Fake Epoxy Floor Warranties

Good afternoon, everybody. It's Ryan, Amato, you know, from ryan amato painting and Amato Media.

So we're gonna talk about warranties today. The good, the bad and yup the ugly. I've been around this painting business for a long time. So warranties there always a hot topic, but I didn't know. How hot until we got involved in the epoxy floor business.

And then you start to see some really crazy things with warranties. So I want to jump right into that. We're gonna talk about long term warranty, short term warranties, no warranties.

And you know what's best for your company? What's not best for your company. And we'd love to hear some feedback on whatever what everybody else is offering out there. So, um, we'll go right into it for our painting company.

It's pretty basic, and I bet you the warranties are probably the same. We offer a one year warranty off of labor. Just saying that we've we've applied the products correctly as per the manufacturer.

If if it required two coats, we put two coats on. If it was one cut, we put one coat on. If it was a bear service and be primes, we primed it accordingly.

And as per the specifications of the topcoat. So it's important guys to make sure that you're applying the products correctly because what will happen is if you have a paint failure. Obviously the customer's gonna call your first because they don't want to pay for it to be fixed.

But the paint manufacturer is gonna come out, and they have the means to figure out what you did. So if you're out there trying to cut corners and skimp on materials or prep, just know that, yeah, you may get away with it one time two times three times, but eventually somebody's gonna call you out on it, and they're gonna come out and take some samples of the paint chips and send it back to their to their lab.

I mean, I know sure when williams does this, and I know benjamin moore does it. I'm sure all the other companies do it as well. They can take a look at things and know if you sanded properly.

If you primed what other coatings were on there? So they're gonna know right away. There's no lying about it. So do the right thing and make sure everything's good. Typically, most warranty issues aren't gonna be because of the labor. Anyway, it's gonna be other issues moisture expansion and contraction on the outside the buildings.

So don't worry. You're not gonna have the huge run on people claiming warranties against you, even for us. We've only had a few over the years, and some of them we don't even question. We just go out and fix them. It's not worth it.

It's not worth having to go out. Take a look at it. Take your paint manufacturer out there. By the time you're going back and forth, you've spent 34 hours trying to figure it out and the touch ups only an hour.

So just do the touch up. Now there's other companies. I know that offer. Um, you know, free touch ups for life. They offer lifetime warranties. They offer three year warranties seven year warranties for commercial painting. Typically, you're going to get a one year warranty, and that's it.

And I know sherwin williams in many cases, doesn't warranty commercial work or the commercial coating, so just keep that in mind. But what we really want to talk to you today about are the epoxy floors and the craziness that I see doing epoxy floor estimates.

So i'll be honest. I wasn't aware that other people were offering these astronomically long warranties on floors, and the reason I never even considered it is because they're they're absolutely ridiculous.

Anybody who does coatings in general, especially concrete coatings, knows that again, as long as you did the proper preparation. Most issues that are going toe happen on concrete are not gonna be covered under a warranty.

So let me say that again. Most issues that happened to concrete will not be covered under a warranty unless you messed up on the preparation. So when I started doing estimates for epoxy floors and people would say, oh, what your warranty and would say, oh, it's, you know, one year, whatever it was one year, three years and they say, boy, I just had another company out here who who's national, and they're offering a lifetime warranty on their coding.

Well off. Of course, they're offering a lifetime warranty on the coding because it's not going to be the coatings fault. When the floor fails, it's gonna be your concrete.

So they're gonna find every way to not warranty that floor for you. Trust me, there's going to be moisture issues. Warranties don't cover moisture issues.

There's going to be, ah, adhesion issues because of moisture. Again, there could be other vapers pushing up through the concrete there. There's most certainly can be movement of concrete.

What happens with epoxy floors is the epoxy is not flexible, like a typical acrylic paint that you use on your house and the epoxy cracks. And there you have a failure. And guess what?

It's not covered under warranty, so it's a big, huge sales pitch. Guys, you're going to see lifetime warranties number one, these companies air coming in from out of the area.

I would hope that everybody would try to use a local business, um, whether you they use you or they use me or they use somebody, you want to keep that money local.

So it's going and flowing through the local economy. There's no reason in our area or in most areas, unless you're very rural, that you need to use a nationwide company to do almost any service.

There's no need. So, you know, if a company's traveling 60 miles away to come do your epoxy floor, i'm sure you have another company locally that can do it, because think about it again. Guys. There six through an hour away.

Something happens to your floor. Do you think they're coming back out? Honestly, because I can answer it for you. They might eventually get out there to you, but they're not coming out any time soon.

So again, back to the warranties. It's all a sales picture. They're gonna come out there with their fancy binders and samples and show you all these different beautiful floors they've done. No matter what type of floor you're looking for, they're going to show you all their nice little samples.

They're going to give you a price right on the spot. They're gonna try to give you a discount if you sign up right away. It's very much like a used car sales person they're gonna show this this great, wonderful warranty that if anything ever happens to this floor, they're gonna take care of it for you.

And you sign on the dotted lines because you want this great deal. They they set you up. They come in with the beautiful vehicles. The job's done in one day and they're out so that hopefully nothing happens to the floor because i'm telling you the warranties air bullshit.

The warranties are not going to cover what you think they're going to cover. But let's say that it does cover. Let's say they didn't prepare the floor correctly.

I don't know how they're never going to admit that, but you have a spot on your floor that the tire sits on that maybe failed. So look at the warranty again.

It doesn't say they're going to redo the floor for you. They're going to, and this is the same for us. They're not going to redo the whole floor for your they're going to fix the area of failure only so if that area is a circle you know the size of maybe a hockey puck, that's the area they're going to fix on the floor, not the whole floor.

So, yes, it's possible that you could get a fix. But again, not the whole floor. You're never gonna have a whole floor fail. I don't know if i've ever i've seen one i'm looking at right now. It was a commercial floor that the contractor never grinded properly or grind it at all. So that means higher coating had to be pulled up.

But guess what? It wasn't a warranty claim. They hired us to come in and do it. We just had another one. It was a puppy. Daycare, beautiful building.

Just had the floor done three years ago. As soon as I got there and pulled up the piece that's peeling up, I could see the floor wasn't grinded again. So but guess what?

It wasn't a warranty claim again. It was pay for the whole floor again from a different company. I see it all the time. I see people who use the products that are from home depot and lowe's thea pox ease the poxy kits. There really nice and fancy boxes.

He open him up. Everything's in there. Probably some gloves and everything. An applicator and guess what they don't last when something seems too good to be true. It certainly is usually so remember, with all these warranties, you have to open up your eyes. I have thinks it's it's very much like going to buy a car, the's sales person or professional that are better than I am.

They're coming out there to sell you something. That's all they do all day long, and they're getting bonus for it. They're getting commissions for trust me, they're not the local business who may be the owners on site doing the flora's well, who is not getting commission, who's just trying to make his little business run properly and be successful with all these hard times that everybody's going through the's air? Very large corporations and companies who who have trained professional salespeople looking to just get you to sign that contract and get you into a long term warranty that means nothing.

So I appreciate you guys listening. Remember, it's ryan amato, d amato podcast. Www dot amato podcast dot com.

Check us out on youtube at Ryan Amato Painting l l c. We have a ton of information on there. I appreciate it

Price Alone Does Not Make A Great Epoxy Floor

Why Simply Getting A Price Is Wrong 

When getting information and pricing for your epoxy floor project we sometimes simply have people tell us " I have a two car garage"How much will my floor be?

While we wish it was this easy and many companies will simply throw pricing around this is not a professional or accurate way to give a proposal for your epoxy floor.

There are many factors such as what's currently on the floor? How much patching will you need on your garage floor? Thue products and look you want? 

This is not your typical paint job , anyway even if everyone used the same products, same application the prices would never be the same. Your forgetting about level of service, a real warranty for your epoxy floor. Are they local?

You have to answer many questions and much more than how much will the floor be.

Please listen to our weekly show where we went deep into this topic

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So you would like an epoxy floor

Getting an epoxy floor is not an easy task, finding the right painter, epoxy company is hard to say the least. Doing it yourself is possible but not probable using professional products.

So what does a homeowner do? Watch our video above for more information on getting an epoxy floor for your garage or business.

If you are looking for an experienced Northampton & Lehigh County painter then please call (484) 821-7112

Ryan Amato Painting Adds Covid 19 Disinfecting Services

Ryan Amato Painting adds commercial disinfecting services to it’s line of expert services throughout the Lehigh Valley and parts of New Jersey

To help protect small and large businesses it has become vital to keep surfaces clean around facilities, businesses now more than ever.

Not only are you expected to provide these services it may become mandatory to remain open. Having a single or recurring service is something that can easily be added to your facilities maintenance plan and from a trusted company you may already be using for your painting needs.

Without adding any disruption to your business Ryan Amato Painting can come in and quickly decontaminate entire facilities or high risk areas such as bathrooms, lunchrooms and common areas quickly and safely with products approved and able to kill Corona Virus within 10 minutes on contact.

Please call us for more information and to begin your service at

484-821-7112 or email us bidrequests@ryanamatopaintingllc.com

So You Want An Epoxy Floor For Your Garage

You walk out to your garage each morning, stepping on oil, a dirty floor and concrete that is cracked and decide you would like a shiny new epoxy floor installed but have no idea where to start.

Maybe you had a friend or family member had theirs done or you have seen them on YouTube or Facebook and now you want one too.

But how much are they, how long will it last and where do you start?

Where To Begin

Finding a reputable contractor you can trust is your first step, this is not a project for your typical painting contractor so that should not be your first step. A reputable epoxy installer or a painting company who has a dedicated epoxy department is the way to go. Epoxy can be very tricky, no two applications are the same, epoxy is very finiscky with the surrounding temperartures, moisture in the air and also surface temperatures. Only an experienced epoxy installer will know what to do and make adjustments along the way.

Even a slight difference in the normal dew point can drastically change cure times, dry times and recoat times of a floor. Not knowing these and what to do can be disaterous for your garage floor. What could go wrong? The sheen could be blotchy, the color could be off, the epoxy could eventually fail and peel off not to mention the cosmetic issues you can have.

Finding Your Contractor

Finding your contractor won't be an easy one, there are not that many fully trained and experienced companies out there or some only do commercial epoxy floors. Steer clear of a painting company who says sure we also do floors, if they are a painting company they should have a totally seperate crew who only does floors to be assured they are trained on new applications, products and the issues that come along with them to fully get the results you want. 

The Right Products

Everyone will look to Google as their go to source of information and see buzz words such as high solid, polyaspartic and more but remember even though a company is using those "type" of products there are many inferior formulations from one epoxy manufacturer to the next. You could be using all the "right" products but they could be cheap brands giving you a much lower quality epoxy floor.

From thinner applications due to poor training of the crews or thinner coating due to low quality products you won;t know this until its too late and you are recoating your garage floor way to soon.

Stick to a professional epoxy floor company that can manage all of this for you.

The Application Process

Most professional epoxy installers will be grinding your floor, this does not mean it needs to be done each and every time but to achieve the proper surface for your concrete and the new epoxy it is usually determined it needs to be diamond grinded. The company should have a full seperate hepa vacuum attached to the grinder sucking up all that nasty concrete dust leaving your home and their workers safe.

Proper set up of the area should be noted, keeping all other areas clean that are not being done is professional and important, it is not easy to get cured epoxy off surfaces it should not be on.

After cleaning all the grease off of the floor with specialized products, the company will most likely be grinding and cleaning once more. After cleaning there are a couple routes a company may go.

If it is determined you don;t have a vapor barrier a liquid (primer) vapor barrier may be used.

If you do have one already they may go direct to the concrete with the epoxy, remember each and every step costs money so any added coat or step will be additional costs to your final bill.

After the epoxy is put down now is the time to add flakes or anti slip additives, this can be a very unique and custom installation process and you may get a different look for whoever is installing (throwing) the decorative flakes. You want one installer applying your flakes to make sure it is uniform.

The Clear Coat

Another term you will hear so much is polyaspartic, this is a type of coating that is not vulnarable to the uv light like epoxy is, is hard and a terrific top coat.

However it is difficult to apply, the life once mixed is very short and it is not inexpensive.

This is what I would choose for my house though.

You do have some other options, but they will effect the longevity of the coating, the amount of time you have before having to coat it again.

Depending on the use of your floor will also determine what type of clear coat you will be using.

Expectations

At the end of the day the proper expectations are needed, if you have concrete that is moving or water pressure coming up from underneath your floor you could have some issues, this would not be a failure of the coating itself. If you drop something very heavy it could chip the coating no matter what you have down on the concrete. Remember the floors are extremly tough but nothing is bulletproof.

Proper Maintenance

Properly maintaining your epoxy floor and coating is important but not hard at all.

We would love for you to use just a simple combination of dawn and soem warm water, this is all you should need to fully clean anything off of your floor if you get it right away. Do not allow solvents to sit on your floor and wipe those up right away just to prevent any discoloration.

It's that easy, do this and you should have years to come of your new epoxy floor.

Proper Expectations When Painting The Exterior Of Your Home

 

Its exterior painting season and one of the main things that are important to an ex terior painting job is proper preparation of the surfaces. 

When planning to paint the exterior of your home or business it's very important to check and inspect every surface around the house whether it's siding wood trim aluminum or other materials

Painting on top of damaged wood or metal can significantly lower the long Gemini of the paint job however  Sometimes a budgetary restraints can significantly reduce the preparation of a surface

It's a balance between budget and proper preparation on some projects especially historical homes.

 What is proper preparation of a service proper preparation of a surface for a paint job is clean dull and dry notice I did not say smoothed a surface does not have to be smooth to be properly prepared and paint it especially on older homes were you've have many many layers of painted surface chipped paint paint the has been painted over over the years and multiple layers of other a paints.

When we discuss these types of jobs we like to give clear expectations on what the customer is going to receive what the customer wants and what the customer can pay for again it is a fine balance between budget and a properly painted surface.

When preparing a surface it's very important that the customer clearly explains what they want the surface to look like after the job is done because the number one issue on any paint job is failed and missed expectations.

The few issues we've had on paint jobs have been surfaces where a customer thinks that a home that has been painted countless times over should be completely smooth where in the real world that service needs to be completely stripped and that is a whole different job than a repaint

A properly painted surface for us at a normal job is preservation techniques with preservation techniques we one remove any failed paint that is clearly chipping we want a feather sand that area notice I did not say fill it in or make it smooth we want a prime any bear would typically using an oil based exterior primer and then a top quality exterior paint on top of that 1 coat 2 coats it depends on the job itself.

As long as the customer has clear written expectations that are also put into their contract and proposal and you fully walk them through the job and explain what can and what can't be done 

You should have no issues on your painting project.

Why does a customer feel a surface should be smooth even if it has not been for the last 50 years these are questions that we ask ourselves all the time and I guess that's that's part of the issue now with Google with Yahoo with being able to go on to YouTube and watch other preparations and home shows.

The issues with the shows are their perfect conditions and there are very compressed video where a job may have taken weeks they put it down into less than an hour of show.

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In the real world these types of preparations time frames and applications are impossible, Although maybe I shouldn't say impossible it is certainly possible with the right budget.

In our area Pennsylvania we're lucky if we get a few days a year with ideal conditions to paint from rain to snow to sleet to to Hi of humidity the dew points never correct we have very limited time to actually paint if you went by the specifications from the manufacturers.

The manufactures are very aware that these conditions can never be met so they do give broad ranges and better explanations on the local level with your sales rep.

Knowing that if you have an area that is currently peeling or failing that it is likely it could peel and fail again what we see are issues with moisture expansion and contraction causing pain failures locally correcting these issues and putting the new coat of paint on May not correct the the moisture or expansion and contraction movement issues.

Doing your best diligence to properly prepare these surfaces goes a long way in making a great paint job.