An epoxy flooring coating is a tough, durable, and long-lasting protection for your garage floor. Aside from providing protection for your garage floor, it can also make your garage floor look like a professional floor similar to that of a showroom. A garage floor epoxy coating beads water is easy to clean and resists oil stains, grease, and other substances that can ruin an ordinary paint.
An epoxy coating can be used for commercial and residential applications and some who are interested in garage floor epoxy may choose to begin with a kit, especially if they haven’t used it before. It gives the garage floor a shine similar to that of a showroom. You can choose the hues and colors of the epoxy coating for your flooring but it depends on the application that you will choose. You can also blend color flakes and customize colors.
An epoxy coating is different from a paint. These 2 products have different chemical compositions. There are flooring paints that contain a little amount of epoxy to make the paint more durable and long-lasting than the standard paint but they are still considered paints. Epoxy is a thermosetting resin used as a coating. Epoxy coating is a result of the combination of polyamine hardener with epoxide resin. The polyamine hardener is responsible for the strength and durability of the epoxy. When the 2 are mixed together, it produces a chemical reaction that creates a curing process. The curing process gives the epoxy durability and superior strength. Epoxy is a much thicker coating compared to a flooring paint.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Garage Floor Epoxy Coating
The epoxy coating is hard and thick which makes your garage flooring sturdy and resilient to surface abrasion, impacts, stains, chemicals, and chipping. The garage floor doesn’t get easily damaged.
The epoxy coating also covers minor imperfections in the garage floor such as damages in the concrete and small spider cracks. It also prevents dust which normally comes from the powder produced by the concrete floor.
It is a coating that is moisture resistant. It is easy to clean by simply using water and mild soap. If the floor is dry, you can easily clean and remove debris and dust by using a dust mop or a soft broom.
It’s easy to remove brake fluids, gasoline, oil stains, and other car chemicals from an epoxy flooring compared to a normal bare or painted concrete flooring. Falling bicycles, jacks, jack stands, and rolling toolboxes will not damage an epoxy coated garage floor. And If you are looking for the best bottle jack for your vehicle? Then coreplanets blog share Top 10 Best Bottle Jack Reviews Of 2018
Take note that although an epoxy flooring is resistant to most things, it still has some disadvantages. Epoxy coating is not good for garage floors that have problems with moisture. Welding is can produce burn marks on epoxy coated garage floorings.
A garage floor coated with epoxy can become yellowish if it is regularly hit by sunlight. Although there are a variety of colors to choose from, it still has a lesser choice of colors compared to garage floor paint.
Installing the Epoxy Garage Floor Coating
Inspect the Garage Floor
It’s important to evaluate the garage floor before applying the epoxy coating. A moist floor will only ruin the epoxy coating of your garage floor. Make sure that your garage floor is moist-free before the application of the epoxy coating. The water pressure will only break the bond.
Remove paint if the concrete flooring is painted.
Prepare the Space
Clean the area where the epoxy coating will be applied on. Sweep the floor thoroughly and make sure that there are no objects on the floor. Vacuum the floor to make sure that the particles and dirt that can’t be seen by the naked eye will be removed.
Repair any damage or major chips on the concrete floor. Fill in the cracks and holes using an epoxy crack filler.
Remove the oil spots and gas stains with a scrub brush and decrease the floor. Rinse the dirt and soap away.
Etch the flooring with citric acid to create tiny grooves in the floor for the epoxy to stick to.
Rinse the floor with water and wait for the floor to dry completely.
Apply the Epoxy
Mix the 2 parts of the epoxy and start applying the epoxy mixture to the floor. Start with the edges by using a brush then cover the rest of the floor using a paint roller.
A gallon of the mixture covers 200 to 250 square feet of the floor for a single coating.
If you are planning to put a second coating, let it dry overnight. You can start parking your car on the newly coated garage floor after 3 to 5 days.
