All we can say is wow! This checker pattern concrete floor coating for a barn garage workshop is an eye-popping attention grabber. To top it off, this was a DIY application by an All Garage Floors reader. He accomplished this project using commercial-quality floor coating materials and tips he learned about on our website.
John had originally contacted us to thank us for his education on garage floor coatings and for helping to make his project a success. He wanted to provide positive feedback and possibly submit it for our Reader’s Projects pages. When he sent us some pictures, we immediately knew we had to get more details and post up his floor coating project.
John’s 1680 ft² barn is in Big Pine, California, a small yet beautiful high desert town on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. He is a professed “total DIYer” and has been very successful at it. Being a perfectionist, he loves to figure out how to do things on his own. This saves him money and provides the satisfaction of patting himself on the back for a job well done.
For some background, John had a previous experience with painting concrete that did not go well. Before moving to California, he had lived in Michigan where he built a pole barn in the 1980’s. He was so excited to have a great-looking concrete floor, that he applied gray concrete paint just a few days after the concrete had been placed.
Unfortunately, the paint began to peel up the very next day due to moisture vapor escaping from the still curing concrete. You need to wait a minimum of 28 days before painting or coating new concrete. A year later, none of it was left.
John said it was a learning experience. He just didn’t have the knowledge or resources available then to do it right. He told himself he would learn the correct way if he ever had a similar project.
I wanted something that would really pop and this time stick to the floor!
So, after moving to Big Pine, John built an even larger barn. This time, however, he let the concrete cure before doing anything with the surface. In addition, he knew that a proper coating and not paint should be applied this time.
The Process of Choosing the Right Concrete Floor Coating
While the barn was being built, John kept thinking again about having a great-looking floor. The goal was a nicely colored floor coating that would be durable. John stated; “I wanted something that would really pop and this time stick to the floor!”
Like many garage floor coating projects, he went to his local paint store to see about purchasing epoxy coatings. They were helpful and soon directed him to Rust-Oleum epoxy products. Thinking that this was the correct solution to his coating needs, he went home to decide on his color choices.
However, after doing some research on a color pattern, he kept coming across reviews for the Rust-Oleum products. There were things that people liked, but there were also many reported failures. One of his key takeaways was that marketing terms such as “Resistant” meant it was something that would eventually fail. These were the same terms that the sales staff at the paint store were using.
Read: The Poor Reviews and Ruined Expectations of Garage Floor Coatings
That’s when John decided to put a hold on the project and do some more research. The type of work he would be performing on the floor was transmission replacements, numerous automotive repairs, woodworking, and various other projects. He didn’t want his coating failing after a few weeks.
UltraArmor Epoxy and BallistiX Coatings For the Win
John said that it didn’t take him long to discover that the information he was looking for was at All Garage Floors. He began reading numerous articles and soon concluded that he would not be using a mass-marketed low solids epoxy product.
It didn’t take him long to become interested in the concrete coating products available from ArmorPoxy. They are one of the many sponsors that we recommend.
After evaluating their coating materials and reading some of our product reviews, he decided that one sealer he was going to use for sure was called BallistiX. BallistiX is a Silicon-Ceramic-Hybrid clear coating that can be applied to bare concrete or other coatings as a topcoat. We did a full review of BallistiX here. He knew that if he opted not to use an epoxy color coat, he would still use BallistiX on the bare concrete.
John then contacted ArmorPoxy to discuss his project. After their discussions, he decided to use their UltraArmor Job On A Pallet kits. The UltraArmor kit consists of an epoxy primer coat, a 100% solids epoxy color base coat, and a high-performance clear coat.
After working it out with the sales team, he purchased two UltraArmor kits. One in Racing Blue and the other in Safety Yellow. He also purchased enough BallistiX CA and microfiber pads to topcoat the entire project. He said that ArmorPoxy was very helpful throughout the process.
Applying the Epoxy and BallistiX in a Checker Pattern
The idea for a checkerboard floor coating came about due to the many contraction joints required for his concrete slab. Though the joints created more of a rectangle than perfect squares, they are aligned well and make an ideal border to separate the epoxy colors.
Unless there is a team of people working on a unique project like this one, applying two colors in this fashion requires planning. You can’t apply the epoxy primer coat over the entire floor and then alternately apply the two different color coats. It would take too long and epoxy has a limited pot life.
What John and his wife did was apply the entire kit of one color first to the alternating squares. When that was completed, they applied the entire kit of the other color to the remaining squares.
He cut some scrap trim that was available to slide into the contraction joints to create makeshift borders. This would prevent coating materials from accidentally flowing into adjacent squares.
Overall, the job went smoothly. John said he had extra epoxy primer and topcoat material left over. However, he barely had enough of the 100% solids base coat material for the first color.
The reason for this is that he first began by using the supplied squeegee to spread the material out and then back-rolled it. He soon realized that the squeegee was applying the epoxy at a thicker coverage rate and he wouldn’t have enough material left if he kept at it. He applied the remainder of the material using a paint roller and had just enough.
John didn’t use the squeegee at all for the second color. Instead, he used the paint roller to spread it out and backroll after it was poured onto the floor. It covered the epoxy primer well and there were no worries about not having enough material.
The application for the entire project took him and his wife a total of seven days. Three days for each of the color coat kits and one day for applying the high gloss BallistiX CA coat to the entire floor.
John’s Project Comments and Observations
John and his wife loved how the project turned out. Plus, he got his wish for a great-looking garage and workshop floor coating that pops.
He admits that it did not turn out perfect and that there were some minor issues in the finish that were no fault of the materials. The first is approximately six bubbles he found that were most likely due to the outgassing of the slab.
The more frustrating issue was the few ants, bugs, and various debris that the wind blew in and stuck to the coatings while they were still curing. Some he was able to extract while others remained permanently interned.
Of course, this does not include the local feral cat (I believe John used more adjectives) that wandered across a small part of the floor and left permanent paw prints. John says he is now known as Blue Paws.
One thing he noticed after moving things into the barn is that the blue color appears to scratch more easily. He said he was hoping that the BallistiX coat would prevent that.
We reported back to him that darker colors (particularly glossy ones) tend to highlight scratches that otherwise are hard to see with lighter colors. That is why light grays and tans are predominant colors for garage floors.
Most importantly, John commented that he was extremely thankful that he did not go with his first choice at the paint store. He sent pictures back to his brother in Michigan who after seeing the pictures, is now convinced that he needs to do a coating system for his garage floor.
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