Advice for sealing a plywood garage floor

[Billy Diesel]

I am building a garage with a gambrel (barn) truss. I am building it into the side of a hill, so I have access to the upstairs room to drive toys (sled, lawn tractor, atv, etc.) into it. The floor is plywood and I have a drain in it. I would like to seal it with something that is waterproof amd also will provide traction. I was looking at epoxy, but when I contact Rustoleum about their Epoxyshield they said it wouldn't work well because it is too rigid and would not expand with the wood. They recommended RockSolid Interior Floor System, but the website is down, she couldn't provide any info on it, and couldn't tell me where I could purchase it! Not exactly the customer service I was looking for.....

Has any done something similar? I'm thinking a regular polyurethane won't cut it, but maybe it will?? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Will

 

[CBari]

I haven't done this but there are a couple of option that come to my mind. One is the rocksolid product I think is carried by Lowes. I recently saw a display of it and it looks promising. The other is a rubber floor product that is used in horse trailers and barns all the time it is called polylast flooring. It is neat but pricey. Here is a link to them. http://polylastsurfaces.com/

 

[Billy Diesel]

Thanks for the reply. Rocksolid is the rustoleum product that neither I nor Rustoleum can find..... I checked Lowes and they don't list it for around here. I did contact Polylast to see what they cost.

Thanks!

 

[fest3er]

You could apply the best wood preservative you can find to keep the floor from absorbing moisture. Then lay down strips of conveyor belting (the 4' wide, ⅜" thick kind used in rock crushers). I've had some of that in the bed of my truck for around 10 years; it's nearly indestructable.

Or talk to a good wood floor finishing pro. There is a two-part finish that is toxic while drying but is nearly indestructible. I think it's similar to Dupont's Imron.

Probably the best solution: if the plywood has a fairly rough surface, put a thick-ish coating of Herculiner on it; it's supposed to work well on wood. Just don't get any on your hootus.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

You could apply the best wood preservative you can find to keep the floor from absorbing moisture. Then lay down strips of conveyor belting (the 4' wide, ⅜" thick kind used in rock crushers). I've had some of that in the bed of my truck for around 10 years; it's nearly indestructable.

Or talk to a good wood floor finishing pro. There is a two-part finish that is toxic while drying but is nearly indestructible. I think it's similar to Dupont's Imron.

Probably the best solution: if the plywood has a fairly rough surface, put a thick-ish coating of Herculiner on it; it's supposed to work well on wood. Just don't get any on your hootus.

Thanks for the link and the laugh :-laf

 

[TFucili]

Moisture cured urethane is extremely durable, and is a single component coating. It cures by cross-linking with moisture in the atmosphere. Benjamin Moore M78-00, if you have a Moore dealer nearby. Sherwin/Con-Lux will also have one.

 

[Billy Diesel]

Just don't get any on your hootus.

That might be the best advice I have ever received!! :-laf

 

[leaky gasket]

For sealing plywood for outdoor use .I have always used a combination of boiled linseed oil,turpentine and apple vinegar. There are other combinations you can use to if you do a search on homemade varnishes you will find lots of old time recipes out there. Here is an example http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=282&title=Homemade+Varnish+Recipe

 

[jhenderson]

If you use some sort of poly or wood preservative I suppose you could paint over it with a sand type paint that is used for traction on boat decks or equipment walkways in factories. I do agree that the simplest is probably a u do it bed liner product. Might get a better price on it by the pail, but still pretty spendy.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

For sealing plywood for outdoor use .I have always used a combination of boiled linseed oil,turpentine and apple vinegar. There are other combinations you can use to if you do a search on homemade varnishes you will find lots of old time recipes out there. Here is an example http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=282&title=Homemade+Varnish+Recipe

Linseed oil is awesome stuff. I use Penofin on everything. Just don't leave rags soaked with linseed oil crumpled up in the garbage can! Ask me how I figured that one out!

 

[seafish]

I have used an epoxy/latex covering made for boat decks...you can roll it on smooth for easy clean-up, or add sand for traction...EXPENSIVE but lasts FOREVER as far as I can tell. Don't get it on ANYTHING you don't want it to be on permanently.


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