So you ready to do your own DYI garage floor project?

The recent times a residential car garage has become more then just a place to park your car, for many men, their home\’s car garage is their personal man cave where they spend time working or restoring their men toys, or spending time with the guys showing off those toys, or some down time alone are some of reasons to turn your car garage garage into extension of your home and resurface the concrete floor. There are other good reasons for resurfacing your garage floor into an attractive epoxy flooring, such as easy cleaning and maintenance, as well as the elimination of dust coming from the concrete floor.

Today there are several franchised companies that I know about, that have sprung up specializing specifically on garage floor finishes mainly epoxy chip, and polyaspartic chip finishes and installation of garage cabinetry. I\’m not aware how successful these franchises are, but they do seem to be growing all over the country. Below I will describe the basic procedure to do your own DYI gargage floor project using epoxy coating, so let\’s talk about that.

Floor Preparation

A) Before you decide upon the type decorative or plain concrete coating finish to apply, you must prepare the garage floor for the application of coatings by preferrably using a concrete grinder which you could rent from your local equipment rental store, to mechanically profile the concrete floor. Grinding the concrete floor prior to coating application will ensure proper bonding with the coating you will apply.

B) Repair all large cracks and correct any slopping issues. If there are any areas of the concrete that have sunk, then patch the area with self-leveling cement or special patch compound which you can obtain at either specialty concrete supply distributor or perhaps your local Lowes or Home Depot if a specialty supplier is not in your area. You want a flat slightly slopping away from the house floor, so that the water does not pool or and able to run off away from the house. If there are any large cracks, use proper crack filler to fill and patch the cracks to avoid re-opening of the crack in a year or two.

C) Throughly clean. As final prep step, make sure you vacuum and clean the entire surface area completely. Ensuring there is no loose dust particles before any coatings is applied.

Type of Concrete Coatings to Apply Onto Garage Floors

There are several option available depending on the look of floor you want. However the most commonly used coating for car garage floors is epoxy resin. For purpose of keeping it simple, I will describe how to apply either solid colour epoxy application and an epoxy chip concrete floor finish application.

For a basic clean bright look with least amount of work, you can opt to apply a solid colour epoxy coating. For a more fancier finish, you can use an epoxy chip finish.

It is very important that you find a quality 100% solid resin epoxy coating to apply onto your car garage floor. Buying an epoxy sealer from your hardware store is usually not the best choice unless there are no other option of finding a local industrial quality epoxy distributor several stock colours that you can choose from as well as clear coats too. Check to see the coverage rates of the product so you know how much to buy. Quality epoxy is not cheap so you don\’t to over buy, nor do you want to be caught short when applying epoxy as this may ruin your esthetic appeal of the garage floor. So be sure to buy the right amount of epoxy. If you plan to do an epoxy quartz or vinyl chip finish, you will need to buy additional clear coat epoxy, enough to cover your garage floor twice more after you apply the solid colour epoxy base coat. Most industrial grade epoxy suppliers will also sell you quartz or vinyl chips as well. Determine what concentration of chip coverage you want to broadcast onto your new floor. For heavy coverage for a 2 car garage, you can easily use as much 50 lbs easily. For light coverage you can use as little as 2 or 3 lbs of chips. So you will need to decide what is best for you. One thing to keep in mind though, if you plan to light coverage of chips you will not need to apply 2 coats of clear epoxy after broadcasting the chips as one coat may do the trick.

Application of Epoxy Coating Onto Garage Floor

You will need the following tools for applying a epoxy coating, a floor squeege, a lint free roller and handle, a mixer with special epoxy paddle that you should be able to buy at your local hardware, anti-slip additive, and a helper you can find one.

1. Begin by mixing part A and part B of the 100% solid resin epoxy kit as specified by the manufacturer.

2. Pour the mixed epoxy batch onto the garage floor and spread evenly throughout with the floor squeege, while the helper back rolls (back rolling only) the epoxy you just spread until you complete the entire garage. If you are not planing to broadcast vinyl or quartz chips, then go to part B.

A) If you are not planing to proceed to broadcasting the chips, then you will need to wait till the base coat is dry and apply a second coat usually 24 hours after. Once the 2nd coat is applied, it\’s time to broadcast anti-slip additive by taking handful of the additive and throwing it up into the air over the wet coat of epoxy for the mani-slip to sit and bond to the curing epoxy.

B) While the base coat of epoxy is wet, begin to broadcast the chips by taking a handful and throwing it up into the air over the wet epoxy and allow the chips to fall randomly in your desired (light to heavy)coverage rate. When finished, let dry till next day.

3. You will need a sander or a good floor scrapper to go around and remove any loose chips that did not adhere during broadcasting process.

4. Apply a clear coat of epoxy in the similar fashion as described in 1, once you have completed, review the floor finish to see if the 2nd coat of epoxy totally covered the chips, and is perfectly smooth. If not, then proceed to the next step (5). If yes, then broadcast the anti-slip additive on top of the wet epoxy where you want the anti-slip to be placed in the broadcasting fashion described above and wait for it to properly cure for next 24 hrs or more.

5. If you used heavy chip broadcasting, then it would wise to apply a 3rd and final coat of clear coat epoxy as described in step 4, and apply the anti-slip as final step.

If the above is done with care, you should have a beautiful garage floor to marvel.

Rick Katz, is the General Manager of ConcreteArtFX.com, specializing in decorative concrete floor finishes in Ontario Canada. Metallic Epoxy Floors Epoxy Floors Decorative Concrete Floors

Rick Katz, is the General Manager of http://ConcreteArtFX.com, specializing in decorative concrete floor finishes in Ontario Canada. http://www.concreteartfx.com

Author Bio: Rick Katz, is the General Manager of ConcreteArtFX.com, specializing in decorative concrete floor finishes in Ontario Canada. Metallic Epoxy Floors Epoxy Floors Decorative Concrete Floors

Category: Home Management
Keywords: polished concrete, concrete polishing, epoxy floor, garage resurfacing, epoxy chip, concrete floor