Sana'a
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:Cant wait to see the epoxy floor go down. Last time, you did it yourself? Also - you going for anything swirly or exotic? Color?
Epoxy flooring is badass!
(Topic ID: 155153)
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:Cant wait to see the epoxy floor go down. Last time, you did it yourself? Also - you going for anything swirly or exotic? Color?
Epoxy garage floors are sweet. If you don't care about color, check your local Sam's Club. Mine had Rustoleum 2 Car Garage kits in gray for ~$50 recently. I paid ~$100 for my tan kit, but would have gladly gone with gray to save $50.
Jupiter, FL
Quoted from snaroff:I have epoxy flooring in my current subterranean garage. I prefer RaceDeck flooring by SnapLock industries in Salt Lake City, Utah. It's fairly inexpensive, easy to install, and I love how they can print logos/images for a reasonable price.
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Since PMD is going top notch on his garage, I'm expecting greatness 
I like that lego flooring, but something about the epoxy flooring with that 'wet' look....
Simpsons looks lonely all over in the corner by itself...
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:Cant wait to see the epoxy floor go down. Last time, you did it yourself? Also - you going for anything swirly or exotic? Color?
I'll probably just go with the same color and "chip style" epoxy as the last garage; that should match the exterior of my home the best. I thought about going gray, but then there wouldn't be any contrast between my cabinets and flooring. Yes, I did the floor myself last time and it was brutal.
Here's a pic of the last garage floor:
Quoted from snaroff:I have epoxy flooring in my current subterranean garage. I prefer RaceDeck flooring by SnapLock industries in Salt Lake City, Utah. It's fairly inexpensive, easy to install, and I love how they can print logos/images for a reasonable price.
I made a parking mat for my wife in the last house using gladiator snap together floor tiles (very similar). My only issue with this type of flooring is cleaning underneath it. Also, liquids (rain water from tires, etc.) find the cracks and run underneath the tiles and puddle at the low points in the floor. The tiles do look good though 
Quoted from mcluvin:Epoxy garage floors are sweet. If you don't care about color, check your local Sam's Club. Mine had Rustoleum 2 Car Garage kits in gray for ~$50 recently. I paid ~$100 for my tan kit, but would have gladly gone with gray to save $50.
I'm going with a two component epoxy filler to patch all the cracks once the floor has been scarified. Then two coats of 100% solids epoxy with a 75% chip broadcast. Then two top coats of Rexthane back rolled with silica material for anti-slip. The Rexthane will be an upgrade over the clear top coat I used last time and it's UV rated for the section of flooring that goes past the garage doors.
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:Since PMD is going top notch on his garage, I'm expecting greatness
The pressure is on now
Quoted from PinballMikeD:I'll probably just go with the same color and "chip style" epoxy as the last garage; that should match the exterior of my home the best. I thought about going gray, but then there wouldn't be any contrast between my cabinets and flooring. Yes, I did the floor myself last time and it was brutal.
Here's a pic of the last garage floor:
I have the same color and chips, but didn't do a clearcoat. Mine is just about 3 years old and has held up well. I've just got 1 spot right on the edge where the door goes down that chipped off.
1 week later
Time to fix this:
We finally had another heavy rain storm last week, so I was able to better diagnose my flooding issue. Let's go swimming
Ok, I see the problem. My gutter downspout looks more like a geyser.......
At least I know why the ground is saturated with water along my garage wall.
Yup, this drain is definitely clogged
I don't like doing things twice, so I decided to go with smooth wall sewer pipe instead of using the cheap corrugated drainage piping from HD. Obviously, the corrugated crap didn't work for the previous home owner. Anyway, here's a look at my new gutter drain line with a street side pop-up emitter; solid pipe all the way:
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After tunneling under two sidewalks, breaking two sprinkler lines, and digging through a palm tree root ball, my new 4" drain line is good to go
Now I can get back to the garage.....
Quoted from johnwartjr:Always enjoy following these threads. I hope someday I can do Garage #1
It's worth it, but like anything else - it's work. The key is staying in one place, so you don't have to do garage #2
Please tell me the previous owner disclosed that or the home inspector at least noted it? Bad enough you are doing it yourself, but that is some coinage if you are paying somebody else to do it.
Quoted from mcluvin:Please tell me the previous owner disclosed that or the home inspector at least noted it? Bad enough you are doing it yourself, but that is some coinage if you are paying somebody else to do it.
Man I hope so. That's some B.S. to walk into in a new home!
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:No offense, Mike, I know you're an over the top kind of guy, but vapor tight fixtures in an attic?? In the garage I guess I could see them.
Not so sure it's overkill...FL is brutal on metal parts as it's 90% humidity most of the year. Anything I had sitting in a garage started to rust until I put a dehumidifier in there, which worked hard even with insulated garage ceiling and doors. An attic is open to the outside humidity.
Quoted from mcluvin:If it wasn't disclosed, I think you have some recourse for compensation there. That is f'd up.
Luckily, the drain line was basically free - cost me a 6 pack and some pipe
To answer your question, no this wasn't disclosed. The home inspector was actually pretty good, but unfortunately you can't replicate a Florida thunder storm with a garden hose. I'd press the seller, but I suspect the lawyer would cost me more than what it's worth. At the end of the day I'm just happy that it's fixed - at least I hope it is.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Luckily, the drain line was basically free - cost me a 6 pack and some pipe
To answer your question, no this wasn't disclosed. The home inspector was actually pretty good, but unfortunately you can't replicate a Florida thunder storm with a garden hose. I'd press the seller, but I suspect the lawyer would cost me more than what it's worth. At the end of the day I'm just happy that it's fixed - at least I hope it is.
You did good then to get it done so cheap. I would start wondering what else they didn't disclose. I moved from that area a couple years ago. In my previous home (built in 2006), I came home one day in 2014, looked up and saw some Tyvek just flapping in the wind. "What the Hell?" I think to myself. Climb up on the roof. I have a bare plywood exposed outer wall (this is a full brick house). You could only see it from the roof. I don't blame the previous owners, but I'm of the opinion most home inspectors are just going through the motions. The builder (Ryland) made it right at no cost to me, but I was lucky. I won't ever again consider buying a home built during the real estate boom period of 2005-2007. Shoddy ass construction in my experience.....
Quoted from mcluvin:I have a bare plywood exposed outer wall (this is a full brick house). You could only see it from the roof. I don't blame the previous owners, but I'm of the opinion most home inspectors are just going through the motions. The builder (Ryland) made it right at no cost to me, but I was lucky. I won't ever again consider buying a home built during the real estate boom period of 2005-2007. Shoddy ass construction in my experience.....
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Wow, that’s pretty bad and Ryland is considered one of the better non-custom builders!
FYI - I have several friends in residential construction and they say the new homes aren’t any better than the mid 2000s. The difference between a $1M home and a $150k home is only the size of the home and it's price tag (and upgrades, but they don't change the poor base construction); they are all built cheap today. We bought based on location and lot size only. I know there will be years of work to come, but at least I won’t get bored and have nothing to do
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Wow, that’s pretty bad and Ryland is considered one of the better non-custom builders!
I think it was mostly that it was built during the height of the housing boom and they were just slapping them together as quickly as they could. I hear some horror stories about some of these builders not standing by their work, but Ryland was good with me. Had some moisture damage behind a garage wall and also some roof damage. They fixed it all.
If you don't have your termite stuff sorted out yet, I highly recommend Florida Pest Control. They were pretty competitive on initial treatment and if you maintain your termite bond, they don't charge anything extra for the 5 year retreatment.
1 week later
The flooring work has begun
Here are some before pictures to illustrate the cracking and staining that must be addressed prior to applying any coatings:
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For starters you should grind the floor, opening up the concrete for better adhesion. In my case the contractor removed about 1/16" off the surface of the floor. Some guys will tell you that chemically treating the floor is just as effective, but every industrial coating company I've ever dealt this will tell you that mechanically resurfacing generates the best long term results.
Once the grinding was completed, cracks where filled with an epoxy filler. I then had two coats of a hydrostatic based coat applied to the garage floor to help mitigate any water issues in the future.
With all the humidity here in Florida it would take forever for the floor to cure, so it's nice having an AC unit designed to minimize the relative humidity (this will come in handy for wood working projects down the road as well).
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On Monday the 100% solids epoxy will be applied, here's a sample:
I wish I had mine ground. It was only chemically treated. Another problem when you don't grind is fibers poking out of the concrete. It's minor, but if you are going to do something like this, you may as well do it right.
Looking good!
Ok, so we let the primer setup for a few days then the contractor lightly sanded the floor and applied two coats of RokrezPro.
Here's what the finished floor looks like with an aliphatic urithane clear top coat:
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With the floor done now I can paint the walls, no more mustard yellow
Quoted from lurch:What was the added cost (or total for that matter) to have it ground down? I'd like to do this at some point.
The floor cost me $3k, which was worth every penny in my book.
Out of curiosity, why didnt you paint the walls first? Seems like there would be less chance of ruining the floor.
BTW The floor looks great!
What can we look forward to, Pepto-Bismol pink? Would go great with the grey floor! Yeah baby..
BTW, your garage is now officially nicer than the place I had in college.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:The floor cost me $3k, which was worth every penny in my book.
Ouch! It does look very nice though. Personally I'll stick with the Rustoleum kits. Toss enough chips on it and the imperfections blend right in unless you get down on your hands and knees.
Quoted from jamieflowers:Out of curiosity, why didnt you paint the walls first? Seems like there would be less chance of ruining the floor.
BTW The floor looks great!
No particular reason, guess I just needed a break after painting the rest of the house.
I still need to insulate the walls as well, but I need to layout all the electrical locations first.
Quoted from Cobray:Your garage is now officially nicer than the place I had in college.
Likewise, but that didn't matter back in the day as long as I had beer
Quoted from Spitfiren8:Taupe, definitely taupe...
Taupe is good.
Quoted from mcluvin:Ouch! It does look very nice though.
The materials alone were almost half the cost. Plus, I wanted to make sure that the floor could withstand up to 25lbs of hydrostatic pressure, so no water should seep up through the slab in the future.
Here's a quick summary of the work: 2 days of prep work (grinding and filling cracks), 2 coats of primer (sanding after each application), 2 coats of 100% solids epoxy, and 2 coats of urethane top coat. It took two guys 6 days to bang it out. After the last garage floor, I knew I didn't want to tackle this one
Quoted from alimerick:How is the seam where the flooring coating meets the garge door bottom handled?
The coating goes all the way to the expansion joint at the driveway, which is roughly one foot pass the garage door.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:The coating goes all the way to the expansion joint at the driveway, which is roughly one foot pass the garage door.
Its a 3 car garage, isnt it? so 600 square foot? I think most people in Florida use them more for storage as there arent many basements... In your old house, was the garage considered an upgrade / selling point with the work you had done to it?
Quoted from PinballMikeD:The coating goes all the way to the expansion joint at the driveway, which is roughly one foot pass the garage door.
Almost all of the coatings I looked at said not to expose them to direct sunlight. Is yours OK to be exposed to the sun (beyond the garage door)?
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:Its a 3 car garage, isnt it? so 600 square foot? I think most people in Florida use them more for storage as there arent many basements... In your old house, was the garage considered an upgrade / selling point with the work you had done to it?
I think it's closer to 750 square feet. I need to measure it to confirm.
In general, I don't think home improvements add value to your home. I think most people just buy based on the average price per square footage in a given neberhood. The extras may help sway a buyer, but I don't think they yield a return on your investment.
Quoted from Mamushka:Almost all of the coatings I looked at said not to expose them to direct sunlight. Is yours OK to be exposed to the sun (beyond the garage door)?
I think the clear coat yellowing/hazing over time is more the issue. I asked the contractor to use a UV resistant system, so time will tell. I can tell you that the urethane top coat is the same as what I used in my last house and it never faded or yellowed, but the coating was only 2 years old when we moved out.
1 week later
1 month later
Quoted from PinballMikeD:I hating painting
You are painting a garage, in Florida, in July. 
But...
You really have no room to complain because you are in air-conditioning. 
Good thread. I'm about to embark on the same adventure. Bought a 8-acre property last winter with a house plus three other buildings. I'm close to finished with the house remodel, then the garage work starts. Maybe I should make a thread!
Quoted from Mamushka:You are painting a garage, in Florida, in July.
But...
You really have no room to complain because you are in air-conditioning.
Yeah, but painting sucks either way
Quoted from radium:Maybe I should make a thread!
You should, I love workshop threads.
Quoted from radium:Good thread. I'm about to embark on the same adventure. Bought a 8-acre property last winter with a house plus three other buildings. I'm close to finished with the house remodel, then the garage work starts. Maybe I should make a thread!
Yes you should.
1 month later
I decided to put the pinball restorations and MODs on hold this weekend.
It's time to install some Gladiator Gearwall Panels. My garage is a wreak and it's driving me crazy...... I need to get all my cabinets installed and start organizing this mess
Here's a link for folks interested in the Gearwall Panels:
They are pretty easy to install. Just find your studs, they should be on a 16" center to center layout, and screw the panels to the wall with 2" drywall screws. If you want the screws to blend in with the panels then you can spray paint the heads white. The panel are 48"x12".
Now I can clean my tables off and install my vise and rivet press
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Totally unrelated, but I got a kick out of this. Look at what I found while cleaning out some boxes:
These are "Return of the Jedi" glasses that Burger King was selling back in 1983. Damn I'm getting old. Anyway, I can't believe I still have these. Time to wash one and have a cold beer
Here's the shop all cleaned up:
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Now it's time to start shopping for power tools
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