Garage paint

[Nutty_Death]

As part of a new extension, I'm going to have a new small storage / garage space that I'll use to store my bikes and turbo trainer. It'll be breeze blocks and concrete floor.

I'm thinking of painting the floor with an epoxy paint and the walls in a hard-wearing white paint.

Do you have any recommendations / tips?

I think some flakes in the floor paint might look nice, I'm happy to mix them in myself.

 

[jellybeard999]

2 part epoxy paint for the floor and any old cheap masonry paint for the walls

 

[GravyMonster]

Putting epoxy down on my single garage floor is on my todo list for this summer. I'm not going to bother with a glitter/flake in it though, just a plain red, black or dark grey. These guys have a good rep from what I've seen, so I'm likely to use them: https://www.resincoat.co.uk/en/paints/49-resincoat-hb-epoxy-garage-floor-paint.html

I've already painted the walls with Sandtex smooth white which went on well enough, but if I had to do it again I'd plaster the breeze blocks first as it's a PITA to cover them as they just soak up paint. It took 15l to do a single garage.

 

[eviled]

I used resincoat.co.uk, 2 garage kit with all the bits and pieces included.

Easy enough to get good results

 

[Nutty_Death]

Great, I was looking at resincoat too. Will work out whether I need to etch or prime in anyway. For the breeze blocks I read that you need to seal them first, with something like a diluted PVA or cement mix.

 

[GravyMonster]

That would probably work, but I don't like the bumpy finish so I'd definitely go with plaster if I had to do it again.

 

[eviled]

Great, I was looking at resincoat too. Will work out whether I need to etch or prime in anyway. For the breeze blocks I read that you need to seal them first, with something like a diluted PVA or cement mix.

I went with the damp primer as I found I didn't have a DPM under the concrete, but no actual damp

pics of the process are in the link in my sig.

 

[Nutty_Death]

I went with the damp primer as I found I didn't have a DPM under the concrete, but no actual damp

pics of the process are in the link in my sig.

That's an impressive thread. Makes me feel like some of the renovations I've been doing are superficial compared with yours...

 

[SoliD]

Cheap as chips white trade paint from screwfix for my walls. Couple of layers with no care in the world done in a few hours. If you want it perfect you'd have to put the effort in, but for me it's just about keeping the dust down and making the garage a bit lighter.

 

[Blinkz]

@Nutty_Death did you do this? @eviled I saw in your build you used resincoat? How did you find the application? How has it been since?

do you have any part of your floor that goes out under the garage door? If so is being exposed to the weather an issue for the epoxy?

I’ve not timed it hugely well as we’re heading into autumn but I’m keen to get it done ASAP before the winter.

Any info/tips would be amazing.

 

[Nutty_Death]

Not yet. Waiting on the never ending extension to complete first...

 

[eviled]

@Blinkz the floor is holding up great. Parked the car up on it for a while but have since been using it to store building supplies. The coating is very thick and any scuffs seem to run off easily. It does get slippy when wet.

As for tips, the stated coverage is pretty generous, I used the double garage kit for my 4.5 x 5m garage and it was just the right.
Any bigger and you’ll definitely need a second pair of hands to get it all down before it cures!
There’s also a minimum and maximum time in between coats to ensure proper adhesion so you need to get in all done in the right time frames. I think the minimum curing temp was 10 degrees but I managed mine in February with a small heater.

day 1 - acid wash and rinse
day 2 - fill large defect/cracks with epoxy filler
day 3 - epoxy primer coat - I used the damp tolerant as my slab doesn’t have a damp course
day 4 + 5 - 1st + 2nd coat of high build epoxy

 

[Blinkz]

@Blinkz the floor is holding up great. Parked the car up on it for a while but have since been using it to store building supplies. The coating is very thick and any scuffs seem to run off easily. It does get slippy when wet.

As for tips, the stated coverage is pretty generous, I used the double garage kit for my 4.5 x 5m garage and it was just the right.
Any bigger and you’ll definitely need a second pair of hands to get it all down before it cures!
There’s also a minimum and maximum time in between coats to ensure proper adhesion so you need to get in all done in the right time frames. I think the minimum curing temp was 10 degrees but I managed mine in February with a small heater.

day 1 - acid wash and rinse
day 2 - fill large defect/cracks with epoxy filler
day 3 - epoxy primer coat - I used the damp tolerant as my slab doesn’t have a damp course
day 4 + 5 - 1st + 2nd coat of high build epoxy

Appreciate all the info and tips. I’m going to empty the garage tomorrow so I can get a good look at the floor. It’s really dusty so I’m not sure if hiring a grinder for a day or two would be sensible to try and prep it as much as possible. Either that or the acid etching.

my other concern is by the two garage doors. My floor goes out past the doors for half a foot or so. I think I’ll have to stop at the doors as epoxy can’t deal with UV, plus might get wet whilst curing. I’m a little concerned about the line where the epoxy will end and whether it will get damaged with a car driving over it all the time.

 

[eviled]

My floor goes out past the doors for half a foot or so

mine goes over by only a couple of inches before the drain. I’ve done that area in epoxy but then I have a rubber threshold strip that actually covers most of the exposed area and separates the inside and outside nicely

 

[Blinkz]

mine goes over by only a couple of inches before the drain. I’ve done that area in epoxy but then I have a rubber threshold strip that actually covers most of the exposed area and separates the inside and outside nicely

ah excellent, glad it’s worked out well. What quality was your concrete floor before? I don’t have any cracks but a few little dips that area probably a little wide for the crack filler. I looked at the self levelling floor stuff but it seems over kill plus it costs a fortune!

 

[eviled]

Slab itself isn’t great, only 50mm onto soil but finish wise it’s fairly flat with only one central thin crack.

the epoxy can be laid on thicker in rough or uneven areas which even things out nicely, and probably explains my lower sqm coverage

 

[jpaul]

do you need to buy a proper ventilator when applying this ?
- for 2 part bike paints (even those w/o cyanide) they give off a lot of fumes, but maybe formulation is very different

 

[Burned_Alive]

Anyone considered regal paints instead of resincoat? Similar product but works out a fair bit cheaper. They've done some big projects like Wembley stadium as well.

I had a quote from a company to epoxy my single garage and they wanted 1300-1500 plus VAT so definitely going have a go at it myself instead.

 

[Burned_Alive]

Well after getting a second quote for resin garage floor at £2k (just for a single garage) and not wanting to risk messing my floor up by doing it myself in the cold weather, I think i'm going to porcelain tile the garage floor instead.

Should be more more hard wearing than resin, will probably look nicer and come out a lot cheaper.

 

[Nutty_Death]

Well after getting a second quote for resin garage floor at £2k (just for a single garage) and not wanting to risk messing my floor up by doing it myself in the cold weather, I think i'm going to porcelain tile the garage floor instead.

Should be more more hard wearing than resin, will probably look nicer and come out a lot cheaper.

Just resin it yourself. It can't be that difficult... £2000 sounds mental. It's just painting the floor with something that you have to work quickly with and be careful about how you roll.
To clarify I've still not done this but I'm not concerned about giving it a go once my extension is complete.