Tile in garage?

Not mine.

I have a lot of moisture coming up through the floor. It would likely peel off in a year or two, leaving a huge mess.

YMMV.

Would you have the same problem with epoxy?

is a local tractor dealer who has tile on the floor of his showroom. It looks good BUT he has a big problem with changes in humidity making the floor SLICK. Plus every spot where the tractor tires touch the tile they leave a spot that looks like a chemical burn.

I looked at tile for my shop and decided that a good epoxy floor paint would be better. I wanted a simple gray floor with some color stripes for warning around the lift and crane area. One of the MAJOR items in floor prep is to make 100% SURE that the floor is clean. No oil, dust, dirt, or water. Apply it when your sure the temperature isn't going to swing a lot over a couple days and when the humidity is low.

One thing to look at when you use the paint is what you want to add to make the surface slip resistant if it doesn't have an additive in it already. I added white play sand directly into the paint and rolled it on. Came out nice and the sand is just enough to provide grip. For the colored chips I used a cheap blower that was made for dusting plants.

I bet oil won't help those tiles either, and machining tends to be messy.

I had my basement floor painted with gray latex deck paint, so oil wouldn't soak in and I could wash it. Didn't quite work, and paint was not the problem. The concrete itself wore away to dust wherever I habitually stood, like in front of the machines. The concrete probably didn't have enough cement in it, and so wasn't strong enough.

Joe Gwinn

On Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:37:03 -0400, the infamous Joseph Gwinn scrawled the following:

One of the liquid/low viscosity epoxies might have helped, or even just a sealer.

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

I don't see how paint can solve such a problem - the concrete itself is crumbling from foot traffic alone, and not a lot of that, but it would be difficult to get enough penetration to make up a thick enough layer of epoxy concrete.

Joe Gwinn

On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:54:39 -0400, the infamous Joseph Gwinn scrawled the following:

In that case, drill some holes knock out some chunks, clean it out, vacuum it, spray it with water, and float a layer of real crete on top. 5,000psi with strands might work in a woodworking shop with lighter machines, but you'll need a whole new floor for the big, heavy, metalworking machines.

Get Fresh workers at Home Despot!

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

Yep. Ain't going to happen. Too much like work.

Well, actually the metalworking machines are not wearing the floor out, it's the owner's constant pacing.

Joe Gwinn

On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:45:58 -0400, the infamous Joseph Gwinn scrawled the following:

Got Fresh? ;)

Grok that. So sit down in front of the machine, chip out a pad 0.5-1" deep, sweep and vacuum it out, then pour a small fillup of patching crete in there. Take a couple hours apiece. Duck soup, wot? If you don't want to do the work, put a respirator on a local college or high school kid (or Fresh!) and let them do it for you.

Then you can wear out your pacing shoes, not the floor. It'll also reduce the concrete dust you breathe, Joe, and that makes it all worth doing.

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

I suspect a rubber floor mat right in front of the machine is easier.

Well, the dust is very coarse and stays on the floor until swept up. The dust is basically fine sand coated with a little hardened cement.

The big improvement in breathing came when I retired the last coolant mister and went to dribble/flood cooling. Used to be that the shop air was a fog bank after a few hours.

Joe Gwinn

On Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:48:16 -0400, the infamous Joseph Gwinn scrawled the following:

Oh? I thought you might want to fix any divots first. ;)

That's great. Fine cement dust gets to me in a REAL hurry. I have to put on the respirator before opening a bag of fence post mix.

Come to think of it, most of the old, broken-down cement I've seen is fairly coarse. I work more with fresh bags, so that superfine stuff was my mind's eye's first picture.

That can't be fun to breathe. Good move.

-- Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. -- John Muir

No divots yet. Only a very shallow dishing. From pacing.

Unhardened cement is very active chemically as well. Hardened cement is almost inert.

Yes. I got tired of having to wear a respirator while machining. The wife eventually stopped making comments about the Preying Mantis in the machine shop. More to the point, the mist didn't work nearly as well as dribble/flood cooling. Quantity matters.

Joe Gwinn