[DeTomaso] Garage floor options...

[Julian Kift]

I received the message  from Garth via the list earlier, so looks like his posting ability is resumed.


Julian


________________________________
From: DeTomaso <detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com> on behalf of Kurt Byrnes <kdb at kbyrnes.com>
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2017 1:16 PM
Cc: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Garage floor options...

>From Garth, until we get his posting ability back...


Kurt - Please forward this message to the list if it doesn't get
through.  Thanks!


Hi Bobby,

Perfect timing, as I just did my garage floor this weekend.  First of
all, don't waste your time and effort on a cheap hardware store epoxy
kit. After a little online research you'll find tons of forum posts and
videos of these systems failing.  The most popular hardware store kit is
the Rustoleum Rock Solid Polycuramine (whatever the hell that is?!)
kits. Note that they are only 1-2 mil thick when cured, compared to most
professionally installed high quality coating options which are 8-10 mil
thick, or thicker, depending on whether you do light flake or
full-rejection (complete coverage) flake coverage.

The tiles in Ed's pictures look like standard Armstrong Commercial Vinyl
Tile - probably the least expensive option for a durable surface. I was
first planning to do this - even went so far as to purchase all the
material at my local Lowe's, then talked with a friend who did this in
his garage about his experience. Found that if done in colder weather,
the tile glue took weeks to fully cure and set.  When he moved is car
into the garage 3 days after doing the job, all the tiles the car rolled
on moved!  He spent considerable effort re-setting those tiles to get
everything back into it's proper place. His floor is beautiful though,
but don't expect to do the job and put everything back into the garage
in a day or two.  I then decided to go with a "epoxy" floor - not I'm
using the term generically as there are 3 main types of "epoxy" systems
- epoxy, polyaspartic, and polyurea.

I went with the Nohr-S system from Legacy Industrial. Their primary
business is durable industrial coatings for the marine, oil, medical,
and lab environments. The primary benefit of the Nohr-S system is that
it has unlimited pot life, so you're not rushing to get it on the floor
before it cures in the tray.

Attached is the finished floor pic, taken this morning. And here's a
link to see more pics of the process.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxCZNwRStKBoQlFEekx2RUlJREU

For patching the cracks in my concrete I used the hardware store
Rustoleum patch kit - huge mistake as this stuff takes 24 hours to set
up and cure, which means that I spent way too many waiting for the patch
to cure so I could grind it smooth. Be sure to use the professional
crack patch kit from Legacy (or whatever vendor product you choose) as
it sets and cures within 30 minutes - would have saved me days!  I also
found that since the weather has still been cold, the primer coat took a
full 36 hours to cure before I could top-coat it.

Regarding the flakes and not being able to find a nut or screw if
dropped - very true according to friends who have done this. BUT, the
solid color floors show ALL the flaws in the floor!!!  I spent days
(weeks) grinding, and patching cracks and small inconsequential chips in
my floor that I probably shouldn't have spent the time on, and I was
surprised at just how bad my floor looked when the solid primer coat
cured. Every chip and ding from tools being dropped over the last 40
years stuck out like a sore thumb when it was in solid color primer -
and I thought I went to the anal extreme fixing all this stuff. The
flakes hide all the blemishes in the floor and are attractive, and now
it looks like a new floor!  I could have done a better job dispersing
the chips in a more even uniform pattern, but it was more challenging
than I thought to toss those things evenly - tossing smaller handfuls
would have been good.  However, once all my crap is moved back into my
garage you'll never see that the flakes are thicker and thinner in
different areas - it's only obvious with nothing in there now.

Do you plan to do this yourself?  If so, second set of hands this is
VERY helpful; almost a must!  In hindsight, I almost wish I hired a
contractor to do this - they would have come in with a crew of 4 and
knocked it out in a day or two. The two contractors I called for
estimates didn't call me back for over a week so I passed on them and
decided to do it myself.  I spent over $1,300 on the materials alone,
and another $160 renting a professional grinder for a day to prep the
concrete. I also acid etched it 2 weeks before applying the coating.

Email me directly if you have any other questions. I'm happy to share my
experience.

Cheers!
Garth
#4033





-------------- next part --------------
   I received the message  from Garth via the list earlier, so looks like
   his posting ability is resumed.

   Julian
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: DeTomaso <detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com> on behalf of
   Kurt Byrnes <kdb at kbyrnes.com>
   Sent: Monday, March 13, 2017 1:16 PM
   Cc: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Garage floor options...

   From Garth, until we get his posting ability back...
   Kurt - Please forward this message to the list if it doesn't get
   through.  Thanks!
   Hi Bobby,
   Perfect timing, as I just did my garage floor this weekend.  First of
   all, don't waste your time and effort on a cheap hardware store epoxy
   kit. After a little online research you'll find tons of forum posts and
   videos of these systems failing.  The most popular hardware store kit
   is
   the Rustoleum Rock Solid Polycuramine (whatever the hell that is?!)
   kits. Note that they are only 1-2 mil thick when cured, compared to
   most
   professionally installed high quality coating options which are 8-10
   mil
   thick, or thicker, depending on whether you do light flake or
   full-rejection (complete coverage) flake coverage.
   The tiles in Ed's pictures look like standard Armstrong Commercial
   Vinyl
   Tile - probably the least expensive option for a durable surface. I was
   first planning to do this - even went so far as to purchase all the
   material at my local Lowe's, then talked with a friend who did this in
   his garage about his experience. Found that if done in colder weather,
   the tile glue took weeks to fully cure and set.  When he moved is car
   into the garage 3 days after doing the job, all the tiles the car
   rolled
   on moved!  He spent considerable effort re-setting those tiles to get
   everything back into it's proper place. His floor is beautiful though,
   but don't expect to do the job and put everything back into the garage
   in a day or two.  I then decided to go with a "epoxy" floor - not I'm
   using the term generically as there are 3 main types of "epoxy" systems
   - epoxy, polyaspartic, and polyurea.
   I went with the Nohr-S system from Legacy Industrial. Their primary
   business is durable industrial coatings for the marine, oil, medical,
   and lab environments. The primary benefit of the Nohr-S system is that
   it has unlimited pot life, so you're not rushing to get it on the floor
   before it cures in the tray.
   Attached is the finished floor pic, taken this morning. And here's a
   link to see more pics of the process.
   [1]https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxCZNwRStKBoQlFEekx2RUlJREU
   For patching the cracks in my concrete I used the hardware store
   Rustoleum patch kit - huge mistake as this stuff takes 24 hours to set
   up and cure, which means that I spent way too many waiting for the
   patch
   to cure so I could grind it smooth. Be sure to use the professional
   crack patch kit from Legacy (or whatever vendor product you choose) as
   it sets and cures within 30 minutes - would have saved me days!  I also
   found that since the weather has still been cold, the primer coat took
   a
   full 36 hours to cure before I could top-coat it.
   Regarding the flakes and not being able to find a nut or screw if
   dropped - very true according to friends who have done this. BUT, the
   solid color floors show ALL the flaws in the floor!!!  I spent days
   (weeks) grinding, and patching cracks and small inconsequential chips
   in
   my floor that I probably shouldn't have spent the time on, and I was
   surprised at just how bad my floor looked when the solid primer coat
   cured. Every chip and ding from tools being dropped over the last 40
   years stuck out like a sore thumb when it was in solid color primer -
   and I thought I went to the anal extreme fixing all this stuff. The
   flakes hide all the blemishes in the floor and are attractive, and now
   it looks like a new floor!  I could have done a better job dispersing
   the chips in a more even uniform pattern, but it was more challenging
   than I thought to toss those things evenly - tossing smaller handfuls
   would have been good.  However, once all my crap is moved back into my
   garage you'll never see that the flakes are thicker and thinner in
   different areas - it's only obvious with nothing in there now.
   Do you plan to do this yourself?  If so, second set of hands this is
   VERY helpful; almost a must!  In hindsight, I almost wish I hired a
   contractor to do this - they would have come in with a crew of 4 and
   knocked it out in a day or two. The two contractors I called for
   estimates didn't call me back for over a week so I passed on them and
   decided to do it myself.  I spent over $1,300 on the materials alone,
   and another $160 renting a professional grinder for a day to prep the
   concrete. I also acid etched it 2 weeks before applying the coating.
   Email me directly if you have any other questions. I'm happy to share
   my
   experience.
   Cheers!
   Garth
   #4033

References

   1. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxCZNwRStKBoQlFEekx2RUlJREU