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.