It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since we picked up our 10x16 workshop/shed, but time doesn't stand still for any project. Like most of you, money has been tight and we've not been able to do much, but we recently had a chance to try out a new product and our shed was the perfect guinea pig for it. Long time readers might remember when we picked up this shed last year, but for those just tuning in you can read our blog about it HERE). In a nutshell, like most of you car fanatics, we simply didn't have any more room. So the answer became an external storage building. We're making plans to wire it, insulate it, and drywall it for a truly nice workshop, but we had to do something about the bare wood floor.
Our first thought was to simply pick up some vinyl floor tiles, but the thought of the standard checkerboard pattern didn't really interest us, and often times when we see that type of floor we start getting cross eyed and dizzy. No, we wanted something else that would make the floor stand out, and make spills easy to clean. When we got wind of RockSolid Floors new Garage Coat one-step floor coating system (which we blogged HERE) we knew it was perfect for our floor and decided to give it a try. While primarily designed for properly prepared cement floors found in garages, workshops, and so forth, it can be applied to a wood floor in a workshop, shed, or even a car trailer. Just be aware that the wood will soak up the product and to expect less coverage than a typical cement floor application. Check out the following photos of our install to see just how easy the product is to apply and you can see our video of the whole installation as well below.
The RockSolid Floors Garage...
The RockSolid Floors Garage Coat system is a polyurea based product that is epoxy free and much stronger as well. The Garage Coat product comes premixed in a sealed bag and includes the gray
First thing you'll be doing...
First thing you'll be doing is emptying out your workspace. Be it a garage, trailer, or workshop like ours, you'll need to find safe storage for anything inside while you prepare and then coat the floor. Luckily we only had a few items (yes, that's a mini-fridge for when we're all
Floor prep, just like prepping...
Floor prep, just like prepping your project car for paint, is crucial. With a wood floor you need to be sure all loose dirt, metal shavings, etc. are picked up. A sweep out with a quality broom is your best bet here. For cement floors follow the included directions to prepare the floor with RockSolid's Safe-Etch solution.
RockSolid has a product called...
RockSolid has a product called Fast Patch for filling small chips and cracks in your cement floor, but for our wood surface we simply applied an acrylic caulk sealer to the floor where it meets the bottom wall plate, as well as where the 4x8 floor sheets met. A quick skim over any nail depressions in the floor will help give the finished product an even look.
Here's our completely prepped...
Here's our completely prepped floor. It's clean, sealed, and ready to apply the Garage Coat one-step system to now that we've let it setup for 24 hours.
The Garage Coat product has...
The Garage Coat product has a virtually unlimited pot life when left in the original pour pouch. After adding the gray color shot and shaking/mixing the product you simply pour it out on your floor surface to be rolled out.
The included foam roller is...
The included foam roller is the key to applying the perfect amount of product, as the foam helps spread the product proportionately and doesn't soak up the product like a regular knap roller would. Apply the Garage Coat in sections if you plan to add the decorative denim flakes, otherwise you won't be able to broadcast the flakes properly.
Once you have a section of...
Once you have a section of floor done, grab a pinch of flakes and toss them over the surface. Alternatively you can hold a handful and shake your hand left to right, sprinkling them out. The amount of flake is up to you. Of course you can leave the floor solid gray as well. Leave a six inch or so wet edge on each section you paint to overlap your Garage Coat applications.
Our completed floor looks...
Our completed floor looks absolutely stunning and we couldn't be happier with the final results. Now we're ready to add our electrical, insulation, and drywall, and start moving the workbenches and storage products in. Stay tuned for additional blogs on our workshop product coming soon!