Should I apply a clear top coat to my epoxy garage floor coating? This is a reasonable question that pops up from time to time for the average DIY’er looking to save some money. The real question, however, is why wouldn’t you apply a clear coat? After all, there are many benefits to adding a clear top coat over the color coat for a garage floor.
Anyone who has installed a garage floor coating properly will tell you that the hardest and most time-consuming part is prepping the floor for the epoxy. Applying the epoxy goes fast. For many, it is the fun part of the job. So after all that work of getting the concrete ready, you should consider spending a little more time and money to ensure a longer-lasting and even more beautiful floor coating.
There are various clear coating options to choose from. However, the one rule to keep in mind is that the clear coat should perform just as well if not better than the color coat. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the top 10 reasons why you should apply a clear topcoat to your epoxy garage floor.
1. Adds durability and wear
A proper clear coat will extend the life and add durability to your garage floor coating. Depending on the type of clear used, it can provide better stain and chemical resistance than the color coat. Lastly, the additional coat adds thickness to the floor coating to absorb impacts better and reduce any chance of hot tire pickup.
2. Protects the color coat
A clear coat acts as a sacrificial layer to protect the epoxy color coat. Without it, the color coat can lose its luster from wear. Though resistant to most chemicals, some oil spills or leaks allowed to sit for long periods can discolor the coating depending on the quality of the color coat applied.
3. Protects the color flakes
If you apply paint chips or color flakes to your floor, the clear coat will lock them in and protect them from peeling up and collecting dirt at the edges. Cleaning the floor and other activities can cause color flakes to pull up or chip away. When a clear coat is added, the color flakes are protected by the clear coat layer.
4. It is easier to clean
A clear coat makes a garage floor coating easier to clean. Dust mops and microfiber mop pads can glide over the floor coating without catching color flakes. This is especially true if you have a heavy flake coverage on your floor. It also allows for scrubbing without the worry of losing color flakes or dulling the color coat.
5. A Clear topcoat Adds depth to the floor coating
The additional layer of a clear topcoat adds depth to the look of the garage floor coating. This creates a richer-looking surface that appears more luxurious and thicker than it is.
6. It Creates a glossier looking finish
A clear coat will add a glossy shine to the floor coating and reflect light better than the color coat.
This is a great benefit when working on projects in the garage or automotive maintenance. The additional light reflection will brighten up your garage space. You may not need to purchase more overhead lighting or as much as you thought you might need.
7. A Clear Coat hides scratches better
All garage floor coatings will develop microscopic and sometimes larger scratches on the surface. A clear top coat helps to hide or camouflage these scratches so they are less noticeable and do not detract from the coating’s appearance. It does this by effectively acting as the sacrificial layer to prevent the color coat from being scratched which is much more obvious.
8. It’s a good medium for anti-slip additives
Anti-slip additives are hidden much better in a clear coat. Because most anti-slip media is translucent in color they will not stand out. Without a clear topcoat, they are added to the color coat instead. This makes the anti-slip granules much more visible as little bumps resembling sandpaper on the garage floor.
Furthermore, anti-slip media is more effective in clear coats. This is because many clear coat options are thinner in dry film thickness which allows the anti-slip media to protrude more. When used in thicker color coats, it does not protrude as much and is less effective.
9. Can be recoated to look new again
After many years of use, an epoxy garage floor coating can start to show its age depending on how much activity it has seen. If it has a clear topcoat, it can easily be roughed up with sandpaper to have a new coat of clear applied.
The sanding of the old top coat removes any blemishes, scratches, and other imperfections that the clear coating acquired over the years. Once the new clear coat is applied, your garage floor coating will look brand new again.
10. Clear topcoats just look awesome!
When you compare an epoxy floor coating with a clear coat to one that does not, there is no question about which looks better. The clear coat gives the garage floor that extra depth and showroom shine that screams “Look at me!”
If you’re on the fence about whether or not to add a clear topcoat to your garage floor coating, think about all the benefits it will provide in the long term. Yes, it will cost a little more money and yes, it may mean one more day of being without your garage. However, once you add a clear coat, you will be rewarded with a garage floor to be proud of for years to come. You will be glad you did it!
Update – Please read
Clear coats are designed for application over 2-part resinous coatings and single-part thermosetting resinous coatings. Do not confuse garage floor paint or 1-part epoxy paint as a garage floor coating. These are very thin acrylic latex paints that will not form a chemical bond with a resinous coating. Please read our article about applying clear coats over paint if this is your plan.
I am in the process of putting Rustoleum Epoxyshield on my garage floor. I would like to put a clear coat on it. I was thinking an aliphatic polyurethane so I wouldn’t have to deal with yellowing. I went to a paint store yesterday to see if I could get some and they indicated that it wouldn’t work since the Rustoleum product is water based. Is there a polyurethane with UV protection that would work with the Epoxyshield product?
Hello Pat. Yes, it will work. Rust-Oleum’s own epoxy clear coat is solvent based, just as aliphatic polyurethane is. The best place to purchase polyurethane concrete coatings is from coating vendors online. Many of our sponsors carry polyurethane. Here is an example.
We laid down an epoxy floor and then put a clear coat over it, which didn’t turn out so well. The clear coat was very streaky and shows roller marks. Do you have any suggestions on how to remove just the clear coat without damaging epoxy?
You can’t remove the clear David. What you can do, however, is apply another clear over it to make it look good. You would rough up the surface with 100 grit sandpaper first. This will remove imperfections in the coating and allow the new coat to adhere properly. Sweep real well and then wipe the surface with denatured alcohol. You can now apply a new coat of clear making sure to avoid the mistakes you made the first time.
Do you suggest applying the clear coat with a roller or a squeegee? Also meant to ask about the sanding, do we use a floor sanding machine, sanding screens, or do we sand it by hand
You apply it with a roller David. Roll it on in one direction and then back roll at a 90 degree angle. You can use a pole sander with 100 grit sandpaper or a floor buffer with an 80 grit sanding screen. The objective is to rough up the floor and smooth out any rough areas from the first coat. You aren’t trying to remove it.
Thank you very very much. We will try this method.
I used a 1 part epoxy shield paint mande by rustoleuom. Products because im on a tight budget and anything would look better then What was on there . i prepped Like crazy after watching hours of. Dos and dont vídeos about expoxy floors and how its All on how the floor is prepped which i spent over a Week doing lol. I. Used a White base tint paint called epoxysheild and when opening the can it was seperated inside paint on bottom and the epoxy floated on top Like oil and vinigar apperance and when mixed it it had a very strong oder Like a perm smells so is this the Kindle of part one epoxy paint mix the u used with a epoxy solvent base clear coat with Or. Do i need a Water based clear coat Like u mentioned which im also using mettallic shiny flakes. So do i put a sealer on before i do a clear coat . and do i Sand the floor after i appllyed the flakes and its dryed and then a clear coat or c an i sand the painted epoxy floor and add flakes in with the clear coat so its shiny because there shiny metalliç flakes i got to kinda pick up light and be sparkley i will take All. The helpful tips u have to get this done the Best way Thank u .
Hi Christine. All 1-part epoxy paints are water-based. If this is being used for a garage floor, we highly recommend not applying a clear coat or spending the money on the different flakes. The coating is going to peel from hot tires at some point. It’s just a matter of when. If this is being used for foot traffic only, then you can apply a water-based acrylic clear coat. Here is one such example. All clear coatings are sealers. Be sure to read the instruction. It usually requires that the paint dry for a period of time and then get scrubbed down with TSP or equivalent.
So how does this sound, in an attempt to get the added benefits of PU top coat without the adhesion problems:
1.) Etch and clean concrete.
2.) Apply Rustoleum EpoxyShield in gray, high gloss, no paint chips. (Cheap, essentially use it as a neutral primer coat)
3.) Apply layer of polyurethane high gloss clear with a pearlescent powder additive (most likely blue/silver).
3.) Apply another layer of high gloss clear polyurethane, this time with no color imparting additives, but WITH an anti skid additive.
Thoughts?
Polyurethane floor coatings are typically not a good medium for pearlescent powders John. They are not like auto paint. A high solids epoxy is needed to get the desired reaction and depth to the look. Polyurethane is too thin for that. Also, unlike Rocksolid’s DIY metallic kit, when mixing pearlescents in epoxy you need to put down a quality dark colored primer in order to obtain the correct look as well. I suggest you take a look at Pure Metallic Coatings to get an idea how it works. You can create your own blends and it may be what you are looking for.
Thank you for your reply. So RockSolid’s metallic kit has some sort of color imparting pigment in either the A or B part of the polycuramine? Or is the Metallic powder the only thing that achieves the color? I recall seeing someone say that the RockSolid Clear was identical to the polycuramine included in the metallic kit, or is that not accurate? Also, to follow a similar primer coat type procedure, I could “prime” the bare concrete with Rustoleum’s EpoxyShield (grey), then mix my pearl powder with a 100% solids epoxy (clear) and apply that over the grey, correct? Then, optionally finish with a polyurethane clear coat. How does that sound? Thank you for your input 🙂
Yes, the metallic powder is added to the RockSolid clear John. They get the effects by swirling the roller in circles after application. Other metallic epoxies get their effect by dripping solvents onto the coating after it has been back rolled or by blowing it with air. No two floors are alike and it does require somewhat of an artistic touch. We don’t recommend using Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield for your primer coat if using 100% solids epoxy, however. It’s an older water based epoxy formula that does not adhere as well as a traditional epoxy primer. Plus, the costs are similar and you can get most epoxy primers color tinted as well. A clear coat on the metallic coat is definitely a good idea.
I cleaned my garage floor with soap and water, then “etched” it with Rustoleum Clean and Etch, then applied Behr Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer, then applied Behr Concrete Garage Floor Paint (three coats), and finally sprinkled Behr Premium Decoratve Flakes (into the third coat). The salesman at Home Depot referred to this as one part (as opposed to two part) epoxy. Are you saying that because it’s one part epoxy there is no clear coat I can put over it to add a layer of protection? If there is a clear coat I can put on it to add a layer of protection, which product would work the best with the products I have down on the floor so far?
You are correct Joseph. The type of system you applied is not intended to have a clear coat. Behr does offer a product called Wet-Look Sealer that can be applied, but we don’t recommend it. It’s a water based acrylic sealer that does not hold up well in a garage. The only product we could recommend would be Valspar’s Epoxy Clear Coat. It’s an actual 2-Part epoxy that is water based and will not affect your paint. The one issue, however, is that it requires that you degloss the surface of your paint by roughing it up with 100 grit sandpaper. You could lose a little or a lot of your color flake depending on how well it is adhered.
Thank you for your prompt and thorough response and your suggestion. I will apply Valspars Epoxy Clear Coat. Should I apply one thick coat or multiple coats? I wish I would have started here instead of the big box store when I went looking for advice on garage floors. In that regard, do you have any “thoughts/recommendations/products to avoid” regarding putting mats down over my 1-part epoxy paint to drive/park onto. The purpose, of course, would be to prolong the life of the paint and reduce problems like hot tire lift.
Hello Joseph. One coat should be fine. To be honest, you don’t want to invest a lot of money into multiple coats. The reason is that the paint underneath is the weak link in your system. You could put down the best clear coat available, but how well your system stays adhered is determined by the paint, not the top coat.
In terms of mats, use a quality vinyl garage floor mat. Don’t use anything with a rubber backing or it will color transfer to your floor.
Shea, your assistance is invaluable to me. Clearly I would have gone with 2part epoxy had I talked to you first and then an oil based clear coat. I will follow your advice and put down one coat of the Valspar.
I checked your site re mats and it looks like you allgaragefloors recommends (generally) Auto Floor Gaurd AFGP-7918 Containment Mat. As far as my specific circumstances, would that work? I don’t know if it’s vinyl or if it has a rubber backing. Thanks again for your help!
If you just want protection from winter weather, then yes, the Auto Floor Guard mat is an excellent choice. However, it is not designed as a year around mat. For that we would suggest a vinyl mat, preferably those made by Better Life Technology (BLT G-Floor mats). They have quite a few designs and colors to choose from. Garage Flooring LLC is an excellent resource for those and you can find them here. Amazon also has these for great prices and you can find them here.
I did the grey Epoxyshield yesterday on 1/2 of the garage and want to install the clear coat today. Can I mix 1/2 and 1/2 of the clear coat, and seal the cans for later use?
Yes you can John, as long as the part-A and part-B is in cans. We have heard reports that EpoxyShield is now being packaged in the same burst pouches as RockSolid. If that is the case, then no, you will not be able to do that unless you can successfully empty each bag separately into a container that you can seal. If you can, just be sure to mix the part-A first before mixing in with Part-B hardener. Part-A has a tendency to settle and if you are going to mix only half of the clear you want to make sure you have a good mix of the part-A. Don’t let the remainder of the part-A and Part-B sit too long before using the rest.
Hi, I have a 1200sqft garage that I painted with Sherwin Williams ArmorSeal. I didn’t realize how bad the imperfections were,so I thought the paint would fill in but didn’t. Now all i notice are “broom” marks, small chips, some are 1/4″ deep, etc. I also learned for your site that I should of used a clear top coat sealer,which i didn’t, so there are some stains now. It is also hard to clean and get the excess water out of all the imperfection, unless i use a shop vac. Do I need to rent a grinding machine and take it all off to clean cement and start over? i’m hoping there is a product i can top coat/ re-coat/level with. I can live with the stains if there is a clear product, but it’s the imperfections that looks terrible. My son wants to use for a detail shop so it needs to look good.Thanks
Hello Art. Based on your description of the surface you would be much better off to remove the coating via grinding. This will remove the broom finish as well as create a more consistent looking surface. We suggest using a larger single head or double head grinding machine such as an Edco unit to do this. Once you are back to the bare concrete surface you can fill the small divots and imperfections before coating again. Since it will be a working shop, be sure to use a high quality commercial coating with a polyurethane or polyurea top coat.
Can I use a clear top coat product on a bare garage floor (no color)? I want the protection and shine, but not the color. My floor is 2 years old, great shape and no stains.
Thanks
Yes you can Gary. In fact it’s quite common. Polyurea makes for a great coating in that regards. You can see an example of it in this article here. You can use clear epoxy, but we don’t recommend it because it can amber if exposed to U.V. light and epoxy scratches easier because it’s so hard. If you apply a coat of polyurethane over the clear epoxy, then you will get the scratch resistance and it will slow down the amber process of clear epoxy.
Hi!
We had to paint our garage floor in a hurry as our movers are delivering in two days. We used Rust Oleums Epoxy Shield paint and the Clear top coat as well. The paint went on well and dried great. The clear coat…not so much. The temperature has dropped down to mid 50’s and windy. It has been 10 hoyrs and is still super sticky. Your thoughts?
The curing process has slowed down considerably due to the cool temps Margaret. It will cure as long as it doesn’t drop much lower than 55 degrees or so. There isn’t anything you can do to speed it up unless you can heat your garage.
If bubbles appeared in first coat of urthane how to remove before second coat
Wait 24 hours Jim and then sand the surface with 100 grit sandpaper to knock down the ridges of the bubbles and open them up. The second coat will fill them in and come out looking nice providing you don’t apply it in the same manner as the first coat. Remember that polyurethane goes on thin and should not be applied thick. Also, rolling to fast, pumping the mixing paddle up and down (if you used one), and high humidity can all introduce bubbles into polyurethane.
can you paint the clear coat on after 7 days?
Most coatings have a 24 hour window for recoating Sandy. Check the manufacturer data sheets to get the info for the coating that you used. It will tell you what the recoat window is. If you are outside that window, it will require deglossing the surface by roughing it up with 100 grit sandpaper before applying another coat.
thanks! got the first coat of clear on in time! came out nice! can another coat of clear go on anytime?
The same rules apply for additional coats Sandy.
Hi Shea. I’m wanting to apply epoxy shield to my garage floor but I’m worried the concrete is too cold. I have heaters going and the ambient air temp is around 70°f. I have a lazer thermometer and it shows the concrete only around 50-55°f. Dare I chance it?
Thanks
We would not recommend it Jason. Floor temp is most important since the epoxy will quickly cool to the existing floor temp once it is applied. Rust-Oleum’s data sheets clearly state the following: “Apply only when air, material, and surface temperatures are between 60-85°F (15-29°C) and the surface temperature is at least 5°F (3°C) above the dew point”. If you were to apply the epoxy, chances are it will remain tacky and not cure properly, if at all.
Can I use Rustoleum two part urethane clear coat over 3Mom yellow floor marking tape to make it more durable?
Hello Stephen. Rust-Oleum makes a 2-part epoxy clear, but we are not aware of a polyurethane clear. The epoxy is solvent based so we can’t be sure if it would soften the tape or not when applied. Also, you would need to rough up the surface of the tape with 150 grit sandpaper in order to get the epoxy to adhere.
We have completed a new commercial building with exposed concrete floors and have applied an acrylic cure and seal clear coating on all the floor area.
Customer now wonders if we can go over this with a two part epoxy coating such as Valspar or Rustoleum .
Will either of these products work for this application or do you have any recommendations on how to proceed
Regards
Tom
Hell Tom. The acrylic cure and seal will effectively block any coating or sealer from adhering to the concrete. Before you apply anything, you will first need to grind the concrete to both remove the sealer and provide a proper profile for a coating. We would not recommend a typical Valspar or Rust-Oleum product for a commercial building. Those type of products do best for residential use only and will provide poor performance under commercial use.
A commercial single-part polyurea clear coating would be a much better choice. The abrasion and chemical resistance is much higher. These type of coatings are made for commercial traffic. SPGX polyurea by ArmorPoxy is a good example. If you look at this article here, you can see in one example where it was used at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Nohr-S by Legacy Industrial is another example. I suggest giving either one of these vendors a call and tell them about your project.
We just did Behr garage floor paint, I think 1 party epoxy. Waited 2 days and applied Valspar 2-Part Clear Gloss Garage Floor Epoxy Kit. This seemed to not do much, so than we did a Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield PREMIUM CLEAR. Now you can see the roll marks, and some parts are not coated and some are coated very well. We were going to go over again with another box of the same Rust-Oleum premium clear to even it out. Are we able to do that? Is there something we are not doing right to have it set in some areas, and not in others. Will the new coat cure on top of just applied one from 2 days ago? Do we need to sand? Thanks for your feedback
Yikes… this is an example of why it’s not a good idea to try and apply a clear coat to a 1-part epoxy paint Melissa. This article explains why. Regarding the clear, the explanation of your issues creates many questions. What do you mean that the Valspar clear did not seem to do much? Also, did you rough up the paint surface before applying it? If not, you will most likely run into an issue of the clear peeling up from the paint after you start to use the floor. This will take everything else that has been applied on top of it with it. If you did rough up the surface then is should stick.
When you said that the Rust-Oleum did not “set” in places, do you mean that these were areas that you missed with the roller or are they still tacky and not curing hard? Assuming they are areas that you missed, applying another coat will help to fix the issue. It will require roughing up the surface with 100 grit sandpaper first since you are past the 24 hour window to achieve a chemical bond. Use the sandpaper to take out any ridges left from roller marks. When applying the additional coat, use a strong light down near the floor. This will help to see the clear as it is being applied. Roller marks can be created from applying too much pressure or applying the coating too thick without properly backrolling.
Thanks for your response. We went with the recommendations at the Home Depot on the garage floor paint then clear coating over :/ No we did not rough up the paint before applying the Valspar, the paint was already pretty rough after application. What I mean by Valspar not doing much is that it did not give it a hard coating and couldn’t really tell anything was put over the original garage floor paint.
Regarding the Rust-Oleum, it was very smooth and hard/thick in places, and then others it felt/looked as it was not even applied -although my husband went over the entire area well, or so we thought. It all has dried and cured, no stickiness left just very uneven & patchy with the hard clear coat in many areas and can see the roller marks much like when vacuuming the carpet leaves lines. To apply this next clear coat of Rust-oleum how much do we sand it, just a light sanding? And is he to apply it horizontally and then back over vertically to cover area? Thanks again!
It’s stories like this that prompted us to start our website Melissa. It’s no fault of yours, unfortunately home improvement centers can harm more than help for floor coating information. Our biggest fear is that the Valspar clear is going to peel up on you after after a few weeks to a few months of use. Hopefully you will not have an issue.
Just lightly sand the last coat of clear. The goal is to degloss the surface and provide enough bite for the new coat. The only place where you may need to apply some good elbow grease is where you have ridges from roller marks. A pole sander will make quick work of it. Once you sweep up, it helps to wipe down the surface with denatured alcohol on a lint free towel to remove any remaining dust or debris. When applying the new coat, work in 4′ to 6′ sections. Apply the coating in one direction first and then backroll that section at 90 degrees from the first direction. This will ensure a more even coverage with little to no roller marks. Good luck!
Last October I paid for a polyaspartic floor covering in my garage. It really looked great for a very short time. The main coating is solid and well done. However certain areas of the floor have developed a chalky look. They are actually areas that are probably small dips etc. When I hose the garage out and everything is damper wet it looks like new. When dry, areas appear chalky again. I believe because of the width of there roller and the unevenness there must be a lack of the clear polyurethane in those places. Was considering using a floor polisher with 80 grit screens and then put down a new coat of polyurethane. Would that be correct, and should I do the whole floor or just the chalky areas. Do you agree with my diagnosis?
Yes, that would be correct John. We suggest a minimum of two coats since polyurethane goes down thin.
I’m thinking about buying epoxymaster’s 100% solids black for my garage floor. I was going buy their high performance clear top coat but it was $200 and the max reach is 400 square feet and that’s the size of my garage. Any other options you recommend?
Hello Matthew. We recommend that you give EpoxyMaster a call and tell them about your project. Some vendors have quart sizes available that they don’t show on their sites. They can tell you for sure about the coverage rate for your project.
I am going to apply a Rustoleum Rocksolid Metallic epoxy to my garage floor. I have read your website and the Mother Daughter Blog at length for all the great pointers. I believe I have read where using two layers of clear coat might be helpful. Is this accurate? And if I do add a second coat of clear do I need to sand that or is that only after it has been down for a while? Thank you.
One coat of the Rust-Oleum clear is all that would be required Bruce. However, you may be confusing the clear coat with the color coat. RockSolid has had some problems regarding color uniformity with their standard garage floor product due to exaggerated coverage rates and other issues. When this happens a second color coat fixes the problem. The metallic epoxy goes on much thicker and in general has not had this problem. We recommend reducing the coverage rate of each kit by 10-15% to insure the best outcome.
Greetings! I just want to thank you for this site and your help ! This has been instrumental in my home diy endeavors 🙂
I had a quick question, I bought Seal Krete– Epoxy Seal in Slate Gray. https://www.seal-krete.com/epoxy-seal-garage-floor-paint.html
It is a one part epoxy I believe.
I would like to have a clear shiny coat, but not sure what to use and what brand.
Can I use Polyutherane or Polyaryclic? There is no more Clear Seal at my local hardware. Thanks so much
Hello Alexa. One part epoxy paints are not designed to have a clear sealer added. The clears that you mention will not chemically bond with paint. If applied, the solvents in the clears will soften the paint as well. This article here explains why.
This is amazing article. THANK YOU Shea. I just finished etching my garage floor with Muriatic Acid as recommended by HomeDepot. I am ready to put on Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield (gray color) along with chips. What clear coats do you recommend? I see RockSolid has a clear coat but seems to be expensive. Can you suggest some alternatives for clear coat that is strong and durable which will with stand hot tires as well?
Most of the proper clear coats aren’t cheap Praveen. Rust-Oleum makes an epoxy clear coat that matches up well. It’s the Rust-Oleum Professional EpoxyShield in clear. Here is an example from Amazon.
Thanks Shea. I just finished putting down Rustoleum Professional 2-part solvent epoxy. After how long can I put the clear coat? Also at the Home Depot at my house they sell RockSolid Clear Coat. This is also made by Rustoleum. Can I use it? For 2 car garage how much sealant (number of coats) do you recommend?
Hello Praveen. Rust-Oleum states you have up to a 72 hour recoat window. We don’t recommend the RockSolid clear coat. It’s a polycuramine coating and may not be chemically compatible. Rust-Oleum does sell their Professional series of clear coat however. Hopefully your local home improvement store carries it. If not, you can find it here from Amazon. If you go over your 72 window, it will require that you degloss and rough up the surface with 120 grit sandpaper first. Just to make you aware, epoxy is a sealant. A clear coat is not required to seal the coating, but it does lock in the color chips and provide a glossy protective finish to the color coat.
Thank you Shea for your very helpful article! I have a am purchasing a new home and would like to seal the garage floor. Most of the reviews for both rock solid and epoxy sheild show hot tire pickup to be a problem. Do you recommend one over the other in regard to this issue? And would you recommend the clear coat on top of either of these or both?
Thank you!
The Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Professional garage floor coating is the one we would recommend Jayelle. It has the least amount of issues of the home improvement garage floor epoxy kits. Don’t confuse it with the less expensive water based EpoxyShield kits. An equivalent quality clear coat will always provide more protection and it will lock in the color flakes as well. Rust-Oleum makes a clear coat to complement their color coats.
can i use top coat for 1-part Epoxy coating(single coat).i want glassy look. please guide which topcoat is better
No, you can’t Kun. 1-part epoxy paint is stand-alone system and will not accept a clear coat. You can read this article here to learn more.
Thank you very much for maintaining such a helpful article!
I am almost finished prepping a garage floor for an epoxy coating by cleaning dirt and oils and and thoroughly sanding with a rented concrete sander, but will be using heavy grit sandpaper as the diamond sanders are not available in my area. I’ve conducted moisture tests using 2×2 sheets of thick painter’s tarp taped to several areas on the floor for 24 and 48 hours and there are no signs of moisture on the floor or the plastic.
I purchased the Rustolium Epoxy Shield product from my local hardware store and want to lay 1-2 clear top coats down after it cures.
Trying to keep my costs down, I visited our local Habit for Humanity Restore and spoke to a gentleman there who advised me to use ‘STARDEK Paver Saver’, which is an acrylic sealer. Will an acrylic sealer bond to the epoxy floor and provide lasting protection?
I’ve read several article on this site recommending I stick with products from the same manufacturer to ensure compatibility, but unfortunately I found the articles after purchasing the Stardek product.
Thank you in advance for any advice!
Hello Scott. You don’t want to use an acrylic sealer. Technically it will bond to the epoxy, however, it is much less durable and will not hold up to automotive fluids such as gas and oil. It can be a mess to clean and reapply if that happens. A clear epoxy is much more durable and chemical resistant.
Hi there, I have done my epoxy floor almost a year now after prepped/etched the flooring and used Rust-Oleum 238467 Professional Floor Coating Kit, Dark Gray on my 400 day ft garage.. Now that I regret not laying down a clear coat after laying the expiry base coat with flakes.. I feel like if I lay down a clear coat it’ll make my life easier maintaining the flawless look and more glossier look as well.
So what do you recommend for my clear coat or what’s the best out there that are compatible with epoxy professionals ??? I assume 80 grits across the entire surface and lay down clear coat after it dry ?? Rustoleum epoxy clear coat recommended or is there something better ? I was reading people add pearl in clear coat, how does that work or how can I accomplish that during when I put top coat ??
Hi Michael. Rough up the coating with 100-120 grit sandpaper on a pole sander or an 80 grit sanding screen on a floor buffer. You will loose some of your flakes in the process, but hopefully not much. After you sweep or vacuum, wipe down the entire surface with denatured alcohol on a lint free towel or microfiber mop. This will remove any remaining dirt and dust from the sanding. After that you can apply the clear coat immediately.
We recommend using a polyurethane or a single-part polyurea for your clear coat. They both are U.V. resistant (epoxy is not and will amber) and much more scratch scratch resistant than epoxy. They will both bond well with the epoxy after it is roughed up. Do not make the mistake of using polyurethane from home improvement centers. Those are for wood floors and furniture only. You do not want to add pearl to a clear coat with color flakes and colored epoxy.
What brand you recommend and link to product that is suitable for my situation ? When I do 80 grit floor buffer, should I do wetsand meaning watering the floor while sanding or dry 80 grits ?
You will sand the floor dry Michael. There is no need to sand wet. There are many vendors that sell good clear coats. This vendor sells both a polyurethane and a single-part polyurea.
I have some areas of spalling/pitting in my 3yr old garage floor in Minnesota. It’s in the garage as well as the 3″ strip right outside the garage door.
I will degrease the floor, acid etch, then apply akona polymer concrete resurfacer to patch the chipping areas inside and outside/under the garage door.
Then apply epoxyshield professional gray to then inside of garage, stopping at garage door.
Then use a UV resistant polyurethane with antiskid to cover the the entire floor, including the patched area strip under/outside the garage. Is that correct?
If the polyurethane is UV resistant, can I put the epoxyshield outside the garage? The garage is facing north, so no direct sunlight. (Just wondering how the patch repair will look with just a clear coat over it, outside the garage.)
Appreciate any help or advice!
Hello Tammy. Polyurethane does not adhere well to bare concrete. An epoxy coating or equivalent needs to be applied first. If you extend the epoxy the few inches outside the door with a polyurethane clear coat, it will slow down the ambering of the epoxy color coat quite a bit, but it will still eventually happen. If it’s in the budget, we suggest looking at a single-part polyurea floor coating instead. We have an article about them here. They are easier to apply, more durable than the Rust-Oleum epoxy, and they are U.V. resistant as well, meaning that the strip outside the door will not amber.
Thanks so much for steering me in the right direction! I’ll use the polyurea so I know it will be done correctly the first time. You’re the best!
You’re welcome Tammy!
I have applied Epoxy Battleship Gray Concrete Floor Paint with decorative flakes yesterday and came across this site for applying clear coat today.
Can I still put clear coat on top of epoxy paint? Which clear coat is best bet?
Temperature is in 80’s, so paint and flakes have settled down nicely.
Please advice which clear coat works better for my case.
Hi Victor. If it is latex acrylic concrete floor paint or 1-part epoxy paint, then you typically can’t apply a clear coat. This article explains why. If you applied an actual 2-part epoxy coating, then let us know the brand and we can suggest a couple clear coat options for you.