[zzzbullseye]

So my recent posts and comments have all been about my ailing vehicle and extensive repair saga. Thought I'd share some photos of the garage floor coating I just had done. I think it turned out pretty cool.

[ezmaass]

Looks nice! Now that your car is all healthy again, I'm sure it'll appreciate this floor! :-)

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

Looks nice! Now that your car is all healthy again, I'm sure it'll appreciate this floor! :-)

Thanks. Let's hope so!

[Akkord29]

Nice looking floor!

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by Akkord29

Nice looking floor!

Thanks.

[raleedy]

What a relief. When I saw your name and the headline, I was expecting photos of a puddle of motor oil.

[ezmaass]

zzz - can you talk a little about the installation process? I've been considering doing something with the garage floor, but there's a lot of options to consider. I'm curious what your thought process was here - what did you consider, how did the install go, etc.

Drywall and insulation for those exterior walls next? Gotta keep that BMW as warm as possible!

[SonicEndeavor]

Nice! I really like the pebble grain epoxy on my garage floor, but this design you added takes it to another level. Well done.

[remmib]

Very nice, what's it made off?

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by raleedy

What a relief. When I saw your name and the headline, I was expecting photos of a puddle of motor oil.

Thankfully no! One week and counting...and no recurrence of issues.

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

zzz - can you talk a little about the installation process? I've been considering doing something with the garage floor, but there's a lot of options to consider. I'm curious what your thought process was here - what did you consider, how did the install go, etc.

Drywall and insulation for those exterior walls next? Gotta keep that BMW as warm as possible!

The coating I went with is called Stardek. It was done by the same guy I used to do the concrete around my new pool last summer. For any STL folks that wander onto this thread, and are interested, you can find his info here (his website needs updating...). The Stardek product is used most often on pool decks, patios, driveways, and walkways, but works excellent for garage floors as well. We ultimately went this route because of the design work I wanted done.

The process involves de-greasing and power washing the floor, then applying the base colored texture coat. Once dry, the taping/masking can commence for the design. The design is built upon the premise of masking areas and applying the texture to achieve whatever design you're after, e.g. tile, flagstone, brick, slate, granite, etc. The final step is two coats of rolled-on sealer. The whole process took a little longer for me because it was really cold part of the time when they were working, and because I had them re-mask the floor with the subway pattern vice the original diagonal pattern I had them lay out. I think it took about 5 working days total.

The floor, just like my pool deck, cleans easily and is very tough as the product actually bonds to the concrete. The only thing you have to be careful of is gasoline...spills cleaned quickly will do no damage, but allowed to sit, it will eat through the coating. Oil wipes right up with no damage at all. Aggregate (quartz) is added in while the sealer is wet to give the coating a non slip texture.

I got a very good deal on the garage floor, in part because my guy likes that I do a little more creative stuff and he can take pictures and show off to future customers, and in part because it's winter and he needs the work. He told me that he would normally charge between $3.00 and $3.50 a sq. ft. for a job like mine. He can do the "boring" two coat color sealer (different product than I used) for around $2.00 a sq. ft.

This may be more info than you wanted...also adding some "in process" pix, and some pix of the pool. You'll never ask me another question...

Oh...the garage actually stays fairly warm since the doors are insulated and the home is all brick, 45°F inside the garage today even though the high temp in STL was only 15°F. I'll probably just throw up more pegboard on the walls that are still bare.

[TheBlackGT]

Looks very nice, now where's the car?

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by SonicEndeavor

Nice! I really like the pebble grain epoxy on my garage floor, but this design you added takes it to another level. Well done.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by remmib

Very nice, what's it made off?

Thanks! I used Stardek. See post #11 for more details.

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by DINAN_GT

Looks very nice, now where's the car?

Thanks...snapped one of the girl just for you...

[Luminor513]

Nice ride. Also nice job on the garage floor.

[gtmassive75]

Garage looks great except that Jeep..lol

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by Luminor513

Nice ride. Also nice job on the garage floor.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by gtmassive75

Garage looks great except that Jeep..lol

I thought I'd get a comment on that... That's my daughter's rig. I hope to reclaim that third bay in a few years and park something to tinker with in it, maybe an old 2002 for instance...gotta get those damn kids outta college first. As for now, 2 outta 3 bays are filled with "BMWs" (me - 550i, wife - Mini Cooper S) - not too shabby.

[ezmaass]

zzz - very nice, and thank you for the detailed post! That's awesome, I enjoyed seeing the process pics. I've been thinking of doing something with the garage floor but can't decide what. I also have an itch to redo the driveway in pavers and heat it... yep, I guess a few bad winters of snow-blowing will make one spend stupid money on stuff like driveway heating! But that's going to be a pretty penny and large project - needs to wait until spring.

What made you abandon the diagonal pattern? Also, when you say that gasoline left to sit can do damage, are there any further guidelines? I usually keep a few cans in the garage, and truth be told I'm sure it gets a bit of overspill here and there - usually cleaned right up, but I'd hate to miss a spec and find out it ruined the floor.

The pool looks great, too. I guess it beats conventional pavers in terms of maintenance and cost.

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

zzz - very nice, and thank you for the detailed post! That's awesome, I enjoyed seeing the process pics. I've been thinking of doing something with the garage floor but can't decide what. I also have an itch to redo the driveway in pavers and heat it... yep, I guess a few bad winters of snow-blowing will make one spend stupid money on stuff like driveway heating! But that's going to be a pretty penny and large project - needs to wait until spring.

What made you abandon the diagonal pattern? Also, when you say that gasoline left to sit can do damage, are there any further guidelines? I usually keep a few cans in the garage, and truth be told I'm sure it gets a bit of overspill here and there - usually cleaned right up, but I'd hate to miss a spec and find out it ruined the floor.

The pool looks great, too. I guess it beats conventional pavers in terms of maintenance and cost.

If you get a lot of snow, I wouldn't say a heated drive is stupid, especially if you can afford it.

We were gonna have to redo the layout for the diagonal design for alignment purposes anyway, and I just decided to change over to the subway style instead. I think it looks more "garage-y".

I don't have any further specifics on the gasoline...my guy just said that it will eventually damage the surface. I'm assuming it breaks down the surface if left uncleaned, but I don't think it's horribly corrosive. Ironically, the product is actually very resistant to muriatic acid... I'm not gonna sweat storing gas containers in the garage, but I probably will fill my lawn equipment on the driveway (until I coat my driveway.. ) just to be safe.

Yeah, the pool deck turned out great, and it's definitely a simpler solution than going with pavers or flagstone, etc. The added benefit is the coolness of the surface of the deck - you can walk across it barefooted in 100° weather and not scorch your feet!

[blackboxmycar]

very nice!

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by blackboxmycar

very nice!

Thanks!