floor finish basement shop

[chipdragger]

Have moved into a new house and the shop is being relegated to the basement. I am planning on painting the floor with an epoxy floor paint from Behr. Does anyone have any input regarding floor paint or experience with the wear factor on this particular product? I am curious about the adhesion and traffic qualities - especially equipment movement via mobile bases - - - will the stuff lift and seperate from the concrete.

thanks

[karl in pa]

You might want to check into a sealer for your floor before you paint it. This will keep moisture from seeping up through the concrete thus causing the paint to bubble. I learned this from painting the concrete pad on my back porch. Too late now for me.

[chipdragger]

good advice - appreciate it - will have to look into that aspect of it. thanks

[gene]

the dampness in the basement floor is rusting up anything metal up six inches on everything i own would it heip to seal the floor would this stop this problem or what????the wheels on my table saw are rusted solid witch makes it very hard to move it around so once i find a way to stop this problem ill be happyer. is there any way to get rid of the dampness in hole basement with out the use of a dehumiderfier 24-7.any ideas again would be grate thanks

[Jerry Michaelis]

The most important thing that you can do is to use an acid wash on the floor. Use a muratic acid and floor brush. Vacum this up with a shop vac and let dry at least 24 hours. This will remove the film on the top of the new concrete and will let your paint adhere better. This is more important than the product that you are using.

[JoriBoy]

I too am in the middle of painting the concrete floor in my basement workshop. I have several problems and observations that I hope help you make your decision. The house is now four years old with a concrete floor. It appears that the contractor applied a clear sealer to the floor during construction. When I painted the floor in the laundry room, I did not bother to do anything other than a good scrubbing and several rinses to get dust and surface crap cleaned off. The paint was a urethane based commercial concrete floor paint by Glidden. It looked great for about three months. The first time any water was left on the floor for more than 10 minutes, it lifted the paint. Not just a little bit, but in great big gobs like I had used a chemical paint stripper. This was two years ago. Now the floor is starting to telegraph the marks in the sealer and all the other surface imperfections. No big deal, it is just the laundry room. Just have to keep it bone dry - right??

For the workshop, I figured that the problem was in the lack of surface preparation. So I bought a chemical cleaner/stripper/ conditioner. Purpose made for cleaning and etching concrete floors prior to painting. Washed and rinsed the floor. Applied the cleaner. Scrubbed, rinsed, rinsed and rinsed the floor again. Dried it for a two weeks with fans and a small heater. Applied a thinned first coat of the same urethane product as I used in the laundry room. Put on two more coats to get that perfect finish. No pin holes, no lap marks, just perfection. Till I started working on it. The first scratch that actually removed some paint was within the first two days. I have even removed paint from the floor when I did some plastic laminate work. Walking around in the chips that you get from trimming plastic laminate seems to grind off the paint. I dont know about the water bubbling trick yet because no water gets near my shop. My only fix is to quit looking at the floor. I even vacuum up the dust with my eyes closed.

The other, more sreious problem is with the slip resistance of the paint. With a nice coat of fine dust on the floor, there is just enough slippery action that you want to be carefull when using any flesh eating devices. Hand planing is out of the question. Up here in Canada we have things called Broom Ball shoes. We use them for running around on ice hitting a small ball with old copped down corn brooms in a game called Broom ball. Same idea as Hockey but with much more slipping action. Anyway the shoes are really sticky and I think that they might solve part of the problem...

My only saving grace is that I have only painted the first half of the shop. I did not have enough sky hooks to support all of the tools to be able to paint the floor in one shot. I am thinking that the grey coloured concrete is not so ugly after all.

Good luck

[Rob Lefebvre]

Greetings all,
Just thought that I'd put in my 2 cents worth... I had a business doing decorative concrete work and restoration (fixing cracks and spalling in driveways, porches, etc.) so I've had some experience in this area. The first problem that you have when applying a true "Epoxy" to any surface, is that the epoxy MUST have a non-moist surface to adhere to. Any moisture in the slab will not allow the expoxy to properly bond. There are special primers available to help in this aspect. Once you get the slab dry, you'll have a much better chance of getting the epoxy to stay put! On the slippery surface vein, there are additives availabe that you can "broadcast" into the paint, either when it is still in the bucket, or just after it has been put on the floor, that will give it a "bite" and allow for a very safe surface. Sherwin Williams or an ICI Dulux store should be able to help with any of the above mentioned products. Good luck!

Rob

[karl in pa]

Other than using the dehumidifier I would suggest you make sure no or very little outside warm air is entering your shop. Your shop is most likely cooler than the outside warm air. These two weather fronts will cause humidity and subsequent damage. Another thing I did in my basement shop was for sale at KMart (where America shoplifts for value). It's similar to UGL's Drylok but a whole lot cheaper. It's called Sunnydry and is a powder that you mix with water, let stand in the mixing bucket about 10 minutes, and apply to your walls with a thick heavy brush that is also sold at KMart. Doesn't do##### for your floor but it will keep moisture from leaching through the walls into your shop.
I hope this helps.

k

[Glen]

Hmmm,

Here's what I did, right or wrong.
My shop is 24x36, heated (may be a key element) and air conditioned. I blew it clean, with the compressor guys, can hear the snickers. And applied the epoxy based paint, 2 yrs later I've no signs of wear and it makes for easier cleaning.

My best 2 cents worth of advoce is call the manufacturer of the product you intend to use, may have a web site also, but go with their recommendations.

Glen