New garage floor

[Genofish]

I am building a new house and want to either seal or coat the garage floor, roughly 11000 sqft.   Sealing appears to be fairly simple, with a coating preparation seems to be the key, but with a new floor it should be a little easier? any recomondations ?

Thanks

Edited August 5, 2015 by Genofish

[cavalierowner]

Most of the sealers I have seen recommend sealing the new floor right after finishing is complete with no prep required. Read the instructions on your sealer and see what they say. BUT the real key for a high quality floor, in addition to placing and finishing, is the concrete mix. Tell your concrete guy you want a minimum 4,000 psi mix, air entrained, 4" slump and 6 sacks cement per CY. The 6 sack mix will probably give you more on the order of a 5,000 psi mix, but you want the extra cement for salt and freeze/thaw resistance. 

 

When I had my garage floor poured last year, I bought a combination sealer/hardener from Brock White and placed it myself. Nothing to it; I sprayed it on with a garden sprayer and moved it around as needed with a floor squeegee. The only real PIA was that the stuff was not considered a curing compound, so I had to wet cure it for several days. BTW, do you really have an 11,000 SF garage or did you mean 1,100? If 11,000 I am VERY jealous!!

[Genofish]

lol, 1,100   The floor was poured a month ago, would like to have floor completed before I move in

thanks for input. 

Edited August 5, 2015 by Genofish

[Pat K]

We used an epoxy coating on the floor of our previous home. It looked good after 5 years when we moved out, but I was very anal about the prep. You still have to clean & etch new concrete if you're using an Epoxy coating.

We were told that new concrete shouldn't be coated until it is finished curing and that can take any where from 28 to 90 days depending on the concrete, the weather and other conditions that can effect it. We were told to tape a 2' x 2' piece of clear poly on the floor. If water droplets formed in 24 hrs. it wasn't ready yet. If it just discolored the concrete with moisture it was OK. If you have moisture wicking up from bellow your floor it is a poor candidate for the epoxy coating because it will not adhere properly.