Making Tim the Toolman Taylor Proud, Phase 2 and 3

It’s all downhill from here.  We’ve completed phase 2 and 3 of our garage makeover.  And now the changes are much more obvious.  (Here is phase 1 info.)

Phase 2: We touched up a few spots on the walls and painted the ceiling.  The ceiling was not fun.  I’m just thankful that Jacob did the majority or it while I edged the ceiling and kept the paint tray full.  In the end we used nearly 5 gallons of paint for the walls and ceiling.    

Phase 3: Epoxy the floors.  Initially we thought we would do ½ one day, ½ another, but with the weather being so nice we decide to buckle down and just do it.  Plus, we had more room in our living room for the rest of our garage junk.  Yes, that included the lawn mower and snow blower.  I know…that’s weird… but it worked.  And it would only be for a few days. 

We were sooo happy with the Epoxy Kit from Sherwin Williams.  When we bought the kit the Sherwin Williams employees gave us a play-by-play but the kit came with very straight-forward instructions. 

Here is a breakdown of the steps:

1.  Repair any cracks.  Luckily there were just a few little ones.  We used a pre-mixed cement filler we found at Home Depot.  It did need to set for 24 hours so we did that the night before the big event.

2.  Clear out the garage.  Once you start you can’t walk on it for 24 hours.

3. Perform a water test.  We dropped a little water on the garage floor to make sure there was not already a sealant on it.  Well, it didn't soak right in, but it didn't roll right off.  So we rolled the dice and proceeded.

4.  Clean the floor.  The kit comes with a degreaser for easy cleaning.  We used a push broom to apply the cleaner, waited 20 minutes, and gave it a good rinse with a hose.  We let dry completely and then checked for any missed spots.  It was so nice to walk on the clean floor with my bare feet; I never would have done that before.    

5.  Roll on the Epoxy: The Epoxy comes in 2 containers - a resin and a base paint.  Once the 2 components are combined it creates a glue like substance.  

The instructions say you have 2 hours to apply so we had to move quick.  I did the edging around the garage floor and then Jacob started rolling.  We used the cool sprinkles (colored paint flakes) so we painted in 3 foot sections.  Once rolled, I got to do the sprinkling, then more rolling, and more sprinkling.  Once again, Jacob takes the manly job and I get the fun job.  He’s a keeper.  We used 2 kits and it took us a little over 2 hours to do the whole floor. 

We left the garage open for the rest of the day; the fumes were pretty strong.  It was dry to the touch by bedtime, but the directions say 24 hour for foot traffic, 48 for heavier traffic, and 72 hours before parking a car. 

We decided to take it one more step and add a clear coat glaze for added shine and for skid resistance.  Instead of adding the Non Skid Additive to the expoxy coat, we poured the additive in to the glaze.  So, 24 hours later we covered the whole area with a clear coat glaze.

Takeaways / Advice for Others:

Plan.  Take time to read the instructions a few times, research unknowns, and allow enough time to get the best finished product. 

Clean the floor.  Even if it’s not super dirty, it will help the paint stick and the finished product will be worth it.

Don’t stress about small cracks.  We had minor cracks that we filled, but once the epoxy and sprinkles are down you really don’t notice those minor flaws.

Invest in an extended pole for your paint roller, like this one.  It’s worth it and will make painting any room much easier on the body. (Especially helpful for painting the ceiling.)

Separate the sprinkles into separate containers.  This will help you keep the sprinkling even and ensure you have enough for the whole floor.  We ended up having a lot leftover but you never really know until you get started.  I used a parmesan cheese shaker (thankfully if did come clean afterwards) for my sprinkle application.  Oh, I also used the ‘let it rain’ method for those hard to reach spots.

Continue to stir the paint while working.  This will keep the color consistent and prevent it firming up.

We are absolutely thrilled with the floors!  We both commented that the whole process was much easier than we thought it would be.  This is, however, starting to feel like the project that never ends.  After we finished the floors and walls the garage stairs looked horrible.  And the raised storage area looked pretty crappy too.  We have a few things planned to clean those up and then I can FINALLY share official after pictures.  

I'm mostly looking forward to getting my living room back....looking at this everyday is getting a little old....