<VV> Garage Mahal Update

[vairtec at optonline.net]

Some time ago, I solicited information and opinions from the group on 
industrial-quality (or professional race-shop quality) garage floor coatings.

This because my wife and I were buying a new home and I knew that my only 
chance to have the garage of my dreams was to do it after the closing but 
before we moved in.

I received a number of informative replies -- thank you to all.

In the end, I got three quotes from three very different vendors.  One was 
just an ordinary painting contractor who claimed to have experience with 
industrial floor coatings.  One was a specialized industrial facilities 
restorer.  And one was a business catering to car-guy garage owners.

Interestingly, the business catering to car-guy garage owners hedged on the 
subject of brake fluid.  Brake fluid, they said, would attack their coating 
if not wiped up right away.  This, combined with their 
not-the-highest-but-not-the-lowest price, knocked them out.

The specialized industrial facilities restorer had what were clearly the 
best products, but their price was twice the next lowest figure.  That 
price put them out of reach, despite my conviction that they indeed knew 
what they were doing.

The ordinary painting contractor won, not only because he had the lowest 
price but also because he provided informative material data sheets for the 
products he was going to use, and because he assured me that the floor 
would be shot-blasted before coating.

A subcontractor did the shot-blasting, and he did my garage on a weekend 
because his regular gig is blasting and polishing the floors in everything 
from big factories to the "big-box" stores.  As it turned out he is a car 
guy, too, with vintages Chevies, and so he took a special interest in my 
job.  It showed.

The painters then appplied three separate coats, a primer and two top 
coats, on three consecutive days.  I then allowed a full week for curing, 
and I am well-satisfied with the results.  My garage now has floors as nice 
as the NASCAR shops, and it's a durable coating -- none of this hardware 
store deck paint crap.  Even Sue oohs and aahs at it.

The product was a Sherwin-Williams industrial epoxy, impervious to all the 
nasty chemicals that might befall a garage floor, extremely wear-resistant, 
and UV-stable as well.  This last point was important to me as the new 
garage has sunny windows and the overhead doors face south.

As with any paint job, the finished product is both a reflection of the 
surface and only as good as the preparation.  A glass-smooth finish is 
possible, but my older concrete floors were somewhat textured and so that 
texture now adds a measure of grip to the floor.  Had I asked to have the 
floor polished by the shot-blaster I could have had a mirror-smooth finish, 
but I probably would break my hip walking around the car.

I was able to choose my color from a palette of at least 90 colors.  I went 
with a simple grey, but kept it very pale so as to further brighten the garage.

The first vehicle I put in on the new floor was the '64 
Rampside.  Remarkably, the floor is so clean and bright that even without 
turning on the lights in the garage I could see clearly all the way under 
the truck.

A friend in my local club did his garage floor in a similar fashion about 8 
years ago, and his floor has held up nicely.  So I am optimistic about the 
durability of my floors.

An added bonus:  This new house has enough garage space (five bays) that I 
am going to be able to give up the rented garage and keep all the Corvairs 
at home!  I'm not entirely sure how I pulled this off, but somehow Sue 
endorsed the idea of moving to a house that has fewer rooms and more garages!

--Bob

Robert W. Marlow
Vairtec at optonline.net