Rick Blaine wrote:
"J. Davidson" wrote:

Which is best looking, most durable, cleanable, etc. We just had a shop
built and would like ideas on the best way to do the floor.

Google Groups has more than you ever wanted to know on this topic. In short...

You do not want paint of any kind, even those marked as "floor paint" or
"basement paint". If it's a drive in shop, tire heat will quickly lift the paint
and leave tracks. If it's a foot traffic only shop, you will still get chips and
wear marks.

This is often the answer people give, but it doesn't jive with the results
I've seen.

A neighbor has an epoxied garage floor (Minnesota climate, 1955 house,
applied 3 years ago) and when I last saw it this summer it was perfectly
intact and he parks his Chevy SUV on it every day.

The best successful example has been the experience my dad has had with it.
He and his wife are amateur real estate investors in Arizona -- buy a
brand new house, "fix it up" and then sell it about a year or so later.

Dad has done the two-part process from HD/Lowe's (and knowing my dad, he's
picked the CHEAPEST system money can buy) and had no issues whatsoever, and
this of course means driving his minivan in on it after driving in the
Arizona heat. No melting or liftup at all, and very little friction wear
at the place he lived in that was at the end of 3 miles of gravel road.

He has the advantage of starting with virgin concrete in mint condition,
though, and he *might* communicate the desire to seal it himself to the
contractors, although I'm not sure what they would do differently other
than maybe not use a sealer.

He's also used more garden variety concrete paint on his patios which get
some pretty intense AZ sun, and I don't remember seeing any peeling or
other problems.

Anyway, the conventional wisdom may say it doesn't take, but the results
I've seen tell me that it does work and works well. It may be that the
chemistries have improved beyond what the conventional wisdom is based on.