Garage Floor Epoxy Coating

[Blowout]

I've been wanting to have my garage floor coated with epoxy either professionally or maybe doing it myself.  There are some cracks I would like sealed off. Any pros and cons with the epoxy coverings? Both professionally and diy? Anything not to do?  Would welding cause problems down the road? Thanks guys.

[cuda hunter]

Welding will burn the paint.

Much easier to use a professional but if your particular you can do it yourself.

I have done a few with pontiac symbols and a ford insignia on the floor. 
Then clear epoxied over the colors.

You will need to muriatic etch the floor after hot power washing it first. 
Any oil spots that are not properly cleaned and etched will let the epoxy peel up.

If you don't mind a jumbled sloppy look the DIY stuff has the flakes you can scatter around everywhere that supposedly supply grip for walking but also provide areas where dirt and oil can hang out making for a little more difficult to clean.

There is also urethane coatings for the floors but I have no experience with those.
I hear the epoxy is harder and adheres better but urethane is more uv resistant and scratch resistant.  Supposedly epoxy first and then clear with urethane. 
No experience here so do your homework with the two products. 

[71GranCoupe]

I am still working on mine. I am doing it in sections of about 300 square feet at a time. I am using the epoxy kits from HD. I started by sweeping the floor, then mopped, then used some self-leveling calk for saw cuts and the larger cracks. I then used a sander and scuffed up the floor and then vacuumed it and then re-mopped it again. I used some acetone and goof off to clean up a few minute oil stains. I then re-mopped one last time. Then I mixed up the prepacked epoxy flooring and used a paint roller on a 5' handle and rolled it out. I then sprinkled the flakes and I actually like the looks of the flakes. The epoxy dries fairly fast is why i only am doing one package at a time. I then give it a couple days and start the process over on the next pre-determined area. With so much stuff makes it a challenge, but it is working.

[captcolour]

I've done both pole barn floors myself.  Get your epoxy from an industrial paint supply.  Used the attached tinted to cirrus gray.  Bought the speckles at Home Depot.

[Blowout]

Great feedback and thanks for sharing the pics.

@71GranCoupe doing it in sections like you did might have to be my plan as well. I too have a bunch of stuff in my garage. Any noticable paint lines doing it that way?

[71GranCoupe]

Great feedback and thanks for sharing the pics.

@71GranCoupe doing it in sections like you did might have to be my plan as well. I too have a bunch of stuff in my garage. Any noticable paint lines doing it that way?

There is a slight difference in tint. Very minimal in my opinion and not an issue for me. One thing I would suggest would figure out how much of the floor covering you will need and buy it all at once. I am sure this is how there is a very slight difference of the tint. By getting it all at once will possibly get all the product from the same batch and make any color difference minimal. Maybe even consider getting one extra package to insure you have enough and if not used, just return it within the return policy.

[mopar1]

I used sherwin williams armor seal on my floor.  Very good product.  If you create an account with them, which is no cost to you, no minimum amount of material to buy, it significantly reduces the cost of the product, probably close to 50%.

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/armorseal-1000hs-epoxyfloor-coating

[soundcontrol]

I painted half of my floor in 2K Epoxy, will do the other half (next room) when I get a lot of crap out. Seems to be very strong, drove my truck in with spiked winter tires (didn't think of that before I did it), but no scratches on the floor. Also didn't think of welding before I painted, gonna weld a lot, mostly TIG though but also MAG, maybe get some fireproof blankets or something to cover the floor when I weld MAG.

[cuda hunter]

@Blowout
What did you eventually decide to do to your garage floor?

[EDL94]

Acid stain looks great and holds up well

[Blowout]

@cuda hunter

I had plans to do the floor but then I got my 70 R/T and that got put on jack stands without anyway of moving it for the time being so I held off.  I got excited and started working on that instead.  Once the car is mobile then I will probably get back on this.

[cuda hunter]

Acid stain looks great and holds up well

Did you clear epoxy on top of the acid stain? 
I have performed acid staining on multiple custom homes and it seems that over the years the walking path ends up losing a lot of it's pattern.   I have not installed clear epoxy over the acid stain yet.  That's why I asked.

[EDL94]

It is just a gloss sealer been 4 years still loos good except for paint overspray in one bay (my fault) I will need to reseal it in the next year or two. I still like it and it has had some hard use including welding.