Tips For Successfully Applying An Epoxy Garage Floor Coating
If you spend a lot of time working on projects in your garage and don't like the old concrete slab floor, then applying an epoxy garage floor coating is the answer.
You can use a garage floor coating in any color or style you like and applying the coating isn't as hard as you might believe it to be.
Before attempting a garage floor coating project, consider the following tips.
Test for Moisture Problems
If your garage floor allows moisture to seep up through the concrete, then when you apply the garage floor coating it will bubble and peel.
To ensure your garage floor can successfully take an epoxy coating, tape down a plastic trash bag onto the slab. Wait for a couple of days and then check the underside of the plastic bag. If the bag has any moisture on it at all, then the slab is not suitable for coating. However, if the bag is dry, then the floor is an excellent candidate for epoxy.
Expect Preparation to be the Majority of the Project
As with any other type of painting, successful garage floor coating depends largely on the amount of preparation you do before ever applying the coating. Also similar to painting, if you skip most of the preparation steps, then you will not be as happy with the end result.
There are many things you need to do to properly prepare a garage floor to accept an epoxy coating, including:
- remove surface dust and dirt
- degrease the surface
- ensure it is completely dry
Once you've swept, degreased, washed, and dried the garage floor, then you can get a good look at any damage needing repair.
Fill Any Cracks in the Concrete Slab
If the garage floor has any cracks, then it makes sense to fill them before applying the epoxy coating. Even though you may still see an outline of the crack through the coating, the floor will look a lot better with the cracks filled.
You can buy a pre-mixed concrete crack repair liquid at a local hardware store and it is simple to apply. Make sure you let it completely dry and cure before applying the epoxy coating.
Acid Etch the Concrete Slab's Surface
Finally, the last preparation step before applying the epoxy coating is acid etching. By using acid to etch off the smooth surface of the concrete slab, you create a nice rough substrate for the epoxy floor coating to stick to.
If you skip this step, then the epoxy will have areas it doesn't adhere well and can peel or bubble.
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