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Garages/Workshops Flooring

epoxy alternatives for garage floor

6 years ago

I got epoxy on my garage floor bc the concrete was slippery if you had snow on the soles of your shoes. However the floor is now even more slippery and there are a couple areas that are bubbling. Is there an alternative or did I just hire the wrong person? My biggest concern is floor being slippery.

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Comments (3)

SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
You hired the wrong guy. An epoxy finish with a "grit" level (an additive they can use to make it grainy like "sand") is one of the best floor finishes.

What you are experiencing is "bond failure". This happens when the concrete is not prepared properly. Is not cleaned properly. And the moisture mitigation system is NOT USED. Ahem....they usually have to use this in a garage because the concrete in a garage is NOT sealed underneath = water moving through the slab at all times. This means a poorly applied finish (like epoxy) WILL FAIL. I mean 100% chance of failure.

Please bring in an epoxy professional who will do this properly. It should cost $7/sf or so.
Elle
6 years ago
I agree the epoxy with grit should have solved your problem, but now that you have bubbling epoxy it will be very expensive to scrape and re-apply. Have you looked into those rubber squares that lock together kind of like carpet tiles?
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That looks to be an excellent no-slip surface that would be PERFECT for winters in Canada! A high-grit surface is excellent for cars, tires, wet slippery things, etc. Did you want to use the garage for cars? Or "living" on? The comment about area rugs has me confused. Rarely would I see a car garage filled with area rugs. As above, the more coats of clear epoxy they put down, the smoother this thing will get. And no, the "leveling" of the wavy concrete is not part of the job - unless specifically requested/paid for. Normally a car garage doesn't have issues with a little dip and wave. A garage conversion into a living space would be make the "leveling" more important - but a real car garage wouldn't be bothered by some wonky concrete...cars don't care.
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So before the epoxy was applied, a strip of gray concrete was showing below the door. I can understand why you don't want to see the speckled epoxy outside the door. It seems to me that if paint won't last and the gray epoxy will yellow due to the sunlight, adding a strip of dark gray epoxy might solve the problem. (Hopefully that color would be less likely to yellow buy you might want to inquire about that.) I don't think you're being too picky. I see that this thread is a few months old. Were you able to find a solution?
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Congratulations on your new home. We have epoxy floors in the garages of one of our rental properties (was there when we bought it). It is very nice looking and easier to keep clean. It depends on what else you want to do with your home. I view it as a “nice to have” but not necessary. Agree with Jan that there may be other places to spend your money that will make you happier. If it were my place, finishing the garage walls would come first. Start a list of things you think you may want to do around the house and prioritize them. For many people, garage floors are not that important, but for others they are.
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Ron Natalie
6 years ago
The other possibility for the failure was that it was too cold when the epoxy was applied. Typically that results in more extensive failure than one or two spots where the oil wasn't cleaned up first. My brother-in-law make a royal mess of his garage that way (I think that was the first and last home improvement project he ever did).

If his epoxy is coming lose, that needs to be cleaned up before anything. The epoxy that is stuck down well can be coated over with new (grittier) stuff. Make sure you follow the prep instructions.

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