Several years ago, I bought a garage floor sealer. I followed the directions precisely, but the coating didn’t hold up. Some friends had professional painters apply a sealer to their garage floor. It looked nice, but it isn’t holding up very well either.
Has anyone had good experience with these garage floor sealers? If so, what brand worked well for you?
Yes…but it was applied to a floor that was only 1 month old.
The trick is the cleaning…It MUST be cleaned properly…any oil residue left behind and it’ll start flaking off.
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Thank you. My floor was 15 years old when I applied the sealer. I used a power washer, etched the concrete with muriatic acid, neutralized the acid with amonia, flushed away all the chemicals and did everything per instructions.
If you used a specific brand that did well, I’ll purchase that brand. I don’t want to put a lot of effort into sealing the floor if it doesn’t work.
90% of garage floor finish failure is due to imperfect prep. Totally clean, nothing less will work.
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I think I fall into the other 10%. I followed the instructions precisely on the preparation. That is why I am wondering if there are differences among brands. If there are specific brands of sealer that hold up (assuming careful preparation), that is what I will go for.
I used the Rust-Oleum product.
Which do you think is most likely…
There’s some quirk in the stuff you applied…or you didn’t clean it properly??
My floor sealant is now 10 years old. Looks GREAT…
I still believe it wasn’t cleaned properly. Getting out any oil residue is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
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Thanks for the information. I’ll try the Rust-Oleum product this summer. If yours held up 10 years, that is good enough for me.
I still think that there was something wrong with the product I used, but I don’t remember the name. It came from a big box store. When I cleaned the floor, I used a power scrubber with revolving brushes and strong detergent. I then used a power wassher. I again flushed the floor with water and let it dry. I then applied the muriatic acid to etch the concrete, then neutralized the acid with amonia as directed. I then flushed the floor with water one more time and let the floor dry before I began applying the sealant. The sealant didn’t hold up anyplace on the floor.
There are differences in brands and types. I like the true epoxy products, but some of the newer non-epoxies seem to have proven very good.
One other problem I have seen is ground conditions. If the floor is below grade or you have a high water table, that could be your problem.
Good Luck
I didn’t see one step you did that will remove any oil that’s soaked into the concrete. The only thing I know of that will remove oil stains that’s been absorbed by the concrete is brake cleaner. Buy a gallon of it and pour it on any oil stains…and let it sit for few hours.
I use a commercial degreaser every time oil has dripped on the floor. I forgot to say that I attacked any grease spot with this degreaser before I even started with the process. Joseph E. Meehan in a later post may have it the problem–we do have a high water table.
The product I used was not an epoxy product. It was on sale–maybe there was a reason for that. Interestingly, the sealer started peeling in a place far away from where the cars are parked in the garage.
Fortunately, I did only half the garage floor to see how the product would work. If I can get a sealer that works, it would be great. I spent quite a bit of time this weekend cleaning up the sand/salt mix that the cars tracked in these past 2 months. I want the sealer to make it easier to get up this road grit.
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I’ve always been curious if these products make the floor slippery when it’s wet. Do they?
You aren’t hijacking this thread. I would also like an answer to this question before I make another attempt to put sealer on the floor.
Yes…but there are additives that the pros use to make it less slippery.