Floor finish in the tractor garage

[laurencen]

We tried a epoxy several years ago in the machine shop, well things fall and a few chips appear, I used a pipe to roll a machine in and it tore up pieces, after a couple years it looked horible, my new shop used a sealer with a color in, now it looks good but the color wears off, still sealed but wish I had used a clear sealer

 

[o2batsea]

The best finish for concrete is....concrete!

 

[Highbeam]

You'll also burn holes in the coating when welding, grinding, or cutting metal.

Leave it as-is.

 

[TBDonnelly]

"build a semi-heated space for my tractor"

What does "semi-heated" mean?

In Newfoundland, Canada I bet just about everyplace is "semi-heated".

Don

 

[JonKioti]

Geez, no one got my sealer joke.

Semi-heated: As in, I can heat it to room temperature but will probably keep in a little below that. I put radiant heating pipe in the slab and it will be connected to my heat pump. However, it's probably not worth trying for room temperature during the snowblowing season. I will have the space insulated from the rest of the house.

Yes, the slab is poured (slab on grade, the place is built on it now). My first shop floor is just a sealer, but the amount of light needed is greater. Or, to put it another way, I'm hoping for a brighter space.

There's a car mat at Costco for about $200.00; it has that criss-cross design you'd see on metal platforms. It's about 8' x 18' I think. That was one idea...it's always good to see what others have thought of.

It was about 16 degrees C here today; that's 60 degrees F for those using the colonial scale.

Thanks for you suggestions!

Jon

 

[JonKioti]

OK, I am in the middle of applying finish and will post pictures shortly.

In the meantime, a word of advice for anyone else about to do this: If you train your dog to climb fences, ladders, and scaffolding, chances are they probably won't stop at a 3' barrier across a doorway!

-J.

 

[rimshot]

My tractor garage floor is troweled smooth and then I applied two coats of Thompson's Sealer. The power troweling probably sealed the surface sufficiently but the application of Thompson's made it real easy to clean up those fallen gobs of red grease that come off after one of those frequent lube jobs. I'm sure glad that the surface of the floor is not broom finished. Did you ever try to clean up a greasy spot on concrete that has been broom finished?


There is better stuff than Thompsons but it has worked real well for me. When applying Thompson's don't apply too much or your feet get superglued to the concrete. Two light coats are better than one flooded coat.

rimshot

 

[CurlyDave]

Did you ever try to clean up a greasy spot on concrete that has been broom finished?

I just pick up the grease blob with a putty knife.

If the grease has wicked into the concrete, I put a handful of oil absorbent, or kitty litter, down and then pour an ounce or so of paint thinner on. Sweep it around while it is wet, and let it dry before sweeping up.

Takes longer to explain than to do it.

The problem I have with a sealed finish is that water beads up and gets slippery. When I was 30, I didn't really care, but at 60+ I really don't want to slip and break something.

 

[JonKioti]

Thanks everyone, the comments were helpful.

It comes down to a few things to consider:

- Smooth floors are easier to clean but can be slippery when wet.
- Many coatings are suspect to wear, chipping, or hot metal when welding, grinding, etc.

I decided to go with the epoxy floor and see how long it stands up for my particular needs. There is a garage mat I could get should it be slippery.

I sanded a few areas where a lump formed by inadvertently including a bit of dirt, etc, before applying the final coat.

Attached are a few pictures, including aforementioned canine who saw nothing wrong with hopping over the barrier to come and find me - or tracking epoxy coating on my brick cobbles, either.

We'll see how this one holds up.

Cheers,

Jon

 

[accelrator]

I have applied ultimate linings polyurethane system for flooring .It's result amazing,see how it looks