Garage Floor

[Streetbudgie]

Anyone know the best way to seal a concrete garage floor?

I keep getting dust off it no matter how much I sweep it.

[snapper]

rubberised floor paint  sweep then apply with a roller and brush round the edges
leave for 24 hrs , job done !

[Streetbudgie]

Cool ta, where can I buy that?

[dazza]

At a rubberised floor paint shop :rolleyes of course

[Streetbudgie]

Done a bit of searching around and it seems like there is two man products to choose from, the first is a water based concrete floor paint readily available in B&Q etc and the second is an epoxy resin product which is from specialist suppliers only.

Sounds like the second option is best but can't find an actual retailer so looks like it has to be ordered sight unseen on line with only written reviews on sites like Floorpaint Express (Garacoat is the product) to go on.

Hmmm, thoughts?

[caretaker]

just concrete floor pain is good. keeps the dust down a treat. the red ish colour is best, as it has a more positive effect on you than the grey one.

[snapper]

to be honest the water based one will be fine , just do a few coats days apart and prob best in warmer weather as well

i would avoid the red oxide or dark looking colours go for a light grey two reasons one it will make your garge seem bigger and lighter with the lights on secondly  if you drop that very important screw or washer youve more chance of finding it
down side its keeping it looking light grey !
I'll try and find out what make the stuff I have is , but im not back in the factory till wednesday

[JZS 600]

My garage is carpeted 

[triker]

I used PVA glue ,mixed with water.  Soakes in and sets. Did a great job in my garage    Cheap to.

[Chillum]

I once used Z-compound (a very thin cement that sets rock hard) but didn't know about the air-bubbles that get left behind during the mixing.

I've since found out that you get rid of them by using a metal roller, like a cross between a wire brush and a decorating roller that pops all the bubbles once you've laid it.

My floor ended up looking like a martian landscape and took a *lot* more paint to cover

[Pat]

I used PVA glue ,mixed with water.  Soakes in and sets. Did a great job in my garage    Cheap to.

I like this one because it contains the magic word - cheap! 


What mix ratio do you use?

[triker]

I used 5 water 1 pva, have a look at the pva instructions they often give ratios for use. It creates a sealed surface which stopped the fine dust in my garage. I did 2 coats.
Do a search you will find lots of advice re pva and sealing concrete.
Yes its cheap and easy to do. 

[snapper]

5 water 1 pva,
and to be fair effective, but any heavy foot traffic and im not sure how long it would last !
but at the cost who would care !  so you ware though in a small area so what

[chaz]

when laying concrete don't skimp on the cement also don't use too much and don't use too much water if it comes to the surface thats too much.
tamp the concrete to get the fat to the top use a float to smooth it a bit then leave it till its going off, this can be 30mins. to several hours depending on the mix and temp, also if its got a damp proof membrane.
Use a steel trowel to polish it as its going hard, this will seal the surface and make it dust free. don't do this outside as it's slippy when wet.

[Pat]

5 water 1 pva,
and to be fair effective, but any heavy foot traffic and im not sure how long it would last !
but at the cost who would care !  so you ware though in a small area so what

Sounds fine to me, garage is only used by me & my bikes,  just need something to seal it to cut down on the dust. 

Thanks  :thumbup

[phil on a fazer]

I used PVA glue ,mixed with water.  Soakes in and sets. Did a great job in my garage    Cheap to.

yep..........same here. I actually PVA'd mine 3 times before i painted it (grey). each time i uped the PVA to water ration.

[evesdad]

Done before new bike arrived

[pitternator]

concrete  can be strange stuff, so hard , yet will dust up .True power floated concrete is very hard with an extremely tough surface. Overdo it and the surface will break up !Its a tricky job.

best solution is to brush on a concrete hardener , about £15 a gallon.Its  a chemical which hardens the top layer of yer concrete, tougher than pva.You can get it at most builders merchants.Make sure you are happy with the surface before you paint as the paint may come off if its still flaky.I bought a new house in 92 which had  a dreadfully dusting garage floor. Used the hardener and then simple B & Q floor paint. Protected with carpet , its still great  20 yrs on ! 

[MadDogMcQ]

I just did a small area in mine. Used regular "Floor Paint" from Buildbase. I'll do the whole thing next time I have a clear-out.

[Tmation]

I covered my floor with interlocking rubber tiles from bigdug.com. My garage is 18'6" x 10'6' and I think I paid about £40.