yes, you might get the award for the most extreme before & after images, the content shifts so dramatically......(but i agree there is some missing signage)
Some day I hope to have a cool floor. Thought it would be epoxy, but not sure yet with all the great "tile" options. The Gladiator cabinets are great. Found the wall cabinet on CL, cheap, but they hardly come up at all anymore. Lowes used to carry the brand (maybe they still do ) and they will deal on the prices some if you are buying several pieces and ask for a deal.
I thought about doing the fancy floor in the shop side of my barn. Was really liking the epoxy. But after getting spilled oil, grease, beer, ect on the concrete I changed my mind. Sticking with concrete. Keep a good sealer on it and the spills clean up easy.
You can use acid etch (2 times) and a pressure washer (steam cleaner is best) to get up the oils. I'd recommend an oil-based concrete stain, instead of epoxy. Epoxy only adheres to the surface (think: topcoat), but, the stain soaks into and bonds to the concrete (even over oil stains). Unfortunately, Sherwin Williams has discontinued what we used to use, as they continue to drop oil-based products. I need to look at some other brands, for a replacement.
Actually I should of worded that different. What I meant was I do not want to do anything with the floor so I won't worry about spilling stuff on it or dropping something heavy causing damage. I really like the look of those garages but I still want mine to feel like a shop. I wonder what weld spatter would do to those tile floors or epoxy? I like your idea of just staining the concrete. It would look nice but still have that I can get it dirty shop feel to it. Since it is still just concrete. I keep a can of carb cleaner around to clean up small grease or oil spills.
http://www.southernstainandseal.com/details2.php?prodId=104&category=&secondary=17&keywords= Atomic Top Coat. I used this product on my floor and it has been great. You can also add a stain color to it if you like. Browse their site for many other types of sealer.
Ouch! I'll stick with my bare concrete. And I thought the industrial sealer was expensive at 90 bucks for 5 gallons!
I just used a basic water based concrete paint in my garage, knowing from the start that it was going to get some abuse. Some of it has been lifted by hot tyres, & there are chips, bits of overspray & weld burn on it now, but it's still much nicer than bare concrete & cheap enough not to worry about damaging. Cheers Clint
I am not sure what the stuff is I used. They delivered it right on the concrete truck when we poured the floor. Judging by the smell when I applied it the sealer is oil based. I think I have a empty bucket of it I will see.
They do a ton of concrete staining around here in Colorado. That might be a good solution. I see lots of it in various applications around the state. Guess it gives that rustic, granite kind of appearance to go along with all of the other rocks we have here. BIG ASS ROCKS. In fact, we pretty much have rocks every where you look. Like this: I call this "Nature's Stadium Seating".
OK - back to Man Caves. The Three Abreast view of the motorcycles only side of the Man Cave. As you can see, cardboard works as a floor cover surface too.