A concrete Garage Floor may be one of the best surfaces to update because it would definitely need something durable, protective, and more appealing than what it had before. An epoxy floor coating is one of the most popular materials to coat a garage floor with. It is resistant to most damage and it dries to a really tough, seamless, and stunning surface. Before you apply it, however, you must prepare the concrete really well to ensure proper adhesion and longevity. Prepping may seem unnecessary but it is. It may seem like a lot of work but it will all be worth it.

Test for Moisture

Moisture is one of the reasons why some coatings bubble and peel away. Not all moisture on a concrete floor is visible to the naked eye. It is important to make sure that all areas of the garage floor are dry and without any issues before the coating can be poured and spread.

• To test for the presence of moisture, get a few feet of clear plastic wrap and lay it down on the concrete floor.
• Use duct tape or any other adhesive tape to hold down the edges.
• Leave this set-up for a day or two but make sure to check if there is any moisture accumulating under the plastic wrap or on the concrete.
• Also, check for any changes in color on the concrete underneath. A darker concrete color is often a sign of moisture.

Clear the Garage

To make sure that every nook and cranny of the garage floor is properly coated, remove everything that is sitting on top of the floor. Move it to another place in the house or outside the garage to clear the area where the contractors would be working.

Clean and Degrease

It is common to find oil and grease on a garage floor since it is the car barn, after all. However, it needs to be removed because it can hugely affect the adherence of the coating. One way to degrease it is to use a mixture of muriatic acid added to water. With proper safety gear and ventilation, spray the mixture onto the floor, you would notice that it would bubble and turn into some sort of foam. This chemical reaction is an indication that it is working. When the bubbling has stopped and disappeared, you can rinse the floor with a power washer.

After these preparation steps and your concrete garage floor has completely air-dried, check if there is anything you need to caulk or fill. When the surface is all dry, repaired, and clean, you can now proceed to apply the epoxy or have one of the epoxy flooring contractors in your area do it for you.

The post The Right Way to Prepare the Garage Floor for an Epoxy Coating appeared first on Decorative Concrete Surfaces.