Archive for the ‘About Flooring’ Category

Protecting Your Garage Floor from Rust

Your concrete garage floor is most likely exposed to a host of chemical agents. You should take proactive steps to prevent damage to your garage floor. You need to apply a substance that is able to protect your floor under harsh conditions such as this. One of the best solutions is a high quality concrete floor coating. These substances create a barrier between the floor and any harsh materials that may come in contact with it.

Neglected garage floors that become corroded can be very expensive to repair. You should consider using a high quality rust paint to immediately repair any damage to your garage floor. You hate to see your garage floor become unsightly and damage due to the barrage of chemicals it is exposed to. You need to apply a long lasting concrete coating in order to prevent this from happening.

While some people recommend waterproofing, it will not last forever. Other people try to hide their garage floors with carpet, but this can only serve to make the problem worse. You need to take other steps to protect your garage floor as soon as possible.

You should apply a long lasting concrete floor coating, such as Rust Bullet, as soon as possible. This material is easy to apply and will prevent floor corrosion. You can use this product on just about any type of floor to prevent rust from occurring or growing.

One of the best parts is that it requires no floor preparation ahead of time. Products like Rust Bullet will often offer a ten year guarantee when they are properly applied, which tells you that these products are very effective. They offer excellent results for a very low cost. Another real benefit of this product is that it can be used on just about any surface as it contains no toxic chemicals.

Extreme conditions can cause floors to loose their durability and damage their appearance. You need a floor coating in order to prevent this from happening.

Preventing Your Floor Paint from Chipping

Sometimes the good intentions of a homeowner to protect their garage floor by painting it end up in lifting and pealing paint.

Sometimes the good intentions of a homeowner to protect their garage floor by painting it end up in lifting and pealing paint. Having no finish is probably a better option than this. While many people are willing to look at stained and dirty concrete, blistering paint is a constant reminder of their attempt gone wrong. You can avoid such problems by using some of the new technological advances on the market and properly preparing your concrete before applying them.

One coating that is not vulnerable to rain, snow, flooding, or oil is epoxy flooring. It is the special two part system of epoxy that gives it such strong resistance. When these two parts are mixed together they change into a solid from a liquid. Most paints are either water or solvent based. Either way the material that carries them evaporates. Paint often goes back to its liquid state when it meets back up with either the water or solvent that way originally a part of it.

While many painted garage floor finishes are specifically formulated to not dissolve when they meet their carrier, they are still subject to pealing, chipping, and blistering under stress. With an epoxy coat you get a continuous sealant with no seams that are not impacted by water and other solvents. Food processing plants have used epoxy flooring systems to make clean up simple for well over 50 years. You can easily wash off just about any contaminant from an epoxy membrane.

Epoxy is often used by architects these days in order to create an unbroken line when large spaces flow together. For example, colored epoxy floor covering is often used to tie together indoor and outdoor living spaces.

When it comes to applying finishes preparation is everything. You need a permanent substrate for a material to stay in place. Your surface will move if your substrate does. You can minimize the possibility of a moving substrate by using the same surface preparation techniques that have been developed by the experts over the years. You will need more extensive preparation if you have a new floor. The latent of new concrete must be removed prior to installing an epoxy coating.

When you are looking for a floor coating that will last for decades it makes sense to purchase the best. Your best bet is purchasing a factory direct kit that comes with detailed instructions and 24 hour a day customer support online. You can find quality epoxy floor coating products in a wide selection of colors and finishes. You can also purchase decorative chips to provide a wonderful accent. You can also apply a skid resistant finish that remains easy to maintain.

Garage Floor Epoxy Made Simple

There are a few things you should be aware of prior to purchasing an epoxy system to improve the look of your garage floor.

There are a few things you should be aware of prior to purchasing an epoxy system to improve the look of your garage floor. You have probably heard various opinions about how well the do-it-yourself epoxy kits you can find at your local home improvement center work. Some people will rave about the results they get while others will say they are like throwing your money away. The truth is that the results you get with these kits will vary depending on your type of floor.

Epoxy coatings are not the ideal solution for every type of concrete floor. Some floors, for example, have too much hydrostatic pressure (water movement under the slab) to make epoxy a good solution. Water comes up through the floor and breaks the bond with the epoxy, causing it to peel. Your epoxy coating will not be successful if the floor is damp even in dry weather or has areas that appear to stay wet for long periods of time. You should consider applying a salt blocker or efflorescence with your epoxy coating even if you do not think you have a moisture problem.

Improper surface preparation is one of the biggest reasons for the failure of epoxy floor coating systems. You will get flaking or chipping if there are any foreign substances such as oil, paint, or grease on the floor which prevent the epoxy from bonding properly. After installation many contractors will apply a coat of sealer to the garage floor. This sealer, which can take several years to wear off by itself, must be removed to get a proper bond with the epoxy. Most stains and sealers will not be removed with acid etching. Prior to acid etching any stains and sealer must be removed.

You should determine if your floor is right for an epoxy floor coating prior to purchasing a kit. A floor that has areas that are constantly wet will not work well with epoxy. Your epoxy coating will last longer if you apply one or two coats of sealer on top of it. A water based acrylic sealer is your best choice. A do-it-yourself epoxy kit can be a great solution for your garage floor, as long as it is done correctly.

Epoxy Floor Coating Applications

We often tend to ignore the appearance of our garage. Most of us see our garages as a place for extra storage and to park our cars. The truth is that we need to take good care of our garages floor, just like we would the floors in any other room in our home.

Garage floors often begin to deteriorate quickly due to the constant use they receive as well as all the spills and debris to which they are exposed. You can help protect your garage floor from damage with the use of an epoxy coating. You can help maintain a pleasant appearance to your garage floor by protecting it with a layer of sealant.

You will need to prepare your garage floor prior to installing the epoxy coating. Ensuring that the garage floor is moisture free and does not contain any residue from previous paint jobs, cement sealer, or other type of finish is probably the most important step you can take.

Tape a three foot by three foot square of plastic to your floor with masking tape to help check for moisture. After a couple of days you will be able to tell if any moisture has collected on the side of the plastic touching the floor. You must have a dry floor surface for the epoxy coating to properly bond to the floor.

Your next step will be to determine if your garage floor has a sealant already applied. This is also an effective test to see if there are oils in the floor. A cup of water poured onto the floor should get soaked up by the cement fairly quickly. There is either a coat of sealant or oil contaminates on the floor if the water beads or just sits there. You should not use an epoxy coating on a floor that has oils contaminates or has been previously sealed as the epoxy will not bond.

One additional test is very effective, but will take some time. Paint a small area of your garage with a regular oil based enamel paint. If that paint stays intact for a period of several months you can be fairly sure that the epoxy coating will as well. You will need to sand off the enamel paint prior to applying the epoxy coating.

Removing Standing Water from Your Garage

You can experience safety and cleaning issues when water is left standing in the low spots of your garage for several days.

You can experience safety and cleaning issues when water is left standing in the low spots of your garage for several days. Spilled liquids often pool in low spots created by the troweling process when the concrete is poured. You can level your garage floor by filling these low spots with a 100% solid epoxy. You can avoid damage to your items which are stored on the floor by adhering berms within an epoxy floor to contain liquids.

Hot gluing molding strips onto the floor before applying your epoxy coating is a simple way to have berm flooring contain liquid spills. A watertight barrier is created when you apply the epoxy as it will seal the molding into place. You can often easily contain liquids with just a quarter inch of berm.

Epoxy flooring can be Class III laboratory qualified, which means that it is easy to clean and will resist both mold and mildew. You can even use harsh cleaners and heavy abrasion on epoxy coatings which are bleach resistant.

These types of coatings have been used successful for swimming pools, garages, warehouses, and other industrial spaces for years. When installing an epoxy floor you can choose between a smooth and a skid resistant finish. You can use just about any cleaning method on epoxy coated floors, including scrubbing and pressure washing. You can easily rinse off mold, mildew and other contaminants. You will easily be able to wipe up the harshest chemicals as most will not penetrate the coating. This is a far cry from the older types of flooring such as tile, wood, paint, and carpeting which can get easily contaminated and damaged from cleaning. You can use epoxy coating over the entire floor, and even apply it up the wall for water containment in flood prone areas.

You can purchase industrial flooring kits that enable even the beginner to apply the coating themselves. The kits come with easy to understand and follow directions and 24 hour a day online support.

Getting Ready for Garage Floor Paint

You need to take the preparation step seriously when you are getting ready to apply garage floor paint.

You need to take the preparation step seriously when you are getting ready to apply garage floor paint. You need a permanent substrate on which to apply your paint, otherwise your paint will become damaged as the substrate moves. You can minimize the chance of the substrate moving by using the same preparation methods that the experts use. You will need to give extra time and attention to new floors as these are the most vulnerable to movement. New floors are often dusty for the first couple of years as they get broken in. The latent in the concrete will continue to move and must be removed prior to applying the paint. If it is not the paint will not adhere properly to the substrate and come off with the movement of the latent.

Your first step should be to clean the floor thoroughly with a high pH (alkaline) degreaser. This will remove oil and other contaminates as well as improves the finish of the paint. The next step is to remove minerals, rust, and other particles with a low pH (acidic) cleaner. You will shock contaminants out of your floor by this quick and dramatic change in pH. You will get the best results from an acidic cleanser that also includes detergents, rise agents, and water softeners. After you finish cleaning use a scrub agent to bring the pH of the cement back to a normal 6.5 or 7.

Road film, as you may have noticed with your car, stays put even after pressure washing thanks to surface tension. You need contact during all three steps of cleaning in order to break this surface tension. The more aggressive the contact, the more effective it will be at removing concrete latent and other small particles.

It is probably best to stick with a factory direct kit that comes with expert instructions and 24 hour a day online assistance. Remember that you want your floor covering to last a good ten to twenty years. You can find high quality products online that will do just that when properly applied. While you may get some scratches over the life of your garage floor coating these are easily repaired with a little touch up.

Polymer Coatings for Your Garage Floor

Most people simply ignore there garage floor, after all it is just for parking your car and storing your unused items. The truth is that this is all changing thanks to new high tech quality products to coat and protect your garage floor.

When we are speaking of coatings for your garage floor we are going way beyond simple paint to quality polymers that lock themselves into place. These products protect your garage floor from the many spills that happen there, including oils and other chemicals and solvents. They also dramatically improve the appearance of your garage floor. These products can stand up to even the harshest of chemicals, unlike you old cement floor.

Having a clean garage floor is another great benefit of adding a garage floor coating. When you view your garage as an extension of your homes living space it is much easier to take good care of it. A high quality garage floor coating also makes it much easier to clean up any spills and debris that begin to accumulate.

You can choose from a variety of colors for your new garage floor, so you are not stuck with the dull drab grey of concrete. Most of the garage floor coating products actually involve a three step process which includes a base coat, color flakes, and a top coat. Dont worry, even if the floor looks great you can still park your car in the garage without damaging your new floor.

High density industrial mats are another option when it comes to coating your garage floor. These are the perfect solution for the person who loves to spend time working on their car as the offer a cleaner environment and some cushion when you are lying under the car.

Your garage is an important part of your home. It makes sense to give it the same attention and care that you do the rest of your home.

Treatments for Your Garage Floor

One easy way to protect your garage floor is to cover it with epoxy or some other form of paint.

One of the most easiest ways to protect your garage floor is to cover it with an epoxy. You will also give your garage floor flair with the addition of a quality garage floor treatment. You will enjoy working in the space on a regular basis after giving the floor a coat of epoxy. Even an inexpensive latex paint can make a huge difference in the look and feel of the space.

Your garage floor can be easily protected with the application of paint. Almost any home improvement center or hardware store should carry a good selection of garage floor paint. The price you pay for this paint will most likely be determined by the type of paint and its quality.

While epoxy paint is almost twice as expensive as latex paint, the results you get with epoxy are often worth the price. Epoxy paint is much more durable and will give you a better finish for a much longer period of time. While the selection of latex paints is usually much larger, it should still be fairly easy to find high quality epoxy paint for your garage floor.

A clear sealer may be the answer for those who would like to protect their garage floors but do not want the look of colored garage paints. A clear sealer will give your garage floor protection while still allowing it to look like a garage.

Why Your Garage is So Important

Home buyers are always more attracted to a home with a garage.

How Your Garage Can Sell Your Home
Anyone who has had to make due without a garage fully understands the importance of having one. Even with a carport your car will always be dirty without a garage. You also have to consider traipsing through all types of weather, often carrying packages or groceries, to get to your front door. Those people who live crowded neighborhoods may even need to walk several blocks just to get home from their parking space. The lack of a garage can be more than a bother.

Selling a home that does not have a garage can be very challenging. Besides building one there is really nothing you can do to make up for its absence. While the majority of homes these days do have garages, often just the presence of a garage is not enough.

Most home buyers these days can afford to be picky, even in spaces like the garage which the homeowners may not readily consider. The garage can quickly become an area of conflict between sellers and buyers if they have varying expectations about the space. While the home may be in top condition, having a run down garage may end the deal.

Home sellers need to understand that many home buyers carefully consider the condition of the garage, just as they would any other room in the home. The garage should be neat and organized, not overrun with junk. Walls that are damaged or unpainted should be fixed. Adding efficient cabinet space to your garage can really be a major selling point for your home.

You will find that your home will sell faster and for more money if you consider the garage just as important as the other living spaces in the home. You can be sure that many buyers will look at it that way.

The Advantages of Garage Floor Mats

Your garage is probably the most neglected part of your home. Everything that is too old, dirty, or awkward to fit in the house usually ends up in the garage. Often garages become very difficult to clean as they are subject to so many different activities and items. Think about all the things in the garage, from garden tools to used oil, and you can see how it gets so dirty so quickly. This build up of dirt can quickly lead to damage to your garage.

Cement is used for most garage floors, which is a sturdy material which also has the capacity to absorb all the solids and liquids it comes into contact with. Most homeowners would love to find the perfect solution for keeping their garage clean, safe, and in good condition.

The proper choice in garage flooring can make your garage a safe and dirt resistant area in spite of all the activities that take place there. While it is hard to imagine anything other than cement for standard garage flooring, those homeowners who want to create a safer and more attractive place should seriously consider a different option.

You can change the look and feel of your garage by installing the right floor mat. Think about how much more fun it will be to work on your car, or other garage projects, with a floor covering that is more attractive, resists dirt and grime, and is easier to clean.

You can protect your garage floor from oil and other liquid spills with the installation of polyvinyl floor mats. A wet garage floor surface can be very hazardous, so protecting your garage floor is a great way to prevent accidents.

Not only will your floor be safer with the installation of a polyvinyl mat, it will also be much more attractive. You can choose from a variety of styles and designs to find one that is the perfect match for your sense of style. You should have no problem finding just the right match for your garage.

When your garage floor mat does become soiled it is easily removed and cleaned. They are so easy to install you wont think twice about giving them the cleaning they require. Since these mats are waterproof they will not become soiled as quickly as a cement floor, therefore requiring much less maintenance.

Most homeowners want to make sure that their garage is a safe and clean place in which to spend time. Garage floor mats are a great investment in making that true for your garage. These floor mats are also easily portable so you can bring them with you if you move.

Almost every member of the household probably spends some time in the garage, so it makes sense to take good care of this space. The right set of garage floor mats is just another part of keeping your family healthy and safe.