Pristine concrete, oil proofing options?

So as of a few hours ago I now own a new home with almost new concrete floors in the garage and a 30'x40' shop. I'd like to seal up the cement to make oil clean-up easy.

What are the best DIY options these days? Paint or single stage "epoxy" is not going to cut it, though I may go that way on the aprons with the understanding that they will get periodically redone.

The three leading contenders are epoxy coat, which is nice and think but not known for great adhesion, polyurethane, which is not as durable or UV stable but can be touched up, and the RockSolid product that seems to be a good in the middle option but pretty much requires an over coat of clear to be decently wear resistant.

There are two tiny oil marks in the garage, either of which could be covered with a small plate, and the shop appears to have been used for wood projects instead of engine ones and I haven't found any oil. It's under 10 years old and I have no interest in mechanical grinding prep work. I'm going to fire up the pressure washer, spray both out, then coat with something now before we move anything in.

What should I use and why?

Honestly I had good results with the Rustoleum epoxy floor coating products. I've used it in 2 shops now and its good. Both were heavily oiled floors before I started. I pressure washed with simple green then scrubed it with the included cleaner and after dry applied the coating. After that I've spilled every manner of chemical on it, oil, gas, atf, brake fluid, nothing effects it. Never had adhesion issues, my current shop has had it on half the floor (some day I'll do the other half) for 8 years now with no issues. Only thing that ever effected it was aircraft paint stripper...I guess that's to be expected.

I've used commercial 2-stage epoxy - the concrete needs to cure for at least 30 days after pouring - concrete is alkaline which tends to make coatings not stick. To counter, give a wash with muriatic acid (dilute about 10:1 water to muriatic acid). plastic garden sprayers work well. Wear a bunny suit and mask. Spray down the surface and get out of the garage for a while. Let it sit until it stops fizzing (about 30 minutes to an hour) - rinse with plenty of water. Let it dry for 24-48 hours. Now you're ready for the epoxy. I used to use Pratt & Lambert commercial stuff. Pretty much everything about this approach is majorly toxic - but it will be a damn tough finish. Although epoxies can be vulnerable to high heat (like weld spatter). A GRM approach - look into staining the concrete. You can buy premixed stains or there a few garden chemicals that will get the job done - check out here. Basically two approaches to stain - acid based and chemical based. Chemical base with a sealer will give a glossier finish than an acid-based finish. Then get a nice sealer. Ninja edit - you can give the concrete a "tooth" mechanically - floor polisher with an abrasive pad. I've done it - lots of suck factor - think 2-3 days of effort vs. 2 hours.

What Oldtin says. I did the same and it has been perfect. Horrible, toxic stuff, but man is it tough.

I knew my garage/shop floor would get some very rough use with building a car, grinding, welding, dragging jacks around, etc. The expense and work involved to have a a nice epoxy floor that surely would be scratched didn't appeal to me. I did however want a floor surface that would not absorb fluids and was easy to sweep. Unlike you my concrete was not pristeen, had some oil stains and a heavy broom finish. Epoxy probably would have never covered the broom finish without grinding the concrete and to achieve

I ended up using Seal Crete concrete sealer mixed with Berr Concrete Paint. I first pressure washed the surface and then etched the surface with muratic acid and again rinsed it with the pressure water with water only. Let it dry very well with no foot traffic on it for a few days.

I then mixed the paint and sealer together in one big batch and rolled it on the floor with a paint roller. With rolling and a bit of back rolling it probably got two coats. The sealer/paint mixture covered the stains. The light tan finish had a bonus effect of making the shop brighter. It has held up very well with rough use and has even withstood some pressure washing in clean ups. Reasonably cheap and certainly east to do.

Another option (although might be pricey) is to have the floor polished. When I did my garage in epoxy years ago, my dad mentioned that in the Air Force all the concrete floors were polished specifically to prevent staining and make for easy cleanup. I couldn't find anyone in town who could do it, and was in a rush to move in, but thought it would be worth looking at for the next time.

-Rob

If you just pull the drain plug out of an old 911 the resulting deluge will seal the floor from all other liquid contaminants pretty well.

Expoxy worked well for me. I used the U-Coat-It brand. Nine years of salt, oil, brake fluid, etc. and it looks good, not perfect, but good. Probably could recoat the with clear gloss now.