Quote:
Originally Posted by DangeloInspections
I concur with what everyone has said so far.
I actually had a conversation on this very subject last Saturday with an expert who finishes garage floors for a living. He does excellent work and knows his stuff.
He told me that the key to a good epoxy finish on a garage floor is to etch the floor properly first to provide good adhesion and to have the concrete as dry as possible before applying the coating.
As with most all paint/finishing projects, the key to a good lasting and good looking job is always proper prep.
I am in the middle of building my garage addition and will soon be doing this myself.....
Hope this helps!
Frank D'Angelo, ACI
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Totally agree! I have done a couple of floors, One in particular being a business floor for Automotive and heavy traffic. I actually worked on this floor for about two years. We had a couple of problem areas, due to fresh concrete, and humidity issues, but nothing that couldn't be fixed down the road.
You want to Etch your entire floor. there is no way of knowing where oil, grease, etc. could have splashed, even if you didn't, builders may have.
Once you etch, you want to wash thoroughly and let dry (Drying is very important) and then there is a bond/seal before you lay down the epoxy.
Then the epoxy. 5 gallons covers a HUGE area, and two coats doesn't hurt.
The one thing nobody will tell you, is TIRES and EPOXY do NOT mix! Most tires have certain chemicals (oil, etc.) in them that once heated and/or saturated will actually burn tire marks into your epoxy wherever you park (Tire pads or something like foam under each tire to be safe, don't want to ruin all that hard hard work!). Granted, most Epoxy says not to drive or walk on it for about 7-10 days in Florida humidity. Also, rust and acid are huge stainers on most Epoxy, and yes, all this can happen even you decide to seal it!
Hope this Helped!