OT: Garage Floor Coatings

[The Reel Ess]

We're having a garage built as we speak. I own an old car that can develop a leak at any moment with no warning. Also, I want to do my own maintenance, anything from oil changes all the way up to an engine swap if I choose to. Has anyone used a coating that they would recommend? I'm thinking of paint/epoxy that I can apply myself. Thanks.

 

[USCEE82]

I did the epoxy thing on my garage floor years ago. I cleaned it, then etched it with some kind of acid, then rolled the epoxy on. Looked great for many years but now it's worn off where the tires sit. It's great if oil or other fluids leak/spill because it doesn't penetrate and you can just wipe it up. Caution: mine is slick as hell when it's wet. Like when you bring a wet car in or if the door is up when it rains.

 

[92Pony]

Like USCEE82, I’ve done my garage floor, at two different houses. Both were new construction. I used the Rustoleum brand kit from Lowes. It was easy enough to do, following the instructions (plus being new concrete made it easy in that I didn’t have to worry about existing stains).
Mine held up great - one house we stayed 2yrs, and the second one, 10yrs.
As noted, it is SLICK when wet - like ice if you’re wearing worn crocs - lol!
I didn’t have any trouble with mine coming up or anything. I ran the coating outside of the garage door by about 2”, and the sun faded that strip noticeably.
If you drag things across it - like a jack or jack stands - it will scratch, so I was usually careful in that regard (plus I had a detached where I did stuff like that).
I think they sell traction additives to go in the paint/epoxy mix. I never added it (some people just add sand, I’ve read), because I wanted mine to be smooth; so I lived with the slickness.
And yea, oils, and other fluids will wipe up and not soak in. Overall I was quite happy with the coating.

 

[LonghornsGamecocks]

Like @USCEE82 and @92Pony, I also DIY'd. In fact, I did the same Rustoleum kit from Lowe's in 2018. It was easy enough to apply. 6 years later it's in pretty good shape, not great shape. I'm reasonably happy with it. As noted, it is SLICK. It does scratch.

In ~ 3 years +/-1 year, I plan on a pretty substantial garage renovation to correspond with buying an EV and incorporating charging infrastructure. My house is 50 years old, so I'm going to do a drywall refresh, bright white paint everywhere, some proper garage lighting, some overhead storage, and this time not a DIY floor. I'm going to pony up for a professional job, higher quality, with non-slip and high traction qualities.

So I guess my TL;DR would be - the DIY route is great - recommend, with eyes wide open on the limitations. But professional applications have clear advantages.