garage flooring epoxy


Four Chemical Spills a Garage Epoxy Floor can Repel

Epoxy floor benefits

garage epoxy flooringThere are a number of great reasons to invest in garage floor epoxy for your workshop, garage, or even inside your home, and you’ve probably heard that there are some amazing benefits. We aren’t going to argue, but before we go any further, let’s talk briefly about what epoxy is and how it can benefit you. First of all, epoxy is, without a doubt, one of the most crucial upgrades that you can make to a garage floor. You may also want to make it aesthetically pleasing by landscaping around the garage. Many tend to mistake epoxy for paint, but it is most definitely not standard paint.

If you prepare your floor properly before application then you will find that it is able to withstand small impacts, scratches, and a plethora of other potential issues. The bottom line, is that garage epoxy saves you money, even if it costs a bit to get it properly applied. These points we mentioned should be enough to make anyone consider applying it to their floor, but what if we were to tell you that there is more to it? That’s right we’re talking about chemical spills.

Hazards of Garage Life

When you’re in the garage anything can happen, and chemical spills are right at the top of the list. You should always take the utmost precautions when it comes to storing chemicals, something like a Storemasta cabinet is the ideal solution as they have a number of features designed to minimize the damage caused by spillages. However, accidents do happen and the question you need to ask yourself, is how do you compensate for those spills? Concrete floors are porous, and as such they will absorb virtually anything that is spilled on them. Have you ever spilled water on a concrete garage floor? Did the water remain standing, or did it eventually disappear? Many mistake this for a different process known as evaporation, but the water is actually being absorbed into the concrete. That isn’t necessarily good for your floor, but it is tame compared to the other substances that can be spilled. Corrosives, for example, could find their way into your concrete floor and cause serious damage. It could damage your garage door as well and then you might need the assistance of a company similar to Garage Door Repair company Denver. Let’s talk about a few chemicals you will need to watch out for, and that a good garage epoxy flooring can compensate for.

Battery AcidIf you store cars in your garage or if you park golf carts or other small engine items this is bound to happen. Maybe you’re not a mechanic, and maybe you aren’t one to constantly go under the hood, but at some point you may need to change the battery, or you may need to have someone else do it for you. Batteries leak, and the substance within them is most definitely a corrosive – something that you will want to think about when you’re doing any sort of automotive work. Have no fear battery acid has no effect on our garage epoxy coatings!

Fuel/OilJust as with battery acid, this is the one that happens quite often, and it is actually far more likely your vehicle will drip some oil on the floor. Leaks are inevitable, and there is a good chance you’ve seen at least one garage floor covered in oil stains – you don’t want your garage floor to be like that, not by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, you must make sure to protect your floor from these leaks – at least if you want it to last for the foreseeable future. Nothing looks nastier than an dirty oil stained concrete floor. Keep your floor from becoming that ugly stained floor constantly needing stain removing cleaner with our easy to apply garage epoxy kits.

Paint ­– It’s harder to clean paint off of your garage floor than you might think. The problem, as we mentioned before, is the porous nature of concrete. It will absorb the paint, and it will be very difficult to remove it completely. With an ArmorGarage epoxy coating with a topcoat you never have to worry about paint spills. Paint will wipe off like water runs off a duck’s back!

BeveragesYou might not think of an ice cold glass of Coca-Cola as a chemical but let’s face it, if you can dissolve a nail in the substance in under a week, it’s not something you want to spill on your garage floor. Your ArmorGarage floor can even withstand the dreaded Coca-Cola spill!

The Epoxy Difference

ArmorGarageWith the right garage floor epoxy coating you will have a floor that can not only reject those spills, but also one that is very easy to clean. You won’t need to spend all day scrubbing; the chemical resistant floor will be able to reject the spills, and with its non-porous nature, you won’t have to worry about anything being absorbed, making cleaning a breeze.

Now would be a great time to start looking into the different types of epoxy flooring we offer, whether you find yourself interested in a standard garage coating, or if you want to the commercial or industrial system for even more protection. We have an epoxy system for any floor and any level of protection needed from any type of chemical spill that could occur within your garage.


How Garage Floor Epoxy Creates a Brighter Cleaner Work Space

Garage Floor EpoxyThere are many reasons to like garage floor epoxy coatings whether you are trying to make your garage look better, protect your concrete slab or if you’re trying to increase functionality. Before we get into that, let’s talk about your garage. Let’s face it, you can put a lot of work into your garage to make sure that it is the ultimate workspace. Even simple things like making sure your garage doors work will help you have the ultimate workspace, you don’t want to struggle to bring in cars if your doors don’t work properly. If something like this happens, then you can easily call up something like these Crofton Maryland Garage door repair professionals to help get this fixed for you. You don’t want there to be any issue when it comes to your garage, particularly if you are working in there constantly. Maybe you’re working on restoring a classic car, maybe it’s a woodshop, or maybe it’s just a general workshop – there are many different reasons to use a garage as your workshop, and we would be hard-pressed to list every single one of them here. If you are using your garage to store your collection of classic cars, you may want to consider professional auto transport to move them between your properties or to and from auto shows. The one thing that all workshops have in common, however, is that they need a high-quality floor, which can contribute in more ways than one. Sure, a garage floor epoxy solution makes for a very durable surface, but most people think the benefits end there. Don’t worry, you definitely get more bang for your buck than you think.

A Cleaner Work Space

It’s a workshop; mistakes are bound to happen, whether you spill a cup of coffee or tip over a drum of industrial grade corrosive material. On a typical garage floor, both of these would present a serious problem; coffee would stain the concrete, and the corrosive, well, we don’t even want to discuss what that would do. This is where floor epoxy has the advantage – it might require a bit of an investment but it’s well worth the cost. Here there are two different benefits. First of all, epoxy is very durable, but you should also consider that it is stain resistant. It does a great job of closing the pores that would otherwise rather easily absorb and accept any number of materials. Instead of permitting damage or even a stain, the chemicals will remain on the surface, allowing you to clean them at your leisure. Protecting your floor from staining and corrosion plus having dramatic porcelain-like finish a great reason to consider ArmorGarage epoxy coatings.

In addition to the above it is far easier to clean. You can use a simple washrag or a bucket of soapy water to get your epoxy floor back to its original shine, and it really doesn’t take that much effort on your part. That being said, not only does it reduce the mess, it also takes the effort out of cleaning. You were, after all, planning to expend your effort on other, more important things, weren’t you?

One of the better side effects of being able to keep a clean work space is the ability to get rid of most germs and allergens. If you suffer from allergies or simply want to prevent illness, these flooring options are not only outstanding, they are completely mold and mildew proof. You will keep your work space clean, you will ensure there are no nasty allergens or airborne illnesses wandering around your shop or garage. It doesn’t get much better than that – unless you consider how much brighter your workshop will be.

A Brighter Workspace

ArmorGarageWhat many people fail to consider is how much brighter garage floor epoxy will make their work space. You will find that one of the many benefits is the floor’s ability to make your work space brighter. If you use standard fluorescent lights, you will discover that they reflect well off of your high gloss epoxy floor, making for a much brighter space. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, it will be a great way to conserve on energy that you might have otherwise wasted in lighting. In the end, you’re going to save on energy you’re going to have a slip resistant surface, and most importantly you’re going to have a garage/shop that you can be proud of. It doesn’t get much better than that. Well, as long as your garage is clean, of course. If you’re investing in epoxy flooring, you may as well also invest in cleaning out your garage to make the place look spotless. It’s likely a lot of rubbish and useless items you no longer need have gathered in your garage; it’s useful to look into dumpster rental service in Kansas City MO if this is the case. Get that garage looking as good as new!

Take a look at the garage flooring prices today and get ready to give your work space the treatment it deserves. Installation is easy and lasts for up to twenty years.


Epoxy Not Hardening

Flooring Epoxy

So you’ve done all the prep work right you mixed and applied the epoxy per the instructions and everything looked great when you were done! Then the next morning when you come back to apply the topcoat you discover for some reasons you have the following issue.

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The above two images are of small epoxy spots that didn’t harden. This happens when not enough Part B was mixed into a batch or a batch was not mixed good enough and some Part A didn’t mix with enough part B. If this happens to you don’t feel bad it happens to our guys sometimes when they get in a hurry to finish a job. The good news is this is very easy to fix. Sometimes if you have some part B leftover you can rub some into the spot and it will hardened in 6-8 hrs. If that doesn’t work simply scrape up the soft epoxy, wipe down the area with Xylene(Home Depot) as best you can. You don’t have to get down to bare concrete, just scrape and wipe off as much of the epoxy as you can and then reapply some new epoxy to that area.  We would also lightly sand the perimeter of the epoxy on the floor so that you can lightly overlap the new epoxy onto the cured epoxy.

Also if this happens we want you to apply the topcoat to the rest of the floor, do not wait because of this minor issue. You will apply the topcoat to the new epoxy after it dries and again you will lightly sand the perimeter of the topcoat on the floor and lightly overlap it with the new coat of topcoat. Problem solved.  When this happens it’s a concern but don’t panic. The coating is not defective. The epoxy can’t cure in some places and not others. It’s either all bad or not bad at all.It is extremely rare that you would ever get a bad set of epoxy that won’t cure. We test every batch of epoxy for curing, adhesion and hardness before it goes into inventory.

The best way to avoid this from happening is to have one person do all the mixing and use clear calibrated mixing containers to measure out the part A and part B amounts accurately. These containers can be bought at Home Depot and such for 99 cents. Get the 100+ ounce size containers. With only one person mixing and using measuring containers you’ll never run into this problem. The only other way this can happen is if you’re doing the floor during the colder months and you have a cold spot in the floor usually by a door or wall. Putting some heat in that area will solve the problem most times, if not follow the above procedure. Remembering to apply the topcoat right away but not on any epoxy that is not rock hard. If you can make an indent in the epoxy with your finger nail it means the epoxy isn’t fully cured.

 


General Ordering and Delivery Guidelines

EPOXY ORDERS

Today we’re going to talk about ordering epoxy floor kits. During busy season very often the demand will outstrip our production capacity. So instead of orders going out the next day they’ll go out a day or two later than that. Which should not be a problem in most cases. Problems can and do arise if you wait till the last minute to order and you have a specific date you want to epoxy your floor. Such as over a holiday weekend or during some time off from work. Please keep in mind that if you plan on doing your project over a long holiday weekend that you’re not the only one with the same idea. Back orders pile up and sometimes we get sold out of certain colors. So when you have a specific date in mind you should order two weeks in advance. This allows for back orders to be cleared up, it allows for delivery issues such as a package getting lost or damaged. It also allows you to do an inventory check once you receive all your packages to make sure you didn’t forget to order something or we didn’t send you something that you did order. Always allow a week cushion from when you should receive everything and when you want to do the job. The epoxy has a one year shelf life minimum so it won’t go bad sitting inside your residence, garage or place of business. Getting your orders delivered quickly can be difficult, thankfully there is software similar to last mile delivery software that can help make last-minute deliveries a little easier.

We ship the epoxy part of your order separately so that if FedEx roughs it up and it leaks it doesn’t ruin the entire order. You will usually get the etching and accessories first, this allow you to get a head start on the cleaning and etching process. The epoxy will arrive a day or two later. So on typical garage orders you would get two packages, on larger garage or commercial orders you will receive 3-5 boxes and on larger commercial or industrial orders your order will arrive on a pallet via truck.

If your order is arriving via FedEx ground you don’t have to be home to sign for it. If it is arriving by truck someone needs to be present to unload and sign for it. Once you have received your order you should open all the boxes as soon as possible to check that all items have been received and that there wasn’t any serious damage. If a can has gotten dented or a little bit of paint has leaked out, the product is still ok to use. If your cans have been damaged to the point where more than just a few ounces leaked then call us for a replacement. We will ship out a replacement right away and arrange for FedEx to pick up the damaged goods.

If you are using a contractor, it’s very important that you do NOT schedule your contractor till you have received everything and that you checked for damaged items and did an inventory check. When using a contractor please allow for Murphy’s Law to come into play. You can make a mistake, we can make a mistake, FedEx can make a mistake or all of the above can happen. If you order well enough in advance we can resolve any issue without it impacting your original desired completion date. It’s when you try to surgically plan everything to arrive by the day before you want to start that things could go south. Contractors get upset when they schedule jobs and then can’t do it due to last minute issues. If you give your contractor enough notice he can usually reschedule your job without a problem if need be. If you need to schedule your contractor cause he’s so busy than schedule him a minimum of 7-10 days after the anticipated delivery date of all your items. This allows time for problem solving if needed.

If you have an emergency type situation and you need to get your order asap just let us know and we will do everything possible to get it to you in time. Keeping in mind that we ship our epoxy orders from our NJ distribution center and all epoxy orders online must go Ground. Since our epoxies are not water based they are DOT restricted to FedEx ground delivery so please allow sufficient travel time in your calculations. Especially if you’re on the west coast. CA orders can take 5-6 business days to arrive once shipped.

So in sum just keep in mind our epoxies are not an off the shelf type of product. You can’t just go down to the corner paint store and get some. If you are buying home improvement or local paint store type epoxy, scheduling will not be an issue, you’ll have more serious issues later on but scheduling and getting the job done quick won’t be one of them. If one of the accessories items is an issue such as the etching solution leaked or a roller is missing or damaged or some such thing, you can go out and purchase it locally. Just give us a call or send us an email and we’ll be happy to credit you for any costs. Most times this is the easiest and quickest way to keep things on schedule so that your project is not held up for something minor.