Hey Jerry,

It would be good to know at what temps your epoxy was applied and cured, and for how long. Also, did you do the moisture test, a potential problem on even cured concrete? I ended up doing the epoxy coat, though I don't have any opinion yet about finish as I completed it 3 days before we left for a few weeks R&R in the desert. It's supposed to cure for a week before vehicle or other "heavy" traffic, so I figured three weeks would be better. As TC indicated, the clean up is the big work part of the project. Even though my concrete is "new" (meaning no grease stains) I did have to deal with some latex overspray from the painting. I did a complete scrub down with Goof-Off which did a pretty good job of taking up most of the overspray. The rest came up with the wash material that came with the "kit". I used the Rustoleum setup that looks to be very similar to the "U Coat It" stuff in the rod rags, without the bucket, glasses, roller, gloves, etc. I already have. I ended up with one wash, and three scrubbing rinses, plus some hand touch up. Very tedious! Compared to the prep, the coating was a snap, basically mix, wait the induction time, and roll (rock & if you want to ). I had prewarmed the shop for a couple days to 65f, made sure the floor temp was over 55f (per manufacturer rec.) and then kicked the temp up to 75f for cure for about 24 hrs (manufacturer rec was 8-10). I had called the Rustoelum hot line because they didn't recommend an acid wash specifically. They indicated there was a mild citric acid in the wash mixture they included that was sufficient. It did do a mild etch on my concrete which had cured for about 100 days. I got no indication of trapped or migrating moisture under the three patches I did (two outside corners, one center). So, we'll see. Sorry to hear yours lifted, hope mine doesn't.

As for tile, the supposed best is VCT (Vinyl composite tile). You can go to the Armstrong Tile site www.armstrong.com and look under "commercial" products. It looks to me like the stuff you see in a lot of industrial offices and shops. Kinda cheesy looking colors, at least in the lower cost stuff, but durable I'm sure. Whether it performs any better under jacks, stands, etc. I don't know, haven't read anything where an actual, specific testimonial confirms. Lowe's and HD have basic VCT in grey and beige in stock.

Let us know about the alternative you're exploring, always interested in that kind of stuff.