For a car guy, the garage is a sanctuary where all the magic happens. Up until now I have been working in a parking structure where I had my designated parking spot. Not exactly an easy way to work on a car. Every time I would set out to work on the Porsche I would need to pull all my tools out of the trunk and setup lights. With the setup and cleanup time, it was never worth it to work on the car for only half an hour. As a cherry on top, people would write “wash me” in the dust of my car. Not exactly a professional environment.

The time has come to move on from the one bedroom apartment to a condo with a proper garage. The garage at my new place is a two car tandem garage with finished walls and a small area on the side. Not a huge space but enough room to turn it into a good workspace. The first improvement I decided to tackle was the garage floor. I wanted to make sure this was taken care of before any moving in occurred. I think we can all agree that once the garage is moved it, it would be a huge hassle to resurface the floor.

I spent many hours researching all my options. Doing an epoxy floor appears to be superior to any concrete sealer. When applying an epoxy floor, much like with any painting or bonding process, the most important part is the surface preparation. The coating is only as strong as the bond between it and the substrate. Professional companies that apply epoxy floor coatings will grind the concrete to ensure it is smooth and contaminate free. As a do it yourself project, grinding is not the most user friendly option unless the concrete is in really bad shape or has an existing coating present. Since the concrete in my garage appeared fairly clean and smooth, I was hoping to find a coating that would not require grinding.

There are many epoxy floor coatings out there but the reviews vary quite a lot. Reading various articles, watching videos, and talking to people had lead me to UCoat It. The UCoat It epoxy coatings pride themselves on their proprietary bonding process. The first coat of epoxy is applied onto the concrete when it is still wet, unlike the other coatings that require it to be perfectly dry. As long as the process is followed correctly the coating will adhere well. I decided to pull the trigger on UCoat with UGloss-AF floor coating system. UCoat with Ugloss-AF This coating system uses two coats of epoxy and a clear coat which improves chemical resistance. I decided to go for the medium gray color as it would be light enough to reflect some light without being too light to highlight all the dirt. I also opted to not use any “paint flecks” with the coating. As much as such a treatment will hide imperfections and hide dirt, it will also hide any small parts that I will drop on the floor. I think we have all been there, looking for that tiny washer screw. A single color to help ease that problem. The timing of my purchase lined up perfectly as I was able to catch the Memorial Day free shipping sale (it appears they have free shipping sales every holiday).

Step one in the process is surface preparation. The UCoat It process calls for muriatic acid to prepare the surface for the first coat of paint, but before that occurs, any oil needs to be cleaned from the concrete. If the oil is not cleaned off, the acid will not be able to prepare the surface. My garage only had a couple oil spots where the cars were previously parked. The oil spots were dry but appear to have soaked into the concrete. I decided to give simple green a shot. I sprayed liberally over the stains and let it sit overnight. I was not sure if this will work, but the next day I found the simple green was able to bring the oil to the surface. If a degreaser would have not worked, the other option was TSP (trisodium phosphate) with kitty litter. From what I have read, TSP is very powerful stuff that will clean even the most stubborn oil from the concrete. The purpose of the kitty litter is to make a paste that will then absorb the oil that is lifted from the concrete. Luckily, I did not have any oil stains that would require that.

In addition to cleaning off the oil stains, I decided to pressure was the garage. The UCoat-it process did not require this but I didn’t want to take any chances. For cleaning concrete a gas powered pressure washer is required as an electric one will not generate the pressure needed. I rented a gas powered pressure washer off craigslist and cleaned the floor as best as possible. This was able to clean off any other non-oil stains left behind by the previous owners.

It is also important to confirm that the concrete has not been previously sealed as that will prevent the muriatic acid from penetrating the concrete. A water test can confirm the presence of a sealer by simply dripping some water on the concrete and checking if it changes color. If concrete changes color, there is no sealer. While pressure washing I noticed a couple areas that the water did not seem to penetrate into the concrete, as it did not change color. This concerned me as that could indicate that the concrete was previously sealed even though a previous water test I performed did not indicate a sealer. I performed a final test using a drop of full strength muriatic acid. To my relief, the drop instantly reacted with the concrete.

The UCoat It kit is supplied fairly complete and comes with most of what is needed to finish the job, aside for the muriatic acid. To be prepared I bought extra roller covers, chip brushes, and small and large buckets. The muriatic acid is not included in the kit but that can be easily found at Home Depot. I set aside three evenings to perform the work and enlisted the help of a good friend. This entire process can be performed alone, but it would take much longer and it would be much more mundane.

With some nervousness we started the process. We diluted the acid per the instructions and began etching the concrete. We used plastic deck brushes to scrub the concrete and spread the acid. Pouring the acid onto the concrete had an oddly rewarding feeling as it fizzled and smoked on contact. The acid really did a good job cleaning to concrete. We performed two passes, washing away the debris after each pass using water and a large floor squeegee. After the second pass, the concrete was super clean and had a very smooth porous texture.

We mixed the epoxy for the first coat in a 5 gallon bucket. According to the pot time chart we had about 60 minutes, which seemed like enough time to coat the entire floor. One person cut in the edges while the other rolled the epoxy out. We had to re-wet the floor as we painted as the concrete dried out fairly quickly. Turns out, even when working with a friend, 1 hour was barely enough time to complete the task. By the time we got to the end of the garage, the epoxy gelled with a couple feet left. This meant that a small section near the garage door got a very thin coat of epoxy. Nothing we could do about it at that point, so we let it be.

For the second coat, we learned our lesson from the first day and decided to roll out the paint in two batches. Also, instead of rolling out paint from a bucket we used a paint tray. This made the process much smoother and less rushed. The second coat went down a lot easier than the first. For the second coat it was important to have a uniform finish as any imperfections will be visible through the clear coat.

The third and final coat was the clear coat. For this coat we followed the same process as with the second. The clear coat is very similar to an automotive clear coat and its definitely some potent stuff. It didn’t take long until the effects of the vapors made us thankful that it was a fairly strong breeze that day. The primary difficulty with rolling out this coat was seeing what was already painted and what was not. In the end, a couple spots, specifically at the interface between the cut in and roller, were not fully coated. The clear coat took 24 hours to cure before being able to walk on it, and 7 days to fully cure. Throughout that time it continued to have a distinct and powerful odor. After smelling it for several days I did not notice it but anyone who came by during that time noticed it from a far.

In the end I am very happy with the results and quality of the product. It’s clear that if the directions are followed there should be no issue with application. There are several lessons learned and things I would consider doing differently if I were to do this again. One of the main things to note is that any imperfections on the concrete will be more evident when painted with a glossy paint. Sounds obvious but knowing what imperfections are present is not that simple. The concrete in my garage had a couple small cracks that were barely visible but once painted there are much more obvious. There are also many little holes, about 1/8” in diameter, which show up as black dots. It’s very likely that these holes were not present until the acid wash exposed small voids in the concrete. Also, any surface finish changes or irregularities what were present during the smoothing of the concrete are now very visible. In the end, all of these imperfections are minor for a garage, but they are there. If I were to apply this coating again, I would seal up any voids, cracks, and holes with concrete filler after performing the acid wash. To remove the overall surface finish imperfections it would be necessary to grind the concrete. But the benefit of the irregular surface finish is that it will hide any damage to the floor that will inevitably happen.

 

Here are more lessons learned and observations that could come in handy if you decide to do your garage floor with UCoat:

-Coat the floor in batches and do not rush the process.

-Use a roller tray to help keep the application smooth.

-Use a higher quality roller handle that prevents the roller cover from slipping off. (I used a Wooster Sherlock on the second and third coat which helped)

-The roller covers supplied in the kit claimed to be lint free and shed resistant but that was not the case for me, even after removing all the lint initially present out of the packaging. I recommend using the highest quality rollers you can find.

-The chip brushes, like any cheap chip brushes, will leave behind bristles. I would spring for a quality brush next time to eliminate this issue.

-For my health I probably should have used a respirator when applying the clear coat.

-Fill any cracks or imperfections in the concrete.

-The finished coating is very slippery when wet. The kit came with silica sand for texture but since I live in a dry climate, I chose not to use it. From speaking with people that have used it, it does become a magnet for dirt and any work done on the floor becomes painful for the knees.