Does anyone have experience with concrete paint?

[JCS_in_KY]

Hopefully it's ok to ask this here, it's the building where I'm going to be storing my tractor so it's somewhat tractor related.

I recently had a 3120 square foot slab poured for a new metal building on our property. The guys that were doing the work came from out of town and were staying in a local motel. They poured the main floor late in the day and tt was cold so the concrete took a long time to setup enough to get a trowling machine on. It was about 11 PM and they told me they were going back to the motel to sleep for 2 hours and then they were going to come finish the work up. When I went out the next morning at 6:30 I found that they hadn't come back during the night. Turns out they went back, and fell asleep for hours. By the time they got on the floor with the machine it was setup so much they couldn't get out several high spots. Now I'm going to pay someone to come in and grind the high spots down but then I'll need to paint the floor to make it look right. I need a fairly thick finish to help hide some of the defects and I want something durable. Any ideas on what paint to use?
John

 

[Wesdor]

We just finished a new home in November and I want to paint the garage floor. I purchased floor paint at Menard's but the weather turned cold before I could paint. When I read the instructions, this paint said to not use it if the temperature of the concrete or air was less than 50.

I'm guessing you are going to find out much the same. I plan to give it an acid wash next spring and then paint.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Hiya JCS, how goes it? God, what a pain in the a$$ for you that those guys fell asleep! I run toward the (recovering) perfectionist side, and that would have flipped me right out. But you know what, like anything else in life, best to look at the good things that come out of any situation. With every really bad thing that happens to us, there is always a good part of it. And sometimes, as in the case of your floor, you end up being better off in the long run - I think you're really going to like having a (2-part epoxy) painted floor.

I put a lift into one of my three bays, and decided to epoxy the floor in the lift area. It really is nice, and has a lot of advantages. The main thing is that it's easy to keep clean! A lot easier to clean than concrete, that's for sure. Some hot water, powdered "Tide" and a mop and your shop will look like the one those two TV guys have who soup up the trucks and never seem to get dirty and their shop floor looks like it came from the lobby of the Trump Tower.

Anyway, it's just a nice way to work and it makes for a great-looking shop. If you drop a big blob of grease on the floor, you just wipe it up insted of smearing it into the concrete.

You'll have to wait a while from the time of the fateful pour, 30 days minimum but I'd go 2-3 months at least. You're going to be spending a lot of money to do 3,000 sq. ft., and you don't want moisture problems.

I believe you'll have to wash the floor down first with diluted muriatic acid, then rinse, then allow to dry well, like another day or two. My floor was about 20 years old and pretty grimy, yours will be easier to clean and etch.

That's the nice thing about having the floor painted. You can clean small areas, or the whole thing, in stages if you want. You'd probably never be wanting to splash muriatic acid around in your shop to clean a concrete floor, and it would just keep getting dirtier and greasier. A good tough epoxy floor could stand up to probably 50 scrubbings with a nice powerful floor cleaning machine if you want it looking like new.

As far as brands, I used a good top-grade Rustoleum 2-part epoxy that I got from Grainger. Home Cheapo carries it too, might not be the same grade though. I would think that any brand-name 2-part epoxy you can get the best deal on would be the way to go. I'd definitely get it in 5's, 1 gal. cans would kill you. You might need 15-20 gallons to do your floor, more if you put a second coat, which might not be a bad idea at all. Now's the time. It's not a bad job, sure beats painting a ceiling. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif I happen to like the nice light-to-medium gray.

Anyway, good luck with it, enjoy your nice epoxy floor, and hey, you might even get your own TV show out of it - "Pimp My Tractor, with JCS". Don't forget to give me a "shout out" during your Emmy Award acceptance speech. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

John D.

 

[aloha]

You might try something like Tamoseal. As its name implies, it is intended to be a concrete sealer, but probably would be good for your purpose, too. I just used it to seal a CMU foundation and was impressed with the way it went on. It did an excellent job of filling the pores of the CMU blocks and with 2 coats gave a fairly uniform appearance. It comes in at least 3 colors, including light gray. Its surface would be less slippery than epoxy or similar. I have no idea how well it would wear.

The manufacturer says "TAMOSEAL is a portland cement based material for positive side waterproofing of concrete potable water vessels. TAMOSEAL is polymer modified (with AKKRO 7T) and when properly applied becomes an integral part of the surface. TAMOSEAL fills and seals the pores and voids in the surface but allows full breathing."

Tamoseal

 

[BB_TX]

I have a similar 1200 sq ft building. I just used the basic grey floor paint from Home Depot. Easy to put on and looks good and, as previously mentioned, makes cleanup a lot easier. Grease/oils clean up with a little soap and water. And also eliminates the inherent concrete dust. But. I sorta wish I had gone the next step and put on one of the epoxy based coverings. Not that I really needed it, but they sure look nice.

 

[Deerlope]

Go to any building suppy store and ask what they have for a concrete sealer. When I built 10 years ago the concrete guy had me get a clear saeler made by UGL, he said that I could roll it on or put it on using a pump-up garden sparyer. I oped for the sparyer. Worked super.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

Just be aware that concrete sealers have changed a lot in the last couple of years. We just built a new house last year and the mason commented on how environmental regulations have forced out the really good sealers. So the stuff now might not be as good as the stuff you used 10 years ago. I am not saying to not use a sealer just do some homework first.

Eric

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Aloha, Aloha /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I like your suggestion about filling in voids or imperfections before painting, if the floor needs it. A coat of paint, epoxy or otherwise, won't make an irregular surface smooth.

But I just checked the Tamoseal website and in section 8: Cautions they say not to use Tamoseal on "traffic-bearing surfaces". I had suspected it wasn't for floors, but looks great for sealing concrete and masonry walls, tanks, ponds etc.

To the original poster: I've seen many other products that are used to smooth concrete floors prior to tiling, installing carpet, etc. Maybe check first to make sure they're compatible with epoxy paint if you go that route.

I still strongly advocate using the 2-part epoxy - while it's slightly more "slick" than concrete, it has never been an issue for me. Plus, that slight "slickness" is what gives it its good qualities like appearance, toughness and washability. (I've always heard that the glossier a finish, the more durable it is).
And the two-part epoxies will outlast a one-part paint probably 5 to 1 - one of those "pay me now, or pay me later" deals (although that line came from a commercial for Fram oil filters, which I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy).

By the way, I hope the "Snooze Brothers" are paying for all of this - did they have liability insurance? It sounds as if you have a doozy of a claim. I'm sure they're nice guys and all, but business is business. You screw up, and you or your insurance company, or both, pay up.

Good luck, John D.

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Just to recap - from JCS's original post:<font color="blue"> Now I'm going to pay someone to come in and grind the high spots down but then I'll need to paint the floor to make it look right. I need a fairly thick finish to help hide some of the defects and I want something durable. Any ideas on what paint to use? </font>

 

[JCS_in_KY]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I woke up this morning with a bad cold but when I'm feeling better I'm going to go up to Lowes and check to see what they carry. We've got a small local hardware store here but they are terribly expensive and all they carry are the 1 gallon / quart two part combos packed with the flakes to mox in and a DVD about application, all in a fancy box for almost $90.00. I know I can do quite a bit better if I find the 5 gallon cans.
To answer your question about who is paying for it, we've withheld final payment on the building and are making deductions for grinding, paint, etc. Unfortunately this contractor came highly recommended from the company I purchased my building from and they turned out to be a bunch of flakes. It only got worse as they got further into the project. The worst of the damages after the slab incident included taking my brand new 12x1`12 curtain rolling door, laying it on the back of their truck bed and on their scaffolding and getting a bunch of large dents in it. The directions with the door say to only lift it using soft forklift blades or something similar. Hopefully we can get everything straightened out soon, it's frustrating to have a new building sitting there and not be able to use it because of water leaks, not being able to close the door, uneven slab.
John