you are going with epoxy, but figured this might help someone , sometime.