The Biggest Complaint About Epoxy Garage Floors

0:00 - Intro
0:17 - Epoxy Durability Test
0:44 - Epoxy Vapor Barrier
1:36 - Solid Colored Epoxy Garage Floor
2:!8 - Prep for Urethane
2:28 - Urethane Top Coat
3:03 - Why you shouldn't do a solid colored epoxy floor

We began by grinding and patching the floor, creating the perfect canvas. Once we got the floor clean, we applied an epoxy vapor barrier, allowing it to cure overnight. The next day, we added a solid colored epoxy coat in a medium gray hue, and top coating the garage floor with a medium gray urethane.

Our concrete companies:

Contact me:
Tim Seay
c/o Decorative Concrete of Virginia
14719 Wards Rd.
Lynchburg, VA 24502

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#epoxy #garage #floor

[incredulousd]

Corporate wanted our shop to install battleship gray epoxy floors, but didn't want to shut down long enough to let it cure and seal it properly, so they spent the money, bought the epoxy, had three of management paint it on, and then it peeled up the first time a car parked on it.

[webderek]

Thanks for illuminating the subtle balance of clean design vs hiding dust/dirt. This is an issue in all surface design, including tile and countertops. You want to be able to see dirt when cleaning but not be distracted by it when it’s a tiny amount. I prefer to err on the side of clean/clear design. It’s better to see dirt, so you can clean it more easily and it looks better when it has just been cleaned.

[maus]

That is so funny…I hate the fact that you can’t see the dust or small parts dropped on the floor and I personally hate the look of flakes. I think they look cheap. And trashy. I worked in factories that have high vis floors and it makes it so great to keep it clean and find dropped items. As I get older I find I want this feature more and more.

[SofaMuncher]

One thing to point out about a solid colour epoxy floor - the epoxy floor has a lot of sheen to it, so any blemishs or damage on the floor, scratches, scrapes etc will be very easily visible.

[USSRDragon]

We got StoneKote applied throughout our food production facility and forklifts drive over it 24/7 and this stuff resists every chemical we have in the plant. I wish it wasnt a company exclusive application/per quote basis cause Id love to use it in my garage.

2:45 no joke, you supporting people who want to learn is something I highly appreciate, and if you were near me I would pay for your service. I believe that transparent people believe in the quality of their work and are confident in their knowledge. Plus I want to support ethical businesses

[tylerbogaard]

Just a thought, are there any mono-color vinyl chips? Something that could match the epoxy color so you could put chips down for the texturing feature but not have such a busy color pattern? It seems like that could be a great middle ground!

[mendandglow]

Excellent tutorial, especially on how important it is to hit the recoat window. The time is not the only important variable, it is equally important to monitor ambient temperatures and relative humidity.

Tim, you and your crew are truly mastering your craft.
-Josh

[pgmvbh]

I need the solid color in my garage. I wouldn't mind the dust showing because it's a garage that's always used and it's not going to be always 100% dust free but being able to clean the floor very easily and find any bolt that drops easily is a big plus.

[FixitFred]

Beautiful work. If I ever get a larger shop I would love to have a pure white epoxy floor like aircraft hanger. This way when you drop tools and screws its super obvious where it went. I kid you not I lost 6 ball bearings this week and 1 bolt

[AndyLuo]

Great video! I'm gonna share some of my non-literature-supported experience here. Not gonna say Epoxy is inferior to PUrea; it really depends on what you are using it for. Urea's best feature is anti-scratch (hardness, and that's why Line-X uses it as a truck bed liner), and if you are using aliphatic isocyanate to cure then it is UV resistant (and then anti-yellowing). But the biggest problem with Urea is worktime, it cures too fast, and is very very sensitive to water, this brings a delamination issue due to shrinkage of free volume during cross-linking. Another issue with Urea is it cracks if you don't pay attention to flexibility, especially with a concrete substrate, but this issue can be dodged by using a more flexible amine or chain extender (this is where the polyaspartic shines).

[secretsquirrel]

I loved my shop that had plain colour floors. BUT, as you said, we had a zamboni floor cleaner. Every thing was done so it was easy to move. Skirt some degreaser, add a water soaked mop. Then Zamboni time. Almost every person that entered would remark how you could eat off it. How it looked more like a surgery more than a car shop.
On the chop front. It's not horrendous because I don't like clutter in a shop floor. The best thing to find wayward clips, pins, washers etc was to get your eyes at floor level and scan the floor. Everything sticks out above a well finished epoxy floor.

[BeachLookingGuy]

I do flake garages full time with polyurea and i always recommend flake over no flake. I have done a few solid color floors with no flakes and it never comes out very nice because it shows so many flaws in the floor and damages very easily. one time i did a solid black floor in a brand new house, a few days later it was completely scratched and damaged from moving stuff around.

the flake has a very nice texture if the top coat isnt too thick and helps hide blemishes and inconsistencies. it also is a layer of strength and protection, almost like fiber in fiberglass.

[putrid]

Ill give younsome insight into why a chipless floor is preferred by some customers. You can mop it. With the chips when you mop they tear apart the mop head and leave fiber bundles everywhere leaving the only cleaning method rinsing and squeegeeing.
Chipless floors are just so much easier to clean.

[GronTheMighty]

It's hard to find things you dropped on the floor?

Grap a flashlight or your phone with the light on, turn the room lights off if they're very bright, get on your knees, shine your handheld light along the floor and it gets reaaaally easy to spot even tiny screws as they'll cast a long shadow :)

[oksanasprecher]

What type of two-part epoxy did you use? What type of urethane topcoat did you use?

[jorgeantonini]

The rv park where I live at had the floors coated in assuming it was epoxy when they built the office(concrete slab floor), just some type of clear coating…I think it’s just clear epoxy or sumn
Don’t know what the “installer”(some old friend or “a guy” they know did the job…like everything else they have done, that keeps coming apart) didn’t do right, but it’s been peeling and flaking for 4 years now ever since they had it done. We had to vacuum the floor several times a day just so the floors didn’t look like they had a major case of dandruff. Anymore a vac or sweep every few days takes care of the flakes but you can clearly see probably 80-90% of the coating is gone
They still want some kind of floor coating but also don’t want carpeting or the same thing to happen again
And most of all they don’t wanna pay for the job again…much less at a pro’s price

[camaroant]

I have noticed you guys are very good to where you don’t tape off walls or anything!

[guytech]

The main purpose of the chips is to reduce slipping when wet not to hide dust or dirt. That said you can buy paint chips that match the color of the floor color so its easy to spot dropped items.

[albertwayenberg]

So what will happen to the floor when one has a gravel driveway?
There are rocks stuck in the tires.
Will these rocks 🪨 damage the coating?