PPG high solids epoxy in gloss white is $87 per gallon, chemical resistant and does not tear up like most other paints. Tim

I decided to skip the floor coating. After many delays, finally the slab is finished, and I'm putting the lift together.
The decks (especially the one with the hydraulic cylinder) were too heavy even for two people to lift and carry, so we used a cherry picker.
Now I just have to fasten the cables to the ram and mount the power unit!

Looking good so far.

Floor and aprons finished, lift together and working I finally got to use the lift, but not for repairing my Dart or other vehicles... The next several days are calling for high winds, rain and possibly quarter-sized hail so I put the cars (that haven't already been hailed on) in the shop and on the lift. The last hailstorm that did $5000 damage to a '14 Impala didn't faze my '93 F-250 at all, other than breaking one marker light!

The truss that goes over the center of the lift needs to be redesigned to be a foot higher. Otherwise I can't put the lift all the way up and stand upright. But it will be great to be able to work on my cars without jacks, stands, and lying on the ground.
No more

The Dart is already safe in the attached garage where it resides when not making tire smoke

nice!

I would at least put a sealer on that concrete. Concrete never stops giving off dust. The sealer will eliminate that and also, if you spill oil or anything like that, it will prevent it from soaking in.

True. At one of the power plants I worked at all the electronic control systems were in a room with a concrete floor. It dusted so bad from just foot traffic that the filters on the cooling fans for the equipment were plugging. After about five years of fighting this (new unit) we put some kind of sealer on the floor that took care of the problem.

Nice work.

Densifier would be a good idea.
It soaks in and stops the dust, and you can't tell the floor has been coated/there is no visible coating.
Grinding metal, welding metal, fire, sparks, dropping heavy objects on it has no effect.
It also prevents future fluids from soaking in.

It's typically used before grinding and polishing concrete but can also just be sprayed on and left alone.

https://www.legacyindustrial.net/products/densifiers/hd37-densifier-plus.html

I used the above, started to move in and then won a contest for $500 worth of floor coating for free on garagejournal, so I
had to move back out again to apply the coating. Years later I've damaged the floor coating just as predicted
but both it and the densifier have done their job/no complaints.

I looked into that a few months ago while waiting for the concrete guy to pour the final section of the slab. Good sealers are expensive (at least $1k even for just 30x40) and need floor prep too. Cheap ones peel, lift and discolor and need to be removed, then reprep, then do it over.

Foot traffic will be minimal - just me when I'm working on one of my cars. I don't care if there are some oil-colored patches on the concrete

Besides, all my stuff is in the shop now and I really don't feel like moving everything from one side to the other (again)!

Finally, there is always dust coming in around and under the sliding barn doors, which face east and west, matching the prevailing winds. I'll never get it hermetically sealed... So I will just blow the dust away with compressed air, a push broom or a shop vac. I already learned that I can't paint worth a crap, so dust isn't a consideration there.

I am ready to start USING the lift and smooth dry floor

Interesting, never heard of that stuff. It would take 3 gallons to do my floor (one 6x40 section was hand-troweled, the remainder power-troweled) so that's $500 right there. I don't remember if it's 3500 or 4000 psi concrete but it's plenty strong and smooth as it is. I could buy a gallon and do the area around and under the lift, and see how that works out

I looked at the application instructions and am having trouble understanding the following:

"Avoid overlapping wet to dry as this can cause water spotting because the product will not be able to penetrate a dry area that was treated as well as in an area that has been treated but not yet dried."

What does this mean? How do you avoid a wet/dry interface as you move across the floor?

I read it as do not go back over an area that has already been sprayed and has since dried or spotting could occur.
I'd start on one end and finish on the other where you can exit. Don't end up back where you began.

It should be a nice garage when it's all done

Ahhhhh. Once you start, just keep going until you are done. Got it.

I agree. would never coat a shop floor again. Did it twice. Giant automotive suppliers polish their factory floors. Looks great and you can have it done again in high traffic areas.,

Even grocery stores are polishing concrete floors these days. Insanely expensive. At Kenworth Truck Co we spent over $100k just polishing the main walkway aisles. I thought it was an incredible waste, but the factory is a showpiece for tours, so it’s justified,

There are different levels of polishing. When I looked into it I found it was 50% more than Epoxy for POLISHED. All epoxy fails eventually. The biggest problem I've found with my Epoxy floors is moisture underneath causing issues. No way around that f there ANY moisture in the area. Polished floors "breathe" and don't have moisture problems. The air may have a moisture problem but not the floors.

We were looking at having a building built. I would DEMAND a water barrier (just thick plastic) under a concrete floor. Tough lesson to learn.

I had 15 mil vapor barrier installed. Well worth the few hundred for the big roll of yellow plastic! That area is definitely damp including all the water that comes off a 30x40 roof. Might want to add gutters someday

There is also rebar throughout, not just near the feet of the lift... I want to drive anything and everything in there that'll fit through the door, including my friend's backhoe, without worrying if the slab is strong enough. It's a minimum of 6" 4000 psi mix. That should be sufficient

On the subject of polishing, if you wax the floor how do you keep gas, oil, solvents from dissolving the wax?