Epoxy Floor Coatings Reviews

Review by blink32:

First, shame on Amazon! PA distro center knowingly sent a damaged case of floor coating. How do I know it wasn't damaged in transit you say? Because the exterior shipping box was 100% in-tact but inside the items box was wrapped in 4 heavy clear plastic bags and knotted. It seems that the can of grey coating (not the activator) was opened/damaged in storage and rather than toss the product the shipping monkeys elected to just wrap it up and fullfill the order. Well, it didn't leak out of the plastic bags but the product was ruined and I had to wait another 4 days for a replacement to ship. The only saving grace is Amazon is good about replacements and I've never been hassled.

On to the product. These Rust-Oleum Pro Floor coatings are the High-end of the Low-end. They are solvent based products whereas you can probably only get water based versions at your local big box store depending on your states regulations. The box advertises coverage at 250 sq ft and my single garage came in right around 240 sq ft. There was plenty to do the floor. I was worried about not having enough at first but my fears were unfounded in the end.

No problem spreading the coating. Came with plenty of decorative chips. The concrete flooring I started with was approx 60 yrs old. 60 years of dirt, grime, grease, oil, damage and 2 coats of paint. Prep is always the key with ANY kind of coating. There are many products advertised, methods recommended, etc, here's what I did. Emptied out the garage, swept out the area, scrubbed down with stiff bristle brush and Purple Power cleaner, power washed with steam/hot water pressure washer (this removed all the floor paint that I didn't realize was there because it was so dirty), scrubbed down with TSP (as a test), scrubbed down again with Purple Power, etched the concrete with HCL (I couldn't get Muratic acid) and let it dry. Each step of this process was followed with several washing of clean water to ensure any contaminates were removed. Then I let the concrete dry for 3 days. This whole process occured over two weeks because of the bad product being shipped.

From there it was essentially just following the directions and laying the product down. I did one extra step. After the base coat had been down for 24hrs I put down the Rust-Oleum Pro Clear Coating product down. Goes down just like the base coat, no prep necessary if it's within 48hrs of the base going down. I left out the anti-slip grit included as I feel the decorative chips give enough grip because the clear coat isn't so thick that you end with a perfectly smooth surface. Let dry for 24 hrs before I started moving equipment back into the garage. After 72 hrs was able to park on it but didn't for about 1 week because of other issues.

End Results: I'm in it for about 0 total between the base, clear and some supplies I didn't already have, product has been down for 3 summer months now and I'd do it again. So far no hot tire pickup, it has cut down on the dust and dirt in the garage tremendously, can walk out there without shoes on with no problem and is easy clean up. Haven't done any heavy garage work yet this summer as I haven't had time but I've dropped hammers and heavy metal parts with no significant damage to the coating. If you get down to the clear you can find a scratch where it hit but you are unable to discern that scratch/rub mark at any distance over 6". Extended long term performance has yet to be seen but no issues with the East Coast heat nor extended amounts and weeks of rain. If I had a double car garage I would be seriously looking at other brands of products. It would cost approximately 0 to use Rust-Oleum (2xbase and clear coat kits) whereas you could step into the mid-tier brands with better solids %'s for anywhere from

Quikrete® Tan Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

QUIKRETE® products contain a special resin technology that works to maximize the bond between the floor coating and the concrete. This bond is 2-times stronger than the concrete itself, extending the life of your finish and giving you maximum durability.

• 2-times stronger than concrete for the toughest garage floor
• One coat gives a beautiful semi-gloss finish
• Durable high solids 2-part water-based epoxy
• One kit covers 250 square feet

Price: $ 84.95

-0 more.

Review by Grant:

Excellent coverage; covered well more than the stated minimum. You should plan on mixing less than all of the product if you have a small garage; you can't save it for later once it's mixed. Covered very well; only one thick coat with the supplied multi-colored flakes completely covered my bare concrete floor. I'd highly recommend that you also use the matching Rustoleum Premium clear coating, especially if you use the flakes. If all you want is one solid color then two coats and no clear would probably be fine and durable. I used all of the supplied flakes (which is supposed to be enough for a two car garage) in my one car garage and it looked just right. I'd recommend getting extra flakes/chips if you are doing a two car garage unless you like it very lightly flaked (in which case you'd probably have difficulty getting a very even light coverage of flakes). Went down very easy and allowed plenty of working time. Easy to follow and complete instructions were provided.

Review by M. Engleman:

I could not be more pleased with the epoxyshield product line. I started with epoxyshield paint - I used the tan with the color flecks. The final look exceeded expectations. My wife took one look and asked when I would be doing her floor. I allowed the floor to dry fully and then applied 2 coats of epoxyshield premium clear coating (spaced 12 hours apart). The results were phenomenal! The floor looks like there is a thin layer of water over it. Very high gloss.Anyway my results were outstanding. I recommend 2 thin coats vs. one thick coat. (In order to apply one kit as 2 coats you have to mix 1/2 of each part for the first application and then 1/2 again for the second. To do this I bought (3) 1 gallon plastic paint buckets (Home depot) with markings on the side (like measuring cups) I then poured all of part A into one, all of Part B into another and then poured 1/2 of each into the third. After mixing part A and part B I poured the mixture (little by little) directly onto the garage floor and spread it out with a roller. This technique worked well and allowed me to avoid an epoxy filled paint tray. Also, I was able to use a single kit for 2 full applications to my single car garage. My neighbor took one look and told me his buddy just paid 00 to have his garage floors done professionally and my floor looked better!

Review by William Liebrich:

I used the gray w/ flakes and then the clear coating. After reading reviews, I was hesitant, so I talked to the guys at my local hardware store. This family has run this store for over 50 years and they are true DIY-ers. Sure enough 2 of them had used it and they brought me to a section of the store that they used it (marine). "Preperation is Everything!" was repeated at least 5 times. If you have older cement, 2 coats is a must or you will get different looking patches. I broke all the rules with this, I did walls, wood trim, stairs and a counter on the patio. Prep time was a full day, I mixed half the paint and did a second coat the next day and I painted paint board for a wall. 2 days later I did the clearcoat w/ anti skid powder. I have also done the tan on a cement patio (fully covered/no sides). This is a heavily used garage and full BATHROOM with walls. My sons use this as there main bathroom. The garage has projects with power and hand tools constantly. They look perfect. Grease & oil, other paint, plaster, glue, cars, dropped tools and a grill have not left even a chip. The only spot on all of this is a small PVC primer drop. That came when I added the shower stall to the bathroom. That's what the paintboard was for. So I've used these products on a lot and 2 months later it still looks great. Now I have friends asking me to do it for them. One was quoted nearly 0 for a 2 car garage. Remember, different spots absorb different amounts, your acid wash won't correct this, a second coat will. The clearcoat's coverage was well above what was listed. The colored paint is close. I was also told not to lay it too thick and followed those instructions. The second coat makes a huge difference and I didn't bother useing clearcoat on the patio. I figured a dropped plate or fork doeasn't compare to a dropped vise in the garage. This Stuff Rocks!!! and if it comes out wrong, you prepped wrong. Preperation is everything along with following the instructions regarding surface applications and time. Get a long extention handle for your roller for the second coat. My patio was only a few years old so I did the second coat in an hour with the full mixed batch followed by more requests at every gathering to do this coating for others. DIY folks, proceed with confidence, you will love this product.

Review by blink32:

First, shame on Amazon! PA distro center knowingly sent a damaged case of floor coating. How do I know it wasn't damaged in transit you say? Because the exterior shipping box was 100% in-tact but inside the items box was wrapped in 4 heavy clear plastic bags and knotted. It seems that the can of grey coating (not the activator) was opened/damaged in storage and rather than toss the product the shipping monkeys elected to just wrap it up and fullfill the order. Well, it didn't leak out of the plastic bags but the product was ruined and I had to wait another 4 days for a replacement to ship. The only saving grace is Amazon is good about replacements and I've never been hassled.

On to the product. These Rust-Oleum Pro Floor coatings are the High-end of the Low-end. They are solvent based products whereas you can probably only get water based versions at your local big box store depending on your states regulations. The box advertises coverage at 250 sq ft and my single garage came in right around 240 sq ft. There was plenty to do the floor. I was worried about not having enough at first but my fears were unfounded in the end.

No problem spreading the coating. Came with plenty of decorative chips. The concrete flooring I started with was approx 60 yrs old. 60 years of dirt, grime, grease, oil, damage and 2 coats of paint. Prep is always the key with ANY kind of coating. There are many products advertised, methods recommended, etc, here's what I did. Emptied out the garage, swept out the area, scrubbed down with stiff bristle brush and Purple Power cleaner, power washed with steam/hot water pressure washer (this removed all the floor paint that I didn't realize was there because it was so dirty), scrubbed down with TSP (as a test), scrubbed down again with Purple Power, etched the concrete with HCL (I couldn't get Muratic acid) and let it dry. Each step of this process was followed with several washing of clean water to ensure any contaminates were removed. Then I let the concrete dry for 3 days. This whole process occured over two weeks because of the bad product being shipped.

From there it was essentially just following the directions and laying the product down. I did one extra step. After the base coat had been down for 24hrs I put down the Rust-Oleum Pro Clear Coating product down. Goes down just like the base coat, no prep necessary if it's within 48hrs of the base going down. I left out the anti-slip grit included as I feel the decorative chips give enough grip because the clear coat isn't so thick that you end with a perfectly smooth surface. Let dry for 24 hrs before I started moving equipment back into the garage. After 72 hrs was able to park on it but didn't for about 1 week because of other issues.

End Results: I'm in it for about 0 total between the base, clear and some supplies I didn't already have, product has been down for 3 summer months now and I'd do it again. So far no hot tire pickup, it has cut down on the dust and dirt in the garage tremendously, can walk out there without shoes on with no problem and is easy clean up. Haven't done any heavy garage work yet this summer as I haven't had time but I've dropped hammers and heavy metal parts with no significant damage to the coating. If you get down to the clear you can find a scratch where it hit but you are unable to discern that scratch/rub mark at any distance over 6". Extended long term performance has yet to be seen but no issues with the East Coast heat nor extended amounts and weeks of rain. If I had a double car garage I would be seriously looking at other brands of products. It would cost approximately 0 to use Rust-Oleum (2xbase and clear coat kits) whereas you could step into the mid-tier brands with better solids %'s for anywhere from

Quikrete® Light Gray Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

QUIKRETE® products contain a special resin technology that works to maximize the bond between the floor coating and the concrete. This bond is 2-times stronger than the concrete itself, extending the life of your finish and giving you maximum durability.

• 2-times stronger than concrete for the toughest garage floor
• One coat gives a beautiful semi-gloss finish
• Durable high solids 2-part water-based epoxy
• One kit covers 250 square feet

Price: $ 84.95

-0 more.

Review by Grant:

Excellent coverage; covered well more than the stated minimum. You should plan on mixing less than all of the product if you have a small garage; you can't save it for later once it's mixed. Covered very well; only one thick coat with the supplied multi-colored flakes completely covered my bare concrete floor. I'd highly recommend that you also use the matching Rustoleum Premium clear coating, especially if you use the flakes. If all you want is one solid color then two coats and no clear would probably be fine and durable. I used all of the supplied flakes (which is supposed to be enough for a two car garage) in my one car garage and it looked just right. I'd recommend getting extra flakes/chips if you are doing a two car garage unless you like it very lightly flaked (in which case you'd probably have difficulty getting a very even light coverage of flakes). Went down very easy and allowed plenty of working time. Easy to follow and complete instructions were provided.

Review by Glenn G. Bruckno:

I was reluctant to try this on my garage floor, which endured thirty years of oil drips and was horrible to behold. The floor was a disaster. It was so bad I wanted to tear it up and pour a new one, but I thought I'd try an epoxy coating thinking that if I didn't like it, I could still tear up the floor. Preparing the floor involved a combination of extensive mechanical scrubbing, pressure washing, various detergents, solvents, acid, sweat, and blood. To make things worse, I didn't want to rinse everything out onto a finished driveway, and had to mop up the effluent rather than just spray it outside. Preparation was a time-consuming, miserable task, but the eventual results are nothing less than spectacular. It's been a year since I finished the job and it has held up well. I can't imagine a more cost effective and beautiful concrete floor covering.

Having read extensively about what this work would entail, I realized that inadequate preparation would guarantee failure. At first I thought pressure washing the floor would remove most of the oily crud. Wrong. I was surprised to determine a 1500 PSI washer was completely ineffective removing thirty years of thick, greasy, dusty crud. I then tried an electric drill with a wire wheel but the pressure required to remove the crud made the drill impossible to control. So, I was left to scrub every single square inch of my oversized three car garage with a wire brush and a metal scraper. I repeatedly filled my dustpan with pounds and pounds of icky black crud. The crud was very difficult to remove. It was a miserable job - several hours a day, every day, for about three weeks. I completely wore out two wire brushes, about an inch of the flexible metal scraper, a lot of skin from my knuckles, and my knees have just begun to recover.

After weeks of this hands-and-knees misery constantly regretting my decision not to bring in a backhoe, or dynamite, I rented a heavy commercial floor scrubber equipped with a wire wheel. This was a great idea - the wire wheel removed even more stuff that I couldn't by hand. The machine felt about as difficult to control as a helicopter but once I got used to it things went OK. I wore off about half of its wire wheel.

After each of the scraping routines, I scrubbed the floor with a hot Lestoil solution which helped remove more of the grease that couldn't be removed mechanically. I did this several times, followed up with the pressure washer, mopping up each time, until I was satisfied the Lestoil would remove no more.

Then, I finally applied the acid etch. It was rather dramatic, fizzing on some stains more enthusiastically than others. The previous owner must have spilled all sorts of interesting stuff in the garage. I repeated the acid etch, rinsing and mopping each time, until I was satisfied it would fizz no more. The acid conspired to dissolve the mop but I was done with it by then.

After several days of letting the bare concrete dry followed by blowing out wire brush pieces and dissolved mop crumbs with a leaf blower and broom, I finally had a floor which bore a slight resemblance to the little garage in the DVD, and was ready to begin the painting part of this painting project. The Quikrete kits contain everything you need, including acid etch concentrate and even a paint stirrer. I had everything masked off and ready to go, the weather was about 70F and dry. The paint goes on as advertised and there were more than enough flakes. The coverage estimate of 250 square feet was accurate, maybe even conservative, on my less-than-smooth floor. The entire garage took four gallons, and I had a little left over to coat some outdoor concrete patio stones (more on that later). After the misery of preparation the actual coating was easy. At that temperature I had about three hours before the epoxy began to set. You'll probably want to throw out your paint roller frame when you're done, and don't even try to clean the roller cover. Same with the brushes for cutting in - buy cheap brushes and throw them away.

I let the epoxy cure for about three days, much more than Quikrete specifies. I didn't want to take any chances!

After all this, the clear coat was comic relief to apply. It ought not to be considered optional - most of the flakes will stick to the base coat, but it's inevitable that some will crack when walking on them and you'll track them all over the place. Lighter colored paint and flakes will also get dirty very quickly, so be sure to include the cost of clear coat in your finishing project. If I had to do it over again I might have applied two coats of clear. It results in a beautiful shiny finish, but two coats may have resulted in a more uniform appearance. Quikrete claims coverage of 500 square feet which is again on the conservative side. It was simple to apply, but there's one thing they don't tell you - it will yellow considerably if applied in direct sunlight. After it cures, it may still yellow slightly in direct sunlight but the effect is minimal. Quikrete ought to make this known, or include some sort of UV protection. Don't forget to stir in the anti-slip granules - they're plastic beads that remain nicely suspended in the paint and are included in the clear coat kit. Omitting these will result in a very slippery floor.

So, after a year of car, foot, bicycle and Rollerblade traffic, the results are just spectacular. The floor cleans as easily as a countertop. No matter how much you sweep or clean a bare concrete floor, you'll pick up little bits of dirt that works its way into your house. Now, I want to take my shoes off before walking in the garage. It's that nice. The unexpected part is the patio stones - even though I didn't prepare them at all, the coating remains beautiful despite being placed on top of dirt and are constantly out in the weather. None of the coating has flaked off. Same with a piece of wood I treated just as an experiment - the coating looks just as nice as the garage floor despite being out exposed to the weather for a year.

I liked the result so much that I coated my entire basement floor, which was much easier since I didn't have the oil stains to contend with. All told I purchased eight garage floor coating kits plus another four of clear coat, at a total cost of well under 00 including materials and equipment. The garage and basement are beautiful.

If your floor is clean, this is a no-brainer. There is no better concrete floor covering at this cost per square foot. If your floor is a disaster like mine, be prepared to put the same effort into preparation as I did, since paying someone else to do it for you is likely to be prohibitively expensive. Either way you should be pleased with the results.

Review by B. Rodriguez:

I utilized this product (purchased from Lowe's home center) for a 20-year old garage floor. I watched the video and did my best to follow the instructions to the letter. I had a few stubborn oil stains which I probably should have spent more time on cleaning or used a more aggreesive chemical on.

However, the floor came out pretty good - at least all my friends and wife loved it. My biggest complaint was that it seemed to set up very fast after cutting in the expansion cracks and floor edges. By the time I rolled half the floor, it was getting very tacky and left roller marks, which I was not very happy with. I never intended on utilizing the color flakes, but I did so to hide the roller marks. In the end, I was very glad I used the color flakes, as they looked great. I feel that the product set up very fast on that very hot summer day. (it was already 90 degrees F. at 9 AM.) I started early when it was cool, but probably should have not started it due to the heat - the instructions don't really warn about this.

All in all, it turned out quite nicely, and within a month or two, I had two small chips come out of the floor where the heavy oil stains were - one due to hot-tire pickup. I think better preparation (even better than their instructions say) is required. The rest of the floor was very durable, added a lot of reflected light to the garage (light gray color) and looked professionally done (to my friends.)

I will probably use this same product again in my new house. The price was right, it was very easy to work with, and the amount of product supplied was sufficient. It comes with tons of color flakes if you want to go wild, but I only used probably 1/2 of what they gave me.