By Lifetime Epoxy's Guest Author: Craig Adamson
In Huntsville and Madison, epoxy coatings are great flooring alternatives for commercial, industrial, and residential floors. There are many options to choose from and the longevity of the floor is almost unbeatable. Most industrial epoxy floor coatings will last from 15 to 30+ years depending on the application you choose. Cost can range up from $5.00 to $10.00 a square foot.
I have been doing epoxy floor coatings for over five years now and we are seeing more and more customers having there garage floors coated and turning them into living space. No more ugly grey concrete with oil stains all over it. We see big screen TV's installed in garages and bars on wheels that can be rolled out into the center of the garage. Football games, nascar, baseball etc... More and more people are turning there garage into living space. Most garage floors are anywhere from 400 to 800 sqft and bigger and that is like adding another room onto your house but it is already there, when the party is over pull your vehicle in and its like a showroom.
Epoxy coatings are not only good for garage floors they are great for basement floors also, If you have a basement that has water problems epoxy flooring is perfect. Epoxy is waterproof, no more pulling up carpet and replacing it every time it rains, just pull out the shop vac and vacuum it up or mop it and problem solved. Epoxy flooring is mold and mildew resistant and allergen free, and did I mention chemical and stain resistant and easy to clean.
Not all epoxy is created equal, We use 100% solids epoxy and we offer a five year guarantee with all our floors. the big chain store epoxy have fillers in them and they will peel or flake off in 6 months to a year. So when looking for epoxy look for 100% solids you will pay a little more for it but it is well worth the money spent.
Floor preparation is everything, the pores in the concrete need to be opened up before the coating is applied. floor preparation begins with removing oil stains and sealers or any other contaminates epoxy will not adhere to oil or other contaminates. the second step is grinding the top surface of the floor with a diamond grinder or a shot blaster to open up the pores. acid etching does not open the pores enough. You will also need a good vacuum because the dust is terrible and very dangerous to breath.The third step after the pores are opened is to clean the concrete with a vacuum and a leaf blower works great, you need to get the dust off the floor. Water is not a good idea unless you are going to let the floor dry for some time before coating as it will make the epoxy turn white. If you floor has cracks this is a good time to do any repairs and I will get into that later. Now your ready for epoxy and we recommend that you follow the manufactures directions on application techniques if you are going to do this yourself.
Cracks can be repaired with a couple different methods depending on how bad the cracks are. Rule of thumb is that if you can fit a credit card into the crack it should be repaired. We start by chasing out the crack with a crack chaser blade to open up the crack and to remove any loose aggregate. clean the crack out real good with compressed air and your ready to repair. There are numerous epoxy's for crack repair on the market. we use a epoxy sand mix to repair our cracks but you should follow your manufacturers recommendations. After the epoxy dries grind the repaired area flat and clean it and your ready to coat.
Epoxy sytems available
single broadcast- one coat of epoxy with flake or quartz broadcast into the epoxy with a uv resistant top coat.
double broadcast- one coat of epoxy with a flake or quartz broadcast into the epoxy, a second coat of epoxy applied over the top of the first coat with a flake or quartz broadcast into it for a second time. A uv resistant top coat applied over the top
Epoxy neet coat or solid color system- usually two coats of a solid color epoxy applied at 10 mils thick per coat.mainly used in industrial applications as this system is the lowest cost with the same durability.
Epoxy Quartz- colored quartz sand is broadcast into the base coat and usually requires a double broadcast of quartz. this is one of the most durable floors because of the quartz. excellent floor for restaurant kitchens, porches and more.
Epoxy flake- a base coat of epoxy with a vinyl chip broadcast into the epoxy with a uv resistant top coat. garage and basement flooring and many other applications. single or double broadcast systems available.
Metallic epoxy- A prime coat of 100% solids epoxy with a top coat of metallic epoxy can be coated with a urethane. used for decorative applications
Rather your looking for a durable floor or a decorative application you can achieve this with epoxy coatings, Epoxy coatings are usually two part epoxy containing part A and part B make sure you follow the manufacturers directions on how to use there epoxy or better yet hire a professional to do the work for you. Never mix more epoxy than you can put down in 20 minutes as the epoxy will start to set up, it is usually requires two or more people to do a floor in epoxy. there are classes available to learn how to do epoxy coatings if you are interested in learning the process classes are expensive and you can rent the equipment but Sometimes you are better off hiring a professional to do the work for you.
Epoxy flooring is a beautiful flooring option to choose from, you can see pictures of completed floors at our website to get ideas and there are color charts available also. Our website is http://www.specialeffexonline.com.
My name is Craig Adamson and I am the owner of Special Effex designer concrete floors. [http://www.specialeffexonline.com] Special Effex specializes in acid stains and dyes, Epoxy coatings, and concrete resurfacing. We service the Rockford Illinois and all surrounding areas. We have been as far as South Carolina with our work. If you have a small concrete surface or a big commercial property there are no jobs to big or to small we can do them all. We will leave you saying "Wow I Can't Believe It's Concrete" We also teach decorative concrete and do consulting for companies doing decorative concrete.
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Our Family of Home Improvement Companies can be seen at he following websites:
GarageShapeups.com, HuntsvilleGarageShapeups.com, SlatwallSolutions.com, LifetimeEpoxyFloors.com, LifetimeIndustrialFloor.com
