Thread: garage overhaul

Can you simply screed or render the floor? Or there are various plastic type surfaces that get poured on & left to set. No idea what any of those would cost, mind you. We used to simply paint the concrete floors of plant rooms, it was amazing what a difference just doing that made. ( Obviously we were using a paint fit for the purpose).

Not sure how 'budget' it is but a 2 part epoxy floor paint will fill small cracks and stay where it is put. You would need around 10 litres to do a double garage I would think. You can lay I'd down thick, and pour it into cracks and it will still cure perfectly well.

A light great colour make the whole place lighter, although if you have a 400 watt metal halide lamp going in there, you may need sunnys when you are in there.

You would get about 4-6 square meters per litre with epoxy.
Depending how cheap you want to be, 4 parts water to 1 hydrochloric acid and give it a good scrub then rinse thoroughly!
Wait for it to dry, splash a bit of water in several spots, if water soaks in, great, of it beads up you will need to wash it again.
Other option is diamond grind it. This without a doubt is the best prep you can do!
Then 2 coats of something like Dulux durebild ste will see many many years good looking floor!

Jazza, Boofla has bought up a good point on the prep work if you are going to paint your floor. If you want to go the whole hog and grind it, let me know and I should be able to organise a floor grinder and a set of diamond stones if you want.

Hi
I recently had to do a simlar job, the concrete was badly cracked due to ground pressure, We applied Bostik Seal & flex into the cracks to overcome any future movement. We then purchased a good quality concrete sealer of a suitable color, acid washed the concrete, applied the sealer and all looks good.

You might need to enlarge any small cracks with a small angle grinder using a diamond wheel so as to create a void large enough to get the flexible filler in at a sufficient amount to cope with the crack and further movement.

Use compressed air to remove any dust after you do the cutting & double check that your sealer will actually adhere to the Bostik sealent, some sealers are not compatible. Squeeze some of the filler out and let it dry and see if the sealer sticks to it.

You will need to remove any oil or grease from the floor this can be done with a good solvent degreaser and if in doubt use the angle grinder with a good wire brush fitted to it and scour off the oil stains.

As you apply the seal & flex to the cracks get an old dry sponge an pat it into place to achieve a rough finish to the filler that best matches the finish on your existing concrete.

The sealer will cost you about $120.00 for a 20 lt drum and will be more than enough to give you 2 coats. You will need to cut in around the edges with a paint brush and apply the rest of the area with a broom. The people that supply the sealer will advise you further.

Do the job in the early morning when the floor is dry, hot warm days can result in small bubbles over the floor as air trapped in small pin sized voids in the concrete expand due to increasing temps.

Hope this helps Andrew

Hi,

It looks like you already have plenty of good advice to work from.

For what it's worth I did mine with light grey Jotacote from Jotan Paints - their recommended contractor laid it for around $3500 five years ago and it's showing no sign of fading or wear.

My brother-in-law uses it on the floor of his earthmoving workshops and it is terrific. Oil spills are cleaned up with a shovel or two of cat litter and broomed off. It has had scrapers, front end loaders and all sorts off what not over it, dropped steel bits etc with little damage.

My own garage is a treat to work in, especially working under the truck - if the floor gets a bit dirty you just hit it with a broom or pressure washer.

Cheers,