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Cement floor resurfacing

Lovebug

Lovebug

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Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

Is this for your garage?

You don't want something that's too smooth, and you don't want something that's hard to clean.
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

Do business with a reputable outfit and insist on seeing and speaking to prior clients. Seeing their completed work. Make sure a little time has passed so the surface has had some time to cure and be subject to wear and tear. Last year, I posted on one of the internet sites that advertised home contractors. The first group came and we settled on having them recover our garage floor and an attatched sun deck. One thing led to another and that fell through. Try to get a gut feeling for the people you are dealing with. The group that we finally settled on is a franchise and we had so we issues with them and they were dragging their feet. I called the head office in California and was basically told that they had no leverage over the franchisee and I was on my own. Make sure that if there are issues you can go over the head of the people you hand your money to. We finally got an acceptable job, but there was a struggle.....PM if you want more details, Good Luck!

View attachment 67224206
This was the finish we went with in the sun room..
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

What is the desired end result and what is the problem with the floor now? Do you want indoor-living quality? Will you still park a vehicle in there? Or, is this more about restoring damaged concrete to a new appearance? It actually makes a big difference. If so, what kind of damage? Spalling? Cracking? Any uneven floor areas or heaving?
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

The article points you to single-part polyurea. My concern would be getting a (used) slab blemish free so imperfections don't show through like chips, cracks, etc. It mentions them but doesn't provide a solution.
I would want to talk to someone who has "been there, done that".

The one part is a plus.
Slippery? How slippery? Look in the data sheet for something like "coefficient of friction" since it's a floor product. You might get lucky.
Self leveling? That's great.


EDIT: Ask someone to come out and give you a bid. You will probably learn a lot from the rep.
 
Absentglare said:
Is this for your garage?

You don't want something that's too smooth, and you don't want something that's hard to clean.
Click to expand...

Yes, garage and driveway.
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about doing that in the add-on part of my house, I am sick of carpeting, just makes the house warmer in the summer. A nice covering on the cement or tiling is something I've been looking at.

I have 800 sf that was added on to the house, and its 3.5 inches lower than the original house, raising that up would solve some monsoon related flood problems, but would probably be damned expensive. I am very close to paying off the mortgage, so I need to direct that $$ to fixing up and renovating..
 
Lovebug said:
Yes, garage and driveway.
Click to expand...

Driveway too? I'd probably prefer polyurethane for outdoor use. Epoxy can self-level which is nice for indoors, but it turns yellow in the sun.

Polyurethane is amazing ****.
 
So we are talking garage floor, driveway and possibly sun deck. Our concerns are the floor becoming too slippery, clean up ( I have a lot of plants and am rather clumsy), dog (Dane), wear and tear.
The garage floor has a few minor cracks that a previous owner repaired himself and then gone over with some sort of sealant that makes the floor rather hazardous.
All the contractors said they would have to sand down the floor thoroughly before any application.
Driveway is in great shape.
Sundeck has settling cracks that need to be dealt with.
All the contractors said they would have to sand down the floor thoroughly before any application.
We checked all contractors our at both BBB and Home advisor. A few more are coming later this afternoon.
 
beefheart said:
I'm thinking about doing that in the add-on part of my house, I am sick of carpeting, just makes the house warmer in the summer. A nice covering on the cement or tiling is something I've been looking at.

I have 800 sf that was added on to the house, and its 3.5 inches lower than the original house, raising that up would solve some monsoon related flood problems, but would probably be damned expensive. I am very close to paying off the mortgage, so I need to direct that $$ to fixing up and renovating..
Click to expand...

We have over 2000 sft to cover and the quotes are from low $3,000 to $4,800. I want quality so we don't have to deal with it again for a long time.
 
Lovebug said:
So we are talking garage floor, driveway and possibly sun deck. Our concerns are the floor becoming too slippery, clean up ( I have a lot of plants and am rather clumsy), dog (Dane), wear and tear.
The garage floor has a few minor cracks that a previous owner repaired himself and then gone over with some sort of sealant that makes the floor rather hazardous.
All the contractors said they would have to sand down the floor thoroughly before any application.
Driveway is in great shape.
Sundeck has settling cracks that need to be dealt with.
All the contractors said they would have to sand down the floor thoroughly before any application.
We checked all contractors our at both BBB and Home advisor. A few more are coming later this afternoon.
Click to expand...

This might help with the slippery floor issue.

How to Use Anti-Slip Additives for Garage Floor Coatings
How to use Anti-Slip Additives for Epoxy Coated Floors | All Garage Floors
 
Lovebug said:
We have over 2000 sft to cover and the quotes are from low $3,000 to $4,800. I want quality so we don't have to deal with it again for a long time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would have to raise up my patio too, eh...I got lots of other things to do first...LOL
 
beefheart said:
I'm thinking about doing that in the add-on part of my house, I am sick of carpeting, just makes the house warmer in the summer. A nice covering on the cement or tiling is something I've been looking at.

I have 800 sf that was added on to the house, and its 3.5 inches lower than the original house, raising that up would solve some monsoon related flood problems, but would probably be damned expensive. I am very close to paying off the mortgage, so I need to direct that $$ to fixing up and renovating..
Click to expand...


In industrial applications would often pour six to eight inch floors. Forgive me if I'm in error on your intentions but with flooding I would not consider anything without first seeking a drainage solution. You could make up that 3.5" with re-inforced concrete...but where will the water go?

A lot depends on soil conditions in your area, but if you get a lot of snow or rain, call in a drainage specialist.

I Regina, I poured a 4" 8X10 slab over the small step patio that was there before. It was hard clay that had been pushing the water away, but when I added the weight of the concrete it compressed the clay and the water went under, and eventually into my basement. What was a $100 DIY, became a $3,500 repair job.
 
Fearandloathing said:
In industrial applications would often pour six to eight inch floors. Forgive me if I'm in error on your intentions but with flooding I would not consider anything without first seeking a drainage solution. You could make up that 3.5" with re-inforced concrete...but where will the water go?

A lot depends on soil conditions in your area, but if you get a lot of snow or rain, call in a drainage specialist.

I Regina, I poured a 4" 8X10 slab over the small step patio that was there before. It was hard clay that had been pushing the water away, but when I added the weight of the concrete it compressed the clay and the water went under, and eventually into my basement. What was a $100 DIY, became a $3,500 repair job.
Click to expand...

Flooding only happens when it rains very heavily (we had a mega monsoon cell over my house in Aug), and I am not there to sweep out my patio (I was in San Antonio). The patio is at the same level as the added on section, it can get nasty and floded.
 
beefheart said:
Flooding only happens when it rains very heavily (we had a mega monsoon cell over my house in Aug), and I am not there to sweep out my patio (I was in San Antonio). The patio is at the same level as the added on section, it can get nasty and floded.
Click to expand...


So you do or you don't want to fix the problem?
 
Lovebug said:
Does anyone have any experience with it? Can anyone recommend any approach over another? We had some bids, but can't decide on one material like epoxy vs polyurea, smooth vs textured.
Any questions we should ask the contractor aside from price, drying time, warranty?
Help, PLEASE?
Click to expand...

I have used the Valspar 2K Epoxy, and it is easy to use, dries fast, is very attractive, and has great resistance properties.
 
it's just me said:
I have used the Valspar 2K Epoxy, and it is easy to use, dries fast, is very attractive, and has great resistance properties.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
We are done, went with the polyurea, and it looks great. Has a ten year warranty to boot.
 
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