Evening all.

Having built the shell of my garage and gotten the floor in, I now need to think about painting it. From my research so far, a 2 part epoxy paint appears to be the way to go. However, there is a wide range of colours, and I am unsure which will suit my needs best. The workshop will be well lit when I get that far, but I feel the floor colour will alter how it feels inside. Light colours should throw more light, but tile red usually looks a bit more professional. There won't be any need to demarcate any areas of the floor.

So over to you guys and girls. What do you think, and why? Any experience of using 2 part epoxy paint, or any cheaper alternatives would be good too!

White, then you can pretend your a annex of the McLaren production line.

Grey, always looks good on a workshop floor.

Mine is light grey,

I have used red, grey and green in various garages in the past. Grey was best

What's going to show up things best when you drop them? Ideally you'ld want to find swarf, screws and other bits and pieces before you drive over them.... I've voted blue btw.

Mmmmm, Watco have Tile Red paint at £27 + VAT a tin, down from £110.......

Should've said that the workshop will ideally be split so that the car stays at the front, and I work at the back, so swarf and what not should stay on it's on side.

[Edited on 29/4/13 by DIY Si]

Light grey as it was cheap from lido, £12.50 for 5 litres and its good stuff as well

The lighter the better for more reflected light.

I used yellow in my last lock up but only because it was free . Two pack is so much better lasting than cheap floor paint

my garage floor is pale blue, looks good in contrast to all the rubbish that I leave about the place

Have a look at Lidl's there selling floor paint
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-F0EF47C8-6EFD9EAE/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=1718&ar=10

[Edited on 29/4/13 by jacko]

Got to be red

Is that a bag full of golf bats next to the comfy chair?

light grey is nice and easy to find things when you drop them

I have got some epoxy paint to put in my new garage. will be doing so tomorrow, I hope (unless something else crops up)
I bought from a company who advertise on fleabay. 5 litres of primer (turns out to be PVA, I shouldn't be surprised) and 15 litres of slovent free epoxy was £84 delivered. Should be ample for my 30m2 garage.

The solvent free bit is important (apparently) as water based or normal epoxy is thinned, so has a lower solids content.

Will report back on progress....but today got to see the council and get a bathroom under way, plus empty the garage of various building materials. Plus whatever tat the lady wife has been putting in there

Any updates yet?

I did go with the 75% off red paint in the end, as at £40 is was too cheap to pass up.

quote:

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Originally posted by jacko
Have a look at Lidl's there selling floor paint
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-F0EF47C8-6EFD9EAE/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=1718&ar=10

[Edited on 29/4/13 by jacko]

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This was the major problem when looking for paint. Anything less than £50+ a litre won't be sure to stay down. And I do not want to be re-painting it every 6 months. The stuff I got from Walco is fork truck rated, so should be fine.

Clifty,

You've had a month, any joy as yet?

Damn, been a tad busy.
The stuff said only mix what can be used in 20 mins. It was about 10 degrees, so hardening times would be double those at 20 degrees. However, it was probably about 24 hours before pretty hard, 48 and very solid.
Bear in mind the groundworker had a strop and left me to use the bull float (huge thing n a long pole) and I had diddly squat experience, and it was dark when I actually floated the concrete back in February, so the finish is far from smooth. the results are excellent.
The primer was dilute PVA, but the actual floor "paint" seems to be very tough. I used a plastic scuttle liner for the roller, and when it had hardened the thin layer (I am guessing similar to what was on the floor) on the plastic wouldn't flex much, but that is fine as the floor shouldn't. Very hard though.

I needed 2 coats as judging usage was tricky, but I had the right quantity. Time will tell how good it is long term, but more than happy at the moment.

That's good news. I have had similar issues with my concrete floor, so much so in fact that I've spent this week putting two coats of an epoxy DPM down to allow a better self-levelling compound finish to go down in about an hour's time. You're one up on me though, as I had to spend last weekend grinding all the laitance off first, which was not at all fun.

I shall bear in mind the drying times. My DPM has had a similar thing. Says 18-24 hours on the data sheet, but it's more like 48 hours to not be tacky. But then I'm spending this weekend moving all my stuff into the new garage, so I'll have to paint the floor in two halves I suspect anyways.