69L48Z27
Well-Known Member
Every so often I'll see a thread asking about floor coatings and there seems a lot of questions from the DIY community, me included. This Fall I had the opportunity to build a garage and I had to make a decision on what to do with the floor. I like the look of a painted floor and I wanted a tough coating. After what felt like months of internet surfing I chose the Rustoluem Rocksolid stuff you can buy at the big box stores locally or Amazon. All the pro-products seemed to be well over $1k for material. For reference I'm working with a 800 sqft space.
This stuff has a 50% rating, 3 stars or less on most websites and YouTube videos. But, nothing out there has a good rating in the DIY space. Here's what people said the problems are:
- Poor coverage - they said double what they say you need.
- Color issues - not matching between kits.
- Bad Finish - gloss in some areas, dull in others.
- Fish Eyes, Seperation
After all this bad stuff you'd find a good rating scattered in, but consistently coverage was a problem.
Here's what I chose:
Next was to put a plan together. I could tell the most of the issues were prep and not understanding how this stuff would flow out. This is not 'epoxy' but rather Polycuramine. Same principle, two parts mixed and you have 45 minutes of pot life @70*F.
Clean, clean, clean, and then clean some more. This being a new pour I didn't think it was that dirty, wrong. I cleaned the floor with simple green and stripper first then did it again with a pressure washer, in hindsight I should have done it once with the pressure washer. Once cleaned and dry I had to decide wether to add a step and apply moisture block. I did make this choice just because I didn't know if I had moisture and I didn't have time for the moisture test. Minor step and small cost so it was a no-brainer.
Etch then moisture block and dry again. Follow the directions on both, simple as that.
Ready to paint!
Heat - the instructions say 40-90*F but I wouldn't recommend anything less than 60*, cure time goes way up and you risk moisture issues. This time of year you can't do this without heat.
The box says 400-500sqft cover for a 2.5 car garage. Based on all the reviews I knew that wasn't going to work. I got one extra 2.5 car kit giving me 1200-1500sqft of coverage in my 800sqft project. The texture of the floor really plays into this, the etch makes it like a 150 grit sanded surface. Rougher surface takes more product.
Color issue - I mixed all 6 kits together, color side only, in order to make sure the color stayed the same. I used a smaller bucket to then measure and mix in smaller portions. I did find that one packet of color was way off, it would have been an issue.
All-in-all I'm happy with the product. I did not run into any of the issues (sort of) except coverage but I was ready for that. I did use almost all the 6 kits, only a bit left. I did apply it thicker once I knew we had plenty but 4 bags would not have been enough.
Problems?!? For a DIY product none really to mention but I'm super critical of my own projects. I had a spot fish eye because of something silicon based on the bottom of my bucket, touching the bare concrete. No clue what it was but I have a spot that has the imprint of half a bucket bottom. My dispersion of the paint chips is not the best but once we get some traffic on it and load the garage up I'll never notice it. The gloss level is great and it's not slick at all with the chips in it. I also see a couple spots where color is different. No clue why because all the base color was mixed and the 'Part B' is clear. Very, very minimal and you have to look for it.
Time and Cost:
Time - a lot! Prep is where it's all at in any project. Time to paint with a helper trimming was under 4 hours.
Cost - $700. Kits are $209 at the Home Depot and Moisture Stop was $18/gallon, 3 needed.
In contrast the same prep is needed no matter what you do but product is half the cost of the pro grade stuff. I had an install quote with pro stuff at $7sqft, $5600. No thanks. I do realize how much labor is required on the prep side.
It's only been a couple days, I'll report back in a few months and let you know how it's holding up.
This stuff has a 50% rating, 3 stars or less on most websites and YouTube videos. But, nothing out there has a good rating in the DIY space. Here's what people said the problems are:
- Poor coverage - they said double what they say you need.
- Color issues - not matching between kits.
- Bad Finish - gloss in some areas, dull in others.
- Fish Eyes, Seperation
After all this bad stuff you'd find a good rating scattered in, but consistently coverage was a problem.
Here's what I chose:
Next was to put a plan together. I could tell the most of the issues were prep and not understanding how this stuff would flow out. This is not 'epoxy' but rather Polycuramine. Same principle, two parts mixed and you have 45 minutes of pot life @70*F.
Clean, clean, clean, and then clean some more. This being a new pour I didn't think it was that dirty, wrong. I cleaned the floor with simple green and stripper first then did it again with a pressure washer, in hindsight I should have done it once with the pressure washer. Once cleaned and dry I had to decide wether to add a step and apply moisture block. I did make this choice just because I didn't know if I had moisture and I didn't have time for the moisture test. Minor step and small cost so it was a no-brainer.
Etch then moisture block and dry again. Follow the directions on both, simple as that.
Ready to paint!
Heat - the instructions say 40-90*F but I wouldn't recommend anything less than 60*, cure time goes way up and you risk moisture issues. This time of year you can't do this without heat.
The box says 400-500sqft cover for a 2.5 car garage. Based on all the reviews I knew that wasn't going to work. I got one extra 2.5 car kit giving me 1200-1500sqft of coverage in my 800sqft project. The texture of the floor really plays into this, the etch makes it like a 150 grit sanded surface. Rougher surface takes more product.
Color issue - I mixed all 6 kits together, color side only, in order to make sure the color stayed the same. I used a smaller bucket to then measure and mix in smaller portions. I did find that one packet of color was way off, it would have been an issue.
All-in-all I'm happy with the product. I did not run into any of the issues (sort of) except coverage but I was ready for that. I did use almost all the 6 kits, only a bit left. I did apply it thicker once I knew we had plenty but 4 bags would not have been enough.
Problems?!? For a DIY product none really to mention but I'm super critical of my own projects. I had a spot fish eye because of something silicon based on the bottom of my bucket, touching the bare concrete. No clue what it was but I have a spot that has the imprint of half a bucket bottom. My dispersion of the paint chips is not the best but once we get some traffic on it and load the garage up I'll never notice it. The gloss level is great and it's not slick at all with the chips in it. I also see a couple spots where color is different. No clue why because all the base color was mixed and the 'Part B' is clear. Very, very minimal and you have to look for it.
Time and Cost:
Time - a lot! Prep is where it's all at in any project. Time to paint with a helper trimming was under 4 hours.
Cost - $700. Kits are $209 at the Home Depot and Moisture Stop was $18/gallon, 3 needed.
In contrast the same prep is needed no matter what you do but product is half the cost of the pro grade stuff. I had an install quote with pro stuff at $7sqft, $5600. No thanks. I do realize how much labor is required on the prep side.
It's only been a couple days, I'll report back in a few months and let you know how it's holding up.
