Stains, caustic substances (such as road salts), and water infiltration are all common nuisances that lead to floor deterioration. They generally fall under two basic floor damage categories: moist concrete and improper floor preparation. However, they can all be prevented using high-quality coatings.
It is impossible to apply coatings when surface moisture penetrates through the concrete and leaves it constantly wet. This moisture causes the coat to deform, flake, and crack since it cannot attach to the concrete. So, before applying a coat, examine your concrete floor keenly for dampness. This post goes through the various
garage floor coating alternatives and how to use them.
Epoxy Paint
Many epoxies have two-part formulations that must blend shortly before use, with one-part epoxies coming premixed. This coating type results in the strongest and most lustrous floor with site pretreatment and installation.
Epoxies are difficult to deal with since proper floor preparation is essential, and you must quickly apply them to ensure that they install correctly. You certainly cannot drive on them before they totally cure, which could take up to a week.
A standard epoxy kit contains sufficient primer (or sealer) plus resins to coat a conventional one-car garage with one coat each. Contemplate adding a second epoxy coating or urethane sealant finishing coat for added strength. You might have to re-coat your flooring after 3 to 5 years, based on how it wears.
Concrete Floor Paint
Latex and oil-based concrete floor paints are available. It is simply a harder form of wall paint, although it’s perhaps the most affordable option. It offers a simple way to repair any damage or entirely re-coat the surface. Oil-based floor painting is more difficult to enforce and tidy up compared to latex floors. Although oil cures to a glossy finish, it settles to a low-sheen flat surface. Oil-based paintings require a primer layer and are much more resilient than latex ones. And overall, floor painting is not as durable as other coats and is prone to road salts and other pollutants. In normal circumstances, you need to retouch sections each year or two.
Concrete sealers
Plain and colored
concrete sealers are another form of floor coat that you could use. Sealers are identical to floor painting, except for the fact that they are more resilient. They are the cheapest form of treatment after paintings and tend to be simple to set up using brushes or rollers. Based on the products, they cure to a transparent satin or semi-gloss sheen, but you can also apply tint. There are varieties that are water-based and those that are solvent-based.
Acrylics/Latex
These coatings, which are similar to floor paints, tend to be susceptible to chemicals and are not as resilient as epoxy. Thus, they require a yearly protective wax or reinstallation after a few years. Because they adhere to concrete more effectively than urethane sealant, they are occasionally applied during the priming of oil-based flooring paints or epoxy.
Urethane
Although this coating type is more durable than acrylic/latex sealant, it does not adhere well to naked concrete floors. It works well as a sealing coat above epoxy and concrete stains because it creates a transparent, high-gloss sheen that withstands chemicals more than epoxy itself, and is less inclined to discolor under the sun. Besides, the urethane sealer is more costly than acrylic and solvent-based variants demand using a respirator when applying.
Concrete stain
Concrete stain mimics the mottled appearance of native stones. The stain is a translucent ornamental coloration that absorbs into the concrete and gives it a colored, marbled look that looks like natural stone. It is usually applied twice, with the coating being sprayed using a roller or sprayer, and afterward scraped into the concrete using synthetic scrubbing brushes.
Since the stain does not preserve the concrete on its own, you must clean the floor once it has dried and then spray one or two coatings of polyurethane sealant to safeguard it from water, chemicals, and staining. Considering how much traffic your floor receives, you may have to reseal your surface every two years along with waxing it yearly.
Get a Floor Coating of Your Choice Today
Premier Concrete Coatings of Columbus offers households and businesses throughout Central Ohio stunning, long-lasting, and cost-effective polished concrete flooring treatments. We have applied decorative concrete solutions for over a decade and are happy to offer you support and advice regarding the ideal solution for your decorative concrete flooring.
Contact us today for a free quote.
