When shopping the internet and home improvement centers for DIY epoxy garage floor kits, it’s not uncommon for many sellers to make the installation process sound simple enough. “Use our cleaning solution on the floor, roll on the product according to our instructions, and enjoy your brand new epoxy coated garage floor.” Unfortunately, it is simplistic perceptions like this that can create some poor experiences for the home installer.
The fact is, applying an epoxy garage floor coating properly takes some time. It requires a little bit of hard work and the understanding or self-realization that it really isn’t as simple as some companies make it sound. A quality floor coating requires certain steps be taken to insure a long lasting floor.
One respected supplier in the industry of epoxy garage flooring products and concrete sealers summed it up best.
The goal of a manufacturer is to sell a product. Product sales are directly tied to ease of application and cost. When the application becomes too complex, buyers reject. When the cost per square foot rises too high, buyers reject. Therefore, the goal for manufacturers is to make the process “easy” and the cost “affordable”.
Consumers should concentrate more upon the quality and responsiveness of the manufacturer’s customer service and less on warranty. Good customer service and knowledge is worth its weight in gold!
Read the entire article from Legacy Industrial here.
As the article suggests, the most successful garage floor coating systems usually involve good floor preparation, the use of an epoxy primer, and a quality, clear top coat. When this approach to installation is followed, a long lasting and fail proof product is most assured.
The process itself is not hard, but it may require spending a little more than what was originally anticipated, especially if you were looking at an epoxy product that involved the application of only one coat. Make sure you understand what type of epoxy you are using as well. Not knowing may result in a product you are not happy with.
If you are looking at the less expensive epoxy kits that you can purchase from a home improvement center, then you may want to read about epoxy paint kits here to gain a bit of knowledge about what to expect.
So, can you apply epoxy to your garage floor with just acid etching and without a primer coat as many manufacturers state? The short answer is yes, you can. Just remember though, that while many people have had good success doing it this way, the majority of failed garage floor coatings are a result of poor floor preparation which involved inadequate etching of the concrete and/or lack of an epoxy primer.
Carla Weatherholt says
A purchased home. Our concrete garage floor was “painted “ with a water beading product. Its old and worn. We have sanded the floor with 36 grit with most of the floor still looking painted. And beading. Is there’s a product that will adhere well to this? For the next ten years?
Shea says
Hi Carla. You won’t find a product that will wear well or adhere well for 10 years unless it’s being applied to bare concrete – particularly when you don’t know exactly what’s on the floor now. We highly recommend grinding the floor in order to remove the old paint and expose the bare concrete. This will remove the sealer and open the pores of the concrete allowing a coating to penetrate and adhere well.
Tim Allison says
I have a 60 x 40 commercial garage I have Jus purchased it’s Around 25 year old and in good shape, Jus needs a few spots deagreased, is there any other process I will have to do other than grinding the floor, I would really like to tr doing it myself to save money, and suggestions would be much appreciated! Love this article and it’s contents! Thank You
Shea says
Hi Tim. If you’ve already degreased it then grinding is all you need to do for prep. If you have any cracks that need repaired it’s best to do those first and then you can grind them flush as you do the rest of the floor.
Pamela-Ann Baker says
What do you do with newish concrete.
Is it enough to use an epoxy primer paint?
What about the easement creases imprinted into concrete? Do I need to fill these in or is ok to leave them?
Thank you
Shea says
Hi Pamela-Ann. With few exceptions (here is an example), all concrete (new or not) requires preparation of the surface in order for the coating to penetrate and adhere. This is called profiling the surface and generally requires that it be etched or mechanically grinded. An epoxy primer does not provide a substitute for the required concrete preparation. Also, please do not confuse an epoxy primer coating with concrete primer paint. Concrete primer paint is a latex paint that is not compatible with coatings. We mention this because we have had more than one email from people who have made this mistake.
The creases you speak of are called contraction joints. The placed in the concrete to encourage cracking along the bottom of those joints instead of across the face of your concrete slab. It’s best to leave them alone and just coat them with the rest of the concrete. However, they can be filled and we have an article about how to do that here.
Mario Reeve says
Thank you for the great articles! I have a 30 year old home with a large three car garage. Over the years residual snow and associated road salt has pitted portions of the concrete, as the snow dropped off the cars. Before I apply epoxy to the floor, how should I best prepare a “repaired” concrete floor? From what I’ve read in your articles, I’m thinking patching the damaged areas and grind or etch the entire floor afterwards. Suggestions? Thank you!!
Shea says
Hi Mario. Yes, you are right on track with your plan. Once the spalled areas are repaired, it important to grind the surface to create a nice even surface with a smooth transition to the existing surface that did not need repair. If done well, you will not be able to tell it was repaired once the coating is applied. If it’s a larger area, it’s usually easiest to just grind the entire floor at that point. If they are small areas that need repair, you can always elect to etch the rest of the floor if that is easier.
Michael Ivanov says
Hi, I am going to purchase a new home with aprox 540 sqft of garage space. It seems cleaning, etching, priming would be the best bet. How much epoxy coating do I need? Seems Epoxy-coat is good quality kit. What else should I consider? Is a week a reasonable time to do the job?
Shea says
Hi Michael. What they refer to as a “Full Kit” will cover up to 500 square feet. That only happens under perfect conditions. Generally you want to reduce coverage rates approximately 10%. This accounts for loss of product in the mixing bucket, concrete absorption and etc. Because your garage is 540 square feet, you will need one “Full Kit” and one “Half Kit”. A week is definitely a reasonable amount of time to apply it.
Christina says
Is it possible to epoxy a garage floor in stages, like a quarter or half of the space at a time? I’d like to do it all at one time but I’m unable to relocate some of the larger items in my garage for the few days it takes to fully cure.
Shea says
Hi Christina. If you have a contraction joint/s to act as a natural border or terminating line, then yes, you can most certainly do a section at a time. Coatings do not blend well when overlapped like paint does. If you don’t have a natural border to terminate a section, then it will require that you overlap the coating. This never looks good as it is painfully obvious where one coat overlaps another. Another alternative is to rent a U-Haul truck for less than $20 a day to act as temporary storage. Since it would stay parked and locked in your driveway, there is no additional charge for mileage.
Frank Tessier says
Can I use a floor leveler to fill in a badly Spaulding floor, then grind. Would I have to wait and test for moisture after?
Thanks for the informative articles.
Shea says
Hi Frank. Yes, you can do that. However, you should test for moisture before you do any repair work in order to better understand how much moisture (if any) you may be dealing with. Make sure you do not use an inexpensive self-leveling “underlayment” from a home improvement store. They are not designed as wear surfaces and cannot have a coating applied. They are for in-home flooring where carpet, wood, or tile floors are installed over them.
Frank Tessier says
Could you recommend a floor leveling product that solid epoxy would adhere to? Would something like levelquick work?
Shea says
Level Quick will not work, Frank. That is a self-leveling “underlayment” for other flooring such as tile, wood, carpet, and etc. It’s a good example of what to avoid as it is not compatible for floor coatings. This article here details how to repair spalling and pitting for a floor coating. You need to use a polymer-modified concrete repair product or an epoxy/sand slurry. This here is an example of what you would need to use if you went with polymer-modified cement.