Shop floor and other recommendations

[jaxgt]

Gents - I have a new home for my GT, other cars, 4 post lift and workshop. We're in the midst of fixing it up right now.
It will function as part shop, part storage, and part showroom. There is about 4000 sq feet of concrete flooring in the shop that currently is in so - so condition with some old stains etc...

Also, 2 of the walls are cinderblock, and 2 are just metal sheets.

I know there have been some posts about flooring ideas. I'm thinking about 3 things, which all depend on cost and durability:
- Epoxy coating like U-Coat it or Premiergarage does
- Polished concrete - pretty pricey - heard may be a bit slippery when wet and not very stain resistant. Looks great in showrooms
- stained concrete - will hide imperfections some etc... Probably the least expensive?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Photos too !

Also - any thoughts on how to insulate the 2 metal sheet walls would be nice. I could spray foam, but won't look great as not too easy to cover with sheet rock.

Thanks !

 

[ChipBeck]

Jax,

6 years ago I installed an amazing garage floor from premiergarage.com. They have locations all over the country. It's non slip, even when wet, but oil and solvents wipe right up and don't hurt it. My 1980 Jeep and Cobra leaked everything you can imagine and months later when I moved them the stuff wiped right up without a trace. It looks very high line and is extreemly durable as my motorcycle kick stands don't even scratch it. I have a tan-3 color chip finish and it looks as good today as the day I put it in.

Look at their web site.

Chip

 

[HIRISC]

We have MMA (acrylic) over our aggregate-exposed concrete at the shop.

Looks great, isn't slippery (with shark-grit added), but doesn't take impact abuse very well if you wrench a lot.

Polished is being done a lot around here. They can seal it with some slip-resistance.

If I were doing it again, I'd either do epoxy as Chip suggested or quartz (more durable than epoxy, looks homogeneous/opaque like epoxy).

Not great, but I don't have many pics of the 'floor'. Two views with different lighting:

 

[gtinmyblood]

I had this company www.techniquex.com do my floors for me. They do factory floors hangers etc and did an amazing job for me. Floor has been down for about 8 years now with no stains etc. I did a grey epoxy. Give them a call.

 

[KJRGT]

Jax,

6 years ago I installed an amazing garage floor from premiergarage.com. They have locations all over the country. It's non slip, even when wet, but oil and solvents wipe right up and don't hurt it. My 1980 Jeep and Cobra leaked everything you can imagine and months later when I moved them the stuff wiped right up without a trace. It looks very high line and is extreemly durable as my motorcycle kick stands don't even scratch it. I have a tan-3 color chip finish and it looks as good today as the day I put it in.

Look at their web site.

Chip

I've had the pleasure of seeing Chip's garage floor and it truly is fantastic.

 

[ChipBeck]

Here's a photo of Premier Garage flooring.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Chip's garage floor and it truly is fantastic.

Gentlemen,

Here's a photo of my garage. They also installed some really good looking cabinets and a work bench.

Chip

 

[jaxgt]

Garage looks great. I called Premier by me for an estimate.
At 4000sf I am afraid will be quite pricey.

 

[gtinmyblood]

I've gotten quotes from $1 per sq Ft to $4 per Sq Ft. Shop around.

I concurr. Chip's garage looks excellent!

 

[Wwabbit]

I went with stained and polished. We did about 4500 sq ft. I was after the worn leathery, organic look. You can put logos or patterns and mixup the coloring. It's not the ultimate stain resistor but it sure has an awesome look and with cool lighting at night, it's pretty spectacular. They burnished in some sort of sealer, so far everything has wiped up well. Here's a pic as it was being finished. Lot's of blue tape still.

 

[gtinmyblood]

Pic of shop floor in grey epoxy



if I attached the pic right it should be a pic of the shop floor with the grey Epoxy. The total shop is 2400 Sq Ft.

I have outside area to weld and do dirty work so as to not affect the floor. Other than welding sparks the floor if pretty durable. 6 years and no stains or chips. With epoxy if it gets a scratch in in I can fix it just like doing a blend in on a fender.

 

[Wwabbit]

And as to the sheet metal walls, one option is frame out a 2x4 or 2x6 wall across it and spray foam or use rigid foam board insulation screwed on with no framing (my choice in 2" depending on how much insulation you need if it's an exterior wall) and skin with 3/4 A/B ply to make the interior wall , batten the seams with 1/4"x 2" trim and splatter spray (speckled) for a cool wall look. You can then drill or screw anything into it like shelves, etc. and it would be bullet proof. It's a garage right?

 

[MAD IN NC]

jaxgrt, check out http://garagejournal.com/forum/ great site for any and every flooring option imagineable....

 

[FBA]

Did someone say sheet metal walls? I did diamond plate walls and ceilings -

Just sold my home and am moving to a larger garage...now that I blew like 90K on this one...trying to figure out what to do next...

 

[Empty Pockets]

did someone say sheet metal walls? I did diamond plate walls and ceilings -

:eek Good night NURSE!!!!! :eek :willy

 

[NJF]

I went with epoxy floor and if done right is bullet-proof.

 

[Wwabbit]

Jeeeez-us, FBA! If the space station ever needs a moto hangar bay, you could consult! Nice job on that my man.

And where do the stairs go? To the submarine pool at the base of the volcano?

 

[FBA]

Nuclear bomb shelter. LOL

 

[fjpikul]

Jax, there are some long, old threads about this. One of the members here owns Racedeck (snap-in plastic tiles) and gives a discount to other GT owners. He's from Utah. Might be worth a look.

 

[Howard]

I did Racedeck. An inexpensive option. Couldn't be happier.

Howard

 

[Specracer]

Insulation, is it a steel space frame building? Our buildings are, and the insulation, is a normal fiberglass bat, that is 4' wide, with a white finished backer that you see. The edges have adhesive tape where they butt up and overlap giving the seam a finished look.