GARAGE FLOORING TIPS & TRICKS FROM THE PROS
Grinding vs. Acid
EtchingWe have found that the most efficient way to prep a concrete
floor for coating is by mechanical grinding. Our installers use a diamond
encrusted floor grinder with a powerful dust collection system that removes a
thin surface layer of the concrete. When complete your stained or painted
concrete will be white, porous and ready to accept the epoxy coating. A typical
2 or 3 car garage can take up to 2-4 hours to grind.
Some companies will
acid wash your floor if it is free of oil and paint, however the acid washing
process presents its own set of problems. The acid being used must be diluted
correctly or it can damage the concrete. Additionally, the process can create
dangerous fumes to, not to mention that it requires proper disposal of the acid
water, which can easily damage your landscaping, to include your pavers, plants,
grass, etc. The acid wash also leaves behind a wet concrete dust film that must
be completely removed from the pores or it could prevent the epoxy from
correctly bonding to the concrete floor. This can result in defects to the
coating of your floor as the epoxy cures and eventually cause delamination.
Additionally the floor would need to completely dry which could take several
additional days delaying the start of the applying the epoxy and extending the
time to return your garage to service.
DIY Epoxy or Garage Floor Paints
In our
opinion these products are nothing but glorified water based porch and floor
paints. They hold up fine until it comes to hot tires or anything that drips
from your car like oil, antifreeze or gasoline. They usually come with
directions that tell you to use a cleaner degreaser which is simply not enough
preparation for the traffic of a garage floor. If you have a previously painted
floor, all the paint must be removed to insure proper adhesion. The concrete
must be ground down or etched to make it porous enough to be coated properly.
There are a couple of choices that you have to achieve the proper porous state.
One option is to utilize paint removers, which generates fumes as well a big
mess, but the industry preferred method is to remove the existing coating
mechanically by grinding or shot blasting.
The mechanical methods, which
is used by Granite Garage Floors, both remove the paint and grind the concrete.
If you choose the paint remover route, you must still acid wash the concrete
floor which comes with its own set of issues see (Grinding vs. Acid Etching).
Remember, these epoxy coating products are only as good as the surface they are
being applied to and, without a properly prepared surface, it will be very
difficult to achieve the long-term durability and protection of a professionally
installed garage floor coating system. In our opinion, the preparation is the
most critical step of the entire process.
For more information or a Free Consultation call
(678) 500-9537 or email us at atl@granitegaragefloors.com.
Source: http://granitegaragefloors.com/
For
local epoxy flooring installtion in the Huntsville Area, please call
1-800-214-4311 or Local Rep Bill Dixon at 1-256-572-5970
