Question:
Need a little advice. I purchased some Rust-Oleum Epxoy floor paint.
Recently though I talked with a friend of mine and he suggested to not
use paint and to just "clear-coat" the floor instead. He said that
while paint looks good for a while, it'll get scratched, marked up,
and soon will look like sh*t. He said with a clear coat, once it
starts to lose it's scheen, you can easily touch it up, or lay down a
whole-new top coat.
So what should I do? Should I use the Rust-Oleum epoxy paint I
purchased? Will it hold up to a decent amount of traffic? Has anyone
had any expirience using epoxy floor paint?
Or should I take back the Rust-Oleum and look for a "clear-coat" or
other garage-floor sealer?
Answer:
-Having used neither but having seen the results of both after some elapsed
time (the paint having been used on my houses front stoop), I vote with your
friend.
-Another option is a concrete stain with a clear sealer as your final coat.
Check out www.concretestain.com or go to your nearest Sherwin-Williams paint
store. These products work well when you prep the surface according to the
directions. I have just the stain on my driveway and oil spills wipe up with
just a damp rag. When the weather allows I plan on changing the color,
sealing it with a clear coat, and putting a non-slip additive in the clear
coat.
-Epoxy floor paints will work as well as your pre-prep the floor first.
Etching is the most important item, spending the time to do it right is
the second
-You can't stress that point enough. Pay attention to cure times also.
For most epoxies that I deal with it is 7 days for light duty and 14 days
for my 4 year old and his scooter :^). One thing you may want to do if you
go this route is put a thin coat of car wax on the floor where your tires
will be sitting while it's parked. It helps to reduce hot-tire pick up from
a blast down the road on a summer day.
