Easy Garage Floor Coatings
Thursday, March 27th, 2008If you’re looking for a permanent solution to stained garage floors, or you’re tired of ugly grey concrete floors in your garage, look into premium garage floor coatings.
You’ll need to pour epoxy floor coatings on a prepared surface, which needs to be installed by a professional. You will have to prepare the concrete surface carefully and pour out the epoxy properly, or it may not adhere. Sometimes epoxy fails to stick even with good preparation.
Water and humidity are the main causes of epoxy failing to stick to concrete floors. Concrete retains water much longer than many common surfaces, so not waiting long enough for concrete to dry after cleaning it can be a culprit.
Humidity creates the same problem. You should be able to read the product’s directions to see what humidity level it will tolerate before you use it.
There’s more than just water and humidity to consider: You want the concrete floors to be as clean as possible. Dirt, oil, grime, and dust can all prevent your epoxy garage floor coatings from sticking.
Salts and other minerals rise to the surface of fresh concrete as it cures. You’ll need to scrub the concrete clean of all these things and allow it to dry completely before you apply the epoxy.
When you have a professional install an epoxy floor coating, it will be a multi-day process that involves several steps. The first day consists of cleaning the floor, ensuring that all the grease, oils, and dust is thoroughly cleaned off.
First he’ll probably use pressure washing and/or chemicals to achieve this end. The floor will have to be left alone to dry for a while.
Priming the floor with a specific floor primer is the next step. After it dries out in a day or so, the installer pours the epoxy finish over it.
It will be in one or two coats, with thickness varying based on the product. Lastly comes the sealer.
Epoxy is not the easiest or cheapest solution when it comes to garage floor coatings, but once the hassle is over with, you’ll love the clean, slick surface.