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Since I need to do this from scratch soon, anyone in BR recommend a good paint to use - the current floor is like a land of dust ... :-((
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put down a laminated floor with the attendant green square matting underneath - not as daft as it sounds as laminate is cheap as chips these days, is durable, dead easy to clean (oil wipes off) and comfortable to crawl around under cars on. I have an MGB sitting on just such a floor (hence the need for an easy wipe surface!!)
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...put down a laminated floor...
I had the same idea, to keep down concrete garage floor dust and make it more pleasant to crawl around on when servicing SWMBO's Pug, at low cost, but discounted it because of the 'whoosh' factor should anything above flash point land on it...
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Halfords sell a garage floor paint, as far as I remember. It has the usual qualities - wipe clean and dust sealing etc. Not sure about prep.
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I used that thick garage floor paint a few years ago. It is showing signs of flaking where it gets abraided. Oil does it no good either.
I'm contemplating that two part epoxy floor covering as used in factories etc as it fills the ripples in the concrete and gives a nice smooth surface. The only thing putting me off is the cost and the nightmare of emptying the place.
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A2 - Try sealing it with a PVA based concrete sealing solution - cheap and easy to do.
RF - most of that which is flaky has flaked its last flake. Are you saying it's enough to remove the loose stuff and then clean and repaint over the rest?
ps - fancy popping over one weekend to show me how to do it? :)
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Are you *sure* that "that that is flakey will flake no more?" If you can be sure then try this, you half answered your own question.
Wire brush all round the flakey bits. Then paint with PVA all the edges of the bare/now brushed flaked areas, use a watered down solution first, this should leach under any loose areas. Then paint with garage floor paint.
This will not prevent a sneaky area you never suspected flaking later tho.
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At work we have several workshops, only one was done several years ago with 2 part epoxy, I have no idea how much it cost, but it's worth every penny, after around 10 years, it cleans up as new, has no defects or flakes, It is also a nice silk finish
Also, it can be put on thicker to fill voids or cracks as it cures rather than dries.
The other worksops are paited, and need to be repainted annually, are glossy, flakey and rubbish, items left standing for a few weeks will have paint stuck to the bottom.
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When I investigated getting my garage floor painted, my local Johnstone's Paints depot (now part of Leyland paints) recommended their 2-part expoxy stuff.
Others who've tried it say that it is very durable, which doesn't surprise me: I've always been very pleased with Johnstone's paints, very good quality and much cheaper than the big retail brand names. Most of their customers are tradespeople.
The only problem was that it was going to cost about £50 for my garage, which I thought was too much for a garage floor. For my money, there are much nicer things to do with £50!
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Similar ideas with me, but I've got to get some 'stuff' to level the floor first. & it's a brand new floor in the extension!!
Check www.watco.co.uk - had their brochures before, but never actually tried the product.
Guess your old paint might come off easier if you put Nitromours(spelling)stripper, or similar on first, then used a pressure washer.
I think it must be the sun causing us all to have such strange ideas, on how to spend our relaxation time??!!
VB
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It really depends on what you want to do with the garage.
On a normal concrete garage floor 'International Garage Floor Paint' or similar will do fine, if you have the sort of garage that I do, car goes in very ocassionally. Make sure you seal the concrete first.
If it is going to take heavy wear then get a proper professional finish, will take a huge amount of wear and will be worthwhile in teh long term, alough will cost a fair bit up front.
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The International/B&Q/Screwfix/Wickes garage floor paints which are all about £15-£30 per 2.5 to 5 litre tin are all white spirit based and are fine but not too durable, they flake eventually and where the tyres sit the paint can lift. The best way as has been suggested is the 2 part epoxy based coatings, which cost 5 or 10 times as much but are definitely worth it. Our aircraft hangar at work has aircraft up to 30,000 lbs gross weight on it with the weight split between 6 tyres (ie 5,000 lbs per tyre) and the epoxy coating is as 'ard as nails'. Worth the extra outlay.
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We had this applied to the factory floor. It was very tough but became very slippery when wet.
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Thanks for all the help folks. As always, some of these helpful replies have made me think. The floor I have has a nice smooth finish where the concrete has been screeded. The existing grey finish has been applied to that and has lasted very well. The garage doesn't get hard use - it's really a storage space in which a car gets put from time to time. I don't tend to crawl around on the floor there is no dust to worry about. I can see how such coverings might adhere to car tyres and lift in these places but this hasn't happened to mine in the past when my volvo 940 and Rover 820 were parked on it regularly (that was in the days before I collected so much 'stuff').
Another question arises - could such a job be done in 2 halves to avoid having to empty and store the garage contents for days? Believe me that would be a mammoth task I'd really rather avoid.
Thanks all.
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If painting with standard floor paint you can split the floor up and do in sections.
I did that with our garage - 3 sections.
We garage our cars nightly and the standard floor paint is not durable and lifts where the tyres are. I intend to use expoxy paint: but a major exercise in clearing and cleaning:-(
madf
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Thanks Madf - that makes me wonder though why the old stuff on my floor has never been lifted by car tyres. Could the reason be damp ? As I said, my garage is integral - as such I'd have thought it'd probably less likely to suffer damp. What's your garage like ? Is there any sign of damp?
There's no way I'm gonna empty my garage!
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Go on VM - empty that garage, from the sound of it it needs a good clear out anyway. ;)
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Yeah that's true RF but what would I do with all my 'stuff' - you know, bits of wood, carpets, tiles, tools (lots & lots of them!), paint, dried up brushes, household supplies, freezers, golf clubs, bikes, scooters, push chairs, car seats etc. etc.*
I've already got my roof box strapped to the ceiling for God's sake!
Mind you, it does mean that I don't get to see too much of the flakey floor.
* and that's AFTER my last clear out a week or two ago :(
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OK, simple solution to clearing out a garage:
Switch off the "This might come in useful" mentality.
Switch on a "Have I used this in the past 2 years?" mentality. If not, throw it out. You need to use a little intelligence for tools, etc, but you get the picture. If you've not used it in 2 years, you're never going to.
I moved house once and got my entire possessions down to eight boxes (four of them books) using this method. I have NEVER missed anything I threw out.
And hire a skip - much easier to be ruthless if you don't have to go to the tip, otherwise you keep things because they are big.
HTH,
V
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Volvoman
Yes: I have a pit and slight rising damp. Going to reseal floor and hope it works...
madf
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