Many times we don't think about our garages or pay much attention
to their appearance. They are merely a place to park the cars
and store the extra boxes of Christmas decorations and such.
However, like any other room in your house your garage floor
needs to be taken care of.
Because of the use it gets, combined with water, gas and oil
that will inevitable be spilled upon it, garage flooring can
easily become damaged and begin to fall apart after a few years
of use. Epoxy coating is one solution to your garage flooring
challenge. Epoxy coating applies a layer of sealant and protectant
to your concrete garage floor to help it resist staining, moisture
problems and helps it maintain its appearance.
Installing epoxy
flooring takes a little up-front preparation before beginning.
The most important step in the process is making sure that the
floor you are going to apply the epoxy coating onto is free
of moisture, residual paint and does not have a cement sealer
or other finishing applied to it.
To test for moisture, take a sheet of plastic and take it to
a 3-foot x 3-foot area using masking tape. Keep it there for
about two days and then remove and check for any moisture collecting
on the side of the plastic facing the floor. If moisture is
present, than an epoxy flooring coating is not suitable as epoxy
needs a dry surface to properly bond with the flooring.
Next, we'll test to make sure the flooring does not have a sealant
already applied to it. This test will also check for the presence
of oils in the cement as well. Take a cup of water and pour
it directly onto the existing flooring. It should soak into
the floor in a reasonable amount of time. If it beads or just
sits on top of the flooring then the flooring has probably already
been sealed or contains oil contaminants. Epoxy flooring is
not suitable for cement floors that have already been sealed
or contain any type of oil residue as it will not bond.
Finally, if you are willing to spend several months testing
an area of your garage floor for suitability to installing epoxy
flooring you can paint a small area with regular, oil-based
enamel. If this test area lasts for several months then it is
likely an epoxy coating will last as well. However, if you decide
to proceed with applying the epoxy coating you will need to
remove this enamel coating which will require sanding.
About the author:
Carlo Morelli wites for www.OnlineTips.org, where you can read
more about vinyl
garage flooring and vinyl
sheet flooring.
Publisher - Article Source:
http://www.goarticles.com
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