Maintenance Tips for Extending the Life of Your Garage Floor Coating


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Epoxy and polyaspartic floor coatings are excellent investments for anyone looking to protect and enhance their garage. Their main purpose is to protect the existing concrete from abrasion, cracks, impact, stains, chemicals, and general wear and tear. Many choose to install a garage coating simply for aesthetic purposes, as they are customizable in color and finish.

An epoxy garage coating transforms the space to appear brighter, cleaner, and altogether more attractive. A coating also increases safety by adding a slip-resistant layer, making it a great addition for a house with children or for someone who uses their garage as a workspace.

Importance of Maintenance

While garage coatings are extremely durable, they’re not indestructible. Regular maintenance is the best step you can take toward extending the life of your garage floor coating. Consider the following tips to preserve and maximize your floor’s lifespan:

Tip #1: Protect Your Garage Floor Coating

Protective mats are a simple, proactive approach to extending the life of your garage floor. Rubber mats are affordable, and they reduce wear and tear in high-use areas. We recommend placing mats under heavy machinery, objects that may rust, and near entry points to catch salt and dirt on shoes before it’s tracked onto the garage floor.

Don’t let chemicals sit directly on the floor coating. Instead, use shelving or mats for harsh chemicals or liquids with the potential to stain. While coatings are stain and chemical-resistant, allowing hazardous substances to remain on the floor can deteriorate the coating. The best practice to protect your floor is to wipe up the spills immediately with a towel or cloth. For a large amount of standing liquid, absorb the liquid with sawdust or kitty litter before cleaning it up.

Tip #2: Clean Your Garage Floor Coating

It’s very important to keep a clean floor. Experts emphasize regular sweeping with a wide push broom to reduce abrasion caused by dust, dirt, and salts. After the floor has been soiled, use a microfiber mop, warm water, and a mild detergent, like diluted ammonia. Ammonia should be diluted to 2-3 oz per gallon. Though epoxy and polyaspartic coatings are very resilient, you still want to be as gentle as possible when cleaning them. Use pH-neutral cleaning agents and non-abrasive materials.

Sometimes vehicles and machinery leave behind oil or grease stains. Lightly scrub the floor with a deck brush or soft scrub pad and a concrete degreaser, making sure you thoroughly rinse the area afterward.

Tip #3: Repair Any Damage

Even with the best protection and cleaning practices, it is possible for your floor to be damaged. You can patch small fissures with mortar. Using a trowel, fill the crack or chipped area with fresh mortar. Then, scrape away the excess mortar. Allow the mortar to fully cure before applying any sort of coating over top.

Tip #4: Re-Coating Your Garage Floor

The timing for recoating a garage depends on several factors, such as the type of coating,  exposure to sunlight, and the amount of traffic. Inspect your floor for signs that need recoating annually. Look for fading and discoloration of the coating, which can be caused by UV exposure. Discoloration can also be caused by oil, grease, and chemical stains.

General wear and tear is another sign that it’s time to recoat your garage, especially if the coating is peeling or bubbling. You might notice that excessive abrasion or harsh cleaning chemicals caused the shine to wear down. While maybe not completely necessary, a new coat can bring a lackluster floor back to life.

Final Thoughts

Your garage floor coating’s longevity depends on your actions and efforts. Be proactive and use protective mats. Watch what products you use, as chemicals can affect your floor’s shine. Clean regularly. When in doubt, call a professional for advice or recoating service.

Get Expert Advice from Coating Designs

If you’re looking to coat your garage floor or if you have questions about your property, Coating Designs is here to help! Call us at (888) 837-6998 to schedule a free evaluation and estimate for your project today.

More About Coating Designs

A floor coating preserves your garage floor and beautifies the space, and a little maintenance goes a long way in making it last. Coating Designs is a highly-skilled, certified team of professionals that specializes in epoxy and polyaspartic urethane concrete coatings.

Our mission is to provide cost-effective, cutting-edge concrete coating service to Orange County, Florida, and the surrounding areas. We’re not satisfied unless you’re satisfied, so we offer a 25-year warranty on our flooring installations.

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What are concrete coatings?

Our epoxy floor coatings are a concrete resurfacing option that is installed over existing concrete floors for both interior and exterior concrete. All of our coatings are installed by hand (we do not use any stamps), thus giving our clients a true, one-of-a-kind floor. We install a wide range of flooring systems such as: 100% solid epoxy, concrete stain, acrylic cement, and rubber based products.

Clients have the ability to customize any coating with our various color options and design techniques. Concrete Coatings are used not only in residential, but industrial and recreational settings as well. Premier uses only the highest quality, industrial products on the market to ensure every customer is getting the best value.

How Much Do Your Concrete Floor Coatings Cost?

Each project is customized to your particular concrete flooring needs. Every job we do is different, because we offer different types of coatings and finishes.  We will work with you to develop a free estimate keeping your budget in mind. 

How Durable Are Your Epoxy Concrete Coating Systems??

We use only industrial products on all of our epoxy floor projects. They are designed to give clients the most value and longevity over any other coating material on the market. Just to give you an idea of how strong our products are, we installed an epoxy flake floor in the garage of a Fire Station in 2008 to protect the firehouse’s garage from dirt, debris, salt, and the extreme work environment. Due to our expertise and industrial coatings, we have yet to receive a repair call. Those same products are used in all of our residential projects.

How long does a typical epoxy flooring project take to complete?

A typical residential project takes approximately 3 – 5 days to complete depending on several variables. Variables include, but are not limited to: size of job, repairs and/or preparation requirements, weather, additional design details, customer requests, etc.

What if I already have an existing concrete coating?

Unfortunately, we must grind off any existing coating and repair materials before we can install any of our concrete coatings. This ensures the integrity and longevity of our flooring systems. If you have stamped concrete that has faded, please contact us for options in reviving it.

How Long Do I Need To Stay Off My Concrete Floor Coating After It Is Installed?

If using 100% solids epoxy, your floor will be cured and walkable in about 12-18 hours. You can return to full heavy traffic after about 24 - 72 hours. Wait for at least 24 hours before moving light weight furniture on your brand new concrete coating flooring. Before moving anything heavy (car, equipment and furniture).

How do you prepare concrete for resurfacing?

We start every project by first preparing the concrete for our products. It is imperative that we have a fresh concrete surface before installing our concrete coatings on your project – this will allow our products to have only the BEST mechanical bond.

We spend approximately 66% of the project prepping your floor which may either be by diamond grinding or pressure washing the concrete (depending on the location of the project) and in some cases we do both! Most contractors will come in and just acid wash or not even prep your floor – we get calls all the time about botched installs with customers asking if we can save their project; we must start fresh every time.

Will I Need To Reseal My Concrete Floor Coating?

If you follow our maintenance and cleaning guidelines, you should not have to worry about resealing the concrete floor coating. We offer a professional grade cleaner that will easily remove stains or tire marks, but will also preserve the life of your concrete coating topcoat.

What If My Concrete Floor Has Cracks, Chips And Is Old?

No worries, we are experts in repairing existing problem areas of concrete. In some cases we have been found to be a cheaper alternative over tearing out and replacing existing slabs of concrete. Once we have saved your concrete we then install our decorative designs to hide the flaws and repairs.

How Do I Care For My Concrete Floor Coating?

You can clean our concrete coatings with typical sweeping, mopping or steaming. 

Will Oil Stain My Concrete Floor Coating?

Epoxy floor coatings are extremely resistant to most hazards, including cleaners, gas, oil, transmission fluid, and even most industrial chemicals. Our epoxy concrete coatings system is both oil and moisture resistant.

Who Invented Polyurea Coatings?

Andy Phelan, director of business development and training at Rhino Linings Corporation, explains, “Polyurea was invented in the early 1980s when a less moisture-sensitive form of polyurethane was desired. By replacing the hydroxyl group in the urethane with an amine group, a product we now call polyurea was formed.

What Are Polyurea Concrete Coatings?

Polyurea is useful for concrete floors, as it quickly and strongly bonds to concrete while providing a smooth, virtually impermeable surface that protects the floor from impact, water damage, chemicals, heat, and sunlight.

What Types Of Environments Can Epoxy Floor Coatings Be Used?

Epoxy flooring coatings can be used in a variety of environments.  The durability, slip resistant finish is fantastic for any industrial setting, storefronts, patios, or even driveways or garages.

How Are Epoxy Floor Coatings Applied?

We have perfected a six step process for applying Epoxy Floor Coatings that involves prepping the floor, prime floor with epoxy primer, fill all cracks, holes with epoxy grout, then apply epoxy paint. 

Can I Apply Epoxy Floor Coatings In Cold Temperatures?

You can!  Epoxy can be used at cold temperatures but must be handled and applied with techniques adapted to cold temperatures.

Do I Need To Hire A Professional To Install Epoxy Floor Coating?

Installing Epoxy Floor Coating correctly is critical to the appearance and durability of your flooring.  Hiring a professional is the best way to ensure that your flooring will look amazing and last a lifetime! 

Does My Concrete Floor Coating Come With A Warranty?

The warranty depends on the system. For the Epoxy only and Epoxy with Polyaspartic topcoat, there is a 25-year warranty. For premium Polyaspartic only, there is a 30-year warranty.

Where We Service

We service Orange County, FL cities and the surrounding areas including:

Orange County, FL

Location

Coating Designs of Orlando, FL

EVERY job is done right and our customers are 100% Satisfied.