garage floor coating  Repair That Shabby Floor

 

Hello, I'm Dave.

 Garage floor coatings are manufactured in a number of great looking colors, and you can add flaking materials (usually stone) to give it more traction and a classier appearance. But garage floor coatings are also a good project to undertake because they extend the life of your garage floor. Garage Floor Coating is a franchise operation that specializes in exactly what the name implies. They will put a top notch epoxy coating on your garage floor, a process that takes several days.

 


Garage Floor Coating - Finding the Best Option For Your Garage

garage floor coatingWhen it comes to doing something to improve the look of your garage floor as well as adding value to your home, using floor coatings is your best option. The floor in a typical garage takes a lot of abuse whether you use your garage to house your vehicle(s) or as a storage area for various household items and chemicals. Spills happen even when you are careful and the floor takes the brunt of the spills. Sometimes a car will leak various fluids and that, too causes the floor to become stained and just plain look bad. You can protect your garage surface from such spills and leaks with garage floor coating.

There are many different kinds of floor coatings you can use to protect and preserve your floor. Epoxy paints are the best option and are recommended by the experts, but you can use latex coatings as well. How you use your garage and the look you want to achieve will determine what garage floor coating you will want to use. You will want to review how you plan to use your garage before choosing a coating for your garage floor. Epoxy paint coatings like the epoxyshield and rustoleum brands are recommended options as they are water resistant, resistant to stains, provide a clean neat look to your floor and they make your garage floor smooth and easier to clean.

You will need to do some prep work before you begin the coating of your garage surface. The floor should be clean, dry and you should repair cracks, holes and uneven areas of the floor before you start painting. You can use muriatic acid to clean your concrete or cement floor in preparation for your coating, and quikrete to repair your the concrete. You can find coating kits to make it easier to get your floor properly coated. Yes, you can even choose to add a bit of color to your floor if you desire. Using an epoxy resin coating will protect your flooring from stains and water damage, and epoxy paint coating will add color on top of the protection from water and stains. Remember, you are not just giving your garage a face lift, you are increasing the value of your home when you use garage floor coating.

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 Concrete Paint

concrete paintMany home owners report that their concrete does not look as good as it first did, and indeed some concrete looses its looks and become cracked and dimples and rust stains. This look damages the house look and many find it to be plain ugly, the solutions that people apply to this problem is usually covering the whole concrete surface with different thing, mattress and clothes from all materials, but covering the concrete does not solve the problem just provides a temporary solution you need to remove once it starts raining. The real solution for this problem is using concrete paint.

You can use concrete paint to cover the whole surface and make it look completely different, the paint will help you change the look and you can also add some sand to the paint to help prevent problems like slipping or falling on the concrete because of water or cracks, the paint will make these problems disappear.

Whenever talking about changing or replacing concrete we are talking about an expensive work that will almost surely take some time and effort that might disturb the family living in the house for some time, this is why the concrete problems should first try to be solved by a quicker and simpler solutions, the concrete paint solution is much shorter and easier than redoing the whole area of the concrete. The only thing you need to do is visit a shop and decide on the color that you want, buy the other necessary things for this project, find some free time and paint your concrete.

There is also place for creativity when painting your concrete, you can buy a few different colors, make a plan of how you want to paint it and paint geometric shapes, different patterns, words and letters, colors that correspond to the house colors, swirls and circle shapes and check board shapes. You can also use templates for these shapes, you will need to make or get durable templates and use them to give your concrete a unique look.

The only important thing you should bare in mind is that before painting the concrete you will need to examine all the concrete surface to make sure that it is clean and dry, in any case you should clean the whole surface to make sure that no oil stains or water is not present on the surface because concrete can hold a lot water. You can clean the surface by using a broom on the dry surface and then using a broom and some strong cleaning produce, washing like you do at home, and then using water to wash away the soap. Once the concrete is clean and dry the painting can start.

Once you will complete the painting you will understand how easy and simple it is to reinvent your concrete surface look, and also understand that once you are bored with the colors you could change again and again, good luck with your new concrete paint and new concrete surface.

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Concrete Stamps - What is It?

concrete stampsStamped concrete is concrete that is patterned and/or textured or embossed to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, tile, wood, and various other patterns and textures. It is commonly used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, and interior flooring. Due to it's flexibility, there are an infinite amount of design choices. Stamped concrete is also known to be attractive and affordable alternative to using other materials such as stone, slate or brick.

There are three major additional steps used in stamped concrete which separate it from other concrete procedures. First step involves the introduction of a base color. Secondly, a highlight color is added as an accent, and finally a pattern is stamped into concrete. These three procedures provide stamped concrete with a its color, shape and texture

Base Color

The base color is the primary color used. There are an unlimited number of colors to choose from. There are two major methods to introduce color to the concrete. One method is to broadcast what is called a color hardener. Color hardener is a powder pigment used to dye the concrete, by literally throwing it onto the surface of the concrete. You broadcast the hardener as soon as it is floated for the first time. After letting the bleed water soak into the hardener you float and trowel it in. This method only covers the surface about 3/16 of an inch but it gives the concrete surface a longer wear life. The second method is called integrally colored concrete. The entire volume of concrete is colored by adding the color hardener to the truck. The process of integrally coloring offers the advantage of the entire volume being colored; however, the surface strength is not increased as with the use of color hardener.

Highlight Color

The highlight color, the secondary color, is used to, as the name implies, highlight the texture and pattern. It has the same effect that shading does in art work. The accent color can be achieved at the time of pour or after the concrete has set.

Stamping patterns

Concrete stamping is the procedure which uses the concrete stamps to make the pattern in the concrete. Concrete stamps are placed on the concrete after the release has been applied. The concrete stamps are pushed into the concrete and then removed to leave the pattern and texture in the stamped concrete.

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Epoxy Floor Coating Basics

epoxy floorThere are different types of floor coatings, among them is the epoxy floor coating which is widely used on industrial floors, residential garage and basement floors and even office facilities. The epoxy basically contains two components; the resin component which is a light, odor free and colorless and the other component is the hardener which is usually dark in color and has a strong smell. With proper mixture and right amount, the combination will create a chemical reaction thereby producing a strong plastic material guaranteed to last for a long time.

What is epoxy?

An epoxy is a material made of liquid polymer and is converted to solid polymer with proper mixture due to chemical reaction. An epoxy which is polymer based is chemical resistant to decay, mechanically tough and highly adhesive. Epoxy is also heat resistant and a very good insulator for electrical purposes.

What are the advantages of epoxy floor coating?

For one, epoxy floor coating is very reliable when it comes to durability. The mixture can also be adjusted according to the specific need of your garage or facility. The resin can be adjusted so as to meet your desired hardness or elasticity. And since it can be adjusted, you can also request to add color on the mixture to come up with your desired style and color of your garage floor. By using epoxy floor coating, you get a durable and at the same time, a decorative coating on your floor.

Is epoxy safe and easy to apply?

Epoxy is safe and there are no known harmful effects of the chemicals used in the mixture. There are epoxy paints that come premixed for application on low traffic floors or high performance epoxy floor coatings that you combine from bucket A with bucket B that you mix with a drill and mixing paddle. It also has a high resistance to chemicals such as gasoline, salt, grease, oil and solvents.

Advancements in Epoxy Floor Coating Technology

Epoxy coating quality covers a wide range depending on use. There are Do It Yourself kits available for basements and garage floors. But you get what you pay for. Epoxy paint kits found in many home improvement stores are little more than a paint that cannot withstand the hot tires of your car or truck despite what it says on the label. In recent years online retailers have introduced high performance Do It Yourself systems with a durable urethane top coat.

Professional installers will use systems with sand built in to numerous layers for heavy traffic in warehouses and high traffic areas.

Polyaspartics and Polyureas

In the last few years a new breed of floor coating has been introduced called polyureas and polyaspartics. These new coatings have unique characteristics such as being able to withstand cold weather applications and flexibility preventing cracking. These products were originally developed for coating steel to prevent corrosion. Their exceptional performance and quick curing led to different applications most notably on concrete. Though there are a few companies promoting a polyaspartic system for the do it yourself market they are an advanced coating that should be left to the professionals.

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