Will An Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Work?
There are many options available for treating a garage floor to seal and protect it. Although an acrylic garage floor coating will give a nice shine for a short length of time it is really not tough enough for vehicular traffic. Acrylic floor coatings are designed for covering many types of flooring including vinyl, fired tiles, and concrete but they are designed to protect against light to medium foot traffic.
In order to get full protection for your garage floor, and also apply an added anti-slip material, your best bet would be to apply a two part epoxy coating. Epoxy is a very tough and durable product which is composed of a resin and hardener. For a comparison on how hard an epoxy floor coating is just think of fiberglass like pleasure boats are constructed of. This is an epoxy resin and hardener which is applied over a woven mesh for structural support. The actual toughness of the shell is formed by the chemical bond between the epoxy which is activated when the hardener is mixed in.
An epoxy garage floor coating is easy to apply for the weekend do-it-yourselfer and it takes about two half days of actual labor. The first day is devoted to cleaning and degreasing the existing floor surface. Start with a good quality degreaser product to be sure you have remnants of petroleum scrubbed off the surface. Next, use a floor detergent and stiff floor broom to clean all other the degreaser and stains off. At this point spray water on the surface and make sure the water does not bead up. If it does you need to degrease and clean this area some more because the epoxy will not bond. Now let it dry overnight, preferably with a space heater.
The next day start by mixing enough epoxy to cover about a 6’ by 6’ area and spread it in the farthest corner from the door (you don’t want to literally paint yourself into a corner). Spread the mixture with a nap roller and when this batch is applied, cast the non-slip additive over the top as if you were feeding chickens. Repeat this procedure for each area till you get finished.
You can walk on the floor in about a day but wait three days before driving on it.