First Z Project: Prepping for the rest of the projects
 

So Father's Day is Sunday and my wife figured that the first project I should be doing for the Z is preparing my work space for the rest of the projects. So next weekend I'll have a "Blue Mix" garage floor with a high gloss coating on it. Should allow me to work on the Z while keeping myself and my garage a lot cleaner.



http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...aragefloor.jpg

thats cool, make the garage look 10X better


take some before, during, after photos.

Will be interested to see how this goes down. My garage floor is in a very sad state.

mine is pretty bad also, cement is chipping away and the top layer is cracking.....damn the G is heavy on it

My floor is also pretty terrible. Next weekend after I move everything out I'll start taking some pics. A friend of mine has done this once and he says that they really give you all the epoxy and chips you'll need plus more, so I should be able to lay it on thick.

I'll let everybody know how it goes.

Get up all the oil you possibly can with some kind of degreaser - like this. Use a stiff bristled push broom type of a brush. You can give the floor a short bath in muriatic acid to score it up for a little better adhesion. Also, make sure you follow whatever the box says for the wait time to park on top of it, last thing you want to do is roll your smoldering hot tires on top of that stuff before it's totally cured and drive away with it still attached to your tires the next day.

how much did it cost?

Total cost including tools and everything was about 250. This kit comes with a mix that degreases and etches. It seemed to work well with a stiff brush like you stated. We just finished up this afternoon with the base coat and flakes. We cleaned last night and still have to do the clear tomorrow.



Supplies Organized:

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...7-supplies.jpg



I swept the floor about five times, blew it out with the electric blower, then had the wife vacuum with a soft brush:

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...acuum-pass.jpg



Degreasing and etching with the included Bond-Lok (gloves and shoes taped, that stuff smells dangerous):

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...ng-etching.jpg



Squeegee time:

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...9-squeegee.jpg



And the base and flakes down. Clear goes on tomorrow.

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...-coat-down.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/cbric...-coat-down.jpg

I used that stuff, right when I moved into a brand new house. I've now been on it for over a year and here are my thoughts:

- Worth every penny, in a 3 car garage I got 4 base coat kits, and 3 clear coat kits, allowing me to go a little heavy on the base coat
- I haven't chipped it, marked it up, or done any harm to it in the year I have been driving on it and doing work on it.
- the everything is in the prep. Like some have said above, THOROUGHLY clean the entire surface, and let it completely dry before even thinking about painting on it.
- Definitely use the etcher, I believe it came with the kits, just follow the directions.
- Allow the coats to dry completely before trying to walk on them. I stepped on one spot on accident while it was trying and my shoe stuck to the floor =)
- Don't use gray like I did, too easy to lose screws and small parts on the floor because you can't freakin' see it. a nice blue or maroon will make that easier. I think I might also suggest not using the flakes for the same reason. While they add to the nice look of the garage, it makes it harder to spot tiny parts on the floor.
- I do suggest the clear coat with the anti-slip sand stuff poured into it. I used the anti-slip stuff and if the garage is wet you better watch your step, lol.

Overall, take your time with the install and it will be a fantastic investment. I've spilled oil and all sorts of stuff all over it and it just wipes right off :tup:

I know they use Muriatic Acid (Hydrochloric Acid) to etch/clean concrete/rocks, etc and it works very well - be careful though as it is very corrosive! Also always remember to add acid to water NEVER ADD WATER TO ACID. Acid is hydroscopic meaning it really really really likes water - it likes it so much if you try to pour water into acid it will try to climb up the stream of water and in the process splash acid everywhere. So when you dilute acid always add the acid to the water and never the other way around.

The coating is the greatest. We used it in our 6000 sq/ft aircraft hanger and it's held up great. The nonslip would be a great idea. We pressure wash the hanger every month to get rid of dust and you will flat out bust your butt if you're not careful. I'm getting ready to install in my new 3 car garage. Can't wait.

I'm considering putting this down in my garage, but have a question:
What do you do about existing cracks in the floor?
Some of mine are pretty big.
Do they give you some putty or something to prefill before you apply the stuff?

Cracks - you can epoxy repair before or just use a paint brush to really fill them in while doing the base coat

Stage 1 pics?

I used UCoat It&reg Do-it Yourself Commercial Grade Epoxy Floor Coating Systems for Garages, Basements, Industrial, Commercial, Automotive and more. when we first moved in 7 years ago.

Did the muriatic acid etching, but my concrete is fiberglass reinforced, so a lot more fiberglass came up after the acid wash. Had to burn it off with a rosebud torch.

ucoatit is very expensive, but the first coat goes on very watered down and pentrates the concrete, then a full strength coat, then urethane top coat. Its got some stains here and there and has loss some gloss, but overall its holding up very well and none of the basecoat has ever peeled up.