I have been doing epoxy flooring for more than five years and we see more and more customers covering the garages and turning them into living spaces. No more ugly gray concrete with oil stains everywhere. We see large screen televisions installed in garages and scroll bars that can extend into the center of the garage. Football games, nascar, baseball, etc. More and more people are turning their garage into living space. Most garage floors are between 400 and 800 square feet and larger, and it’s like adding another space to your house, but it’s already there when the party is over, your vehicle pulls in, and it’s like a showroom.
Epoxy coatings are not only good for garage floors, they are also good for basement floors. Epoxy is waterproof, no longer pulls on the mat and replaces it every time it rains, just take the vacuum out of the store and vacuum or mop it and the problem is solved. Epoxy floors are resistant to mold and mildew and are allergen free and I mentioned that it is chemical and stain resistant and easy to clean.
Not all epoxies are created equal, we use 100% solid epoxies, and we offer a five-year warranty on all our floors. Big chain epoxy has fillers and will peel or peel off in 6 months to a year. So when you're looking for a 100% solid epoxy, you pay a little more for it, but it's worth the money spent.
Floor preparation is all that the pores in the concrete have to open before the no wipe top coat is applied. Floor preparation begins with the removal of oil paints and sealers or other contaminants, the epoxy will not adhere to the oil or other contaminants. The second step is to grind the top surface of the floor with a diamond grinder or blaster to open the pores. Acid etching does not open the pores enough. You also need a good vacuum cleaner because the dust is terrible and very dangerous to breathe. The third step after opening the pores is to clean the concrete with a vacuum and a leaf blower works very well, you need to dust the floor. Water is not a good idea unless you want to let the floor dry for a while before coating, as it will cause the epoxy to turn white. If your floor is cracked, this is a good time to do repairs, and I'll tackle that later. You are now epoxy ready and we recommend that you follow the manufacturer's instructions on application techniques if you need to do it yourself.
Cracks can be repaired by a few different methods, depending on how severe they are. The general rule is that if you can put a credit card in the crack, it needs repair. We start by chasing the cracker with a crack that chases the knife to open the crack and remove all loose aggregate. Clean the stool really well with compressed air and ready for repair. There are several epoxies for repairing cracks in the market. We use a mixture of epoxy sand to repair our cracks, but you must follow the recommendations of your manufacturers. Once the epoxy has dried, paint the repaired area and clean it and you are ready to coat.
Epoxy systems available
Single emission - A layer of epoxy flake or quartz molded on epoxy with a UV resistant topcoat.
double diffusion: an epoxy layer with a flake or quartz molding on epoxy, a second layer of epoxy applied on top of the first layer with a flake or quartz molding a second time. A UV resistant top coat applied over the top
Epoxy Grid Coating or Solid Color System - Generally two coats of a color epoxy applied 10 mil thick Layer. It is mainly used in industrial applications as this system has the lowest cost with the same durability.
Epoxy quartz-colored quartz sand is emitted in the base layer and generally requires a double quartz emission. This is one of the most durable floors due to quartz. Excellent flooring for restaurant kitchens, porches and more.