If you’ve had it with ugly stains on your concrete garage floor, or if you’re just plain tired of looking at boring grey concrete, maybe it’s time to think about using 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.
Humidity and moisture are the usual causes of epoxy not sticking properly to concrete floors. After you wash the concrete, you need to wait long enough for it to dry; concrete retains water far longer than most other surfaces.
Humidity has the same problemmany products have guidelines as to what the humidity level in the air should be when applying them.
Water is not the only thing that can prevent epoxy from sticking to your concrete garage floor. Anything that gets in its way, whether it’s grime, oil, dirt, and dust will also prevent the epoxy garage floor coatings from sticking where it needs to stick.
You should know that when fresh concrete cures, salts and minerals rise up to the surface. That’s why you should scrub and clean the concrete thoroughly before you apply the epoxy– AFTER the concrete is thoroughly dry!
When a professional comes to install your epoxy floor coating, he will follow several steps, and it will be a multi-day process. The first day should be devoted to cleaning the existing floor, and making sure that all dirt, oil, dust, grease, etc. is completely gone.
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.