Epoxy Flooring – What It Is And How To Apply It To Concrete
Monday, October 12th, 2009Epoxy flooring can not only add a tremendous amount of value to your home, but also a great deal of aesthetic appeal, and even protection to your garage floor.
If you dislike the dirty look of your concrete basement floor, think about applying epoxy flooring to give it a shiny, clean, and brighter look while adding value to your home.
What exactly is epoxy flooring and how do you select the right one for your floor? For example, take a dealerships showroom and garage, their floors are clean, and shiny with a high luster. Their garage area looks great even though cars are fixed there, and driven over the concrete repeatedly. That is the beauty behind epoxy flooring. Epoxy floor coating is a resin and a hardener, when mixed together, the bonding results in a thermosetting reaction. The result is a sealant that is tough, strengthens concrete, cleans easily, resists chemical absorption, and provides a show room look to your concrete floor.
The application of epoxy floor paint to a basement floor, is not difficult to do with the proper tools. The items needed prior to getting started are: Protective clothing, rubber gloves, mask, goggles, paint pan, roller, paint brushes, masking tape, mixing sticks, gallon bucket, 5 gallon bucket, and thinner. Once all the listed supplies are in order, the measurements of the concrete flooring that is to be epoxied with epoxy floor paint is needed. In general, one gallon will only cover an area that is 24×24.
The next step involves prepping for the epoxy flooring. This is done simply by washing it with plain dish soap and water, and allowing it to dry completely. Also pay attention to any stains that are on the floor from oil and paint, remove these stains from the concrete using thinner. After removing the stains, rinse thoroughly with water, and allow to dry.
In this next step, protective clothing, gloves, mask, and goggles are needed, as an application of muriatic acid and water are going to be applied to the concrete floor. The formula to follow is, one cup of muriatic acid to one gallon of water. Mix the two ingredients in a bucket and pour some of mixture onto the concrete floor. Take a broom that has stiff bristles, and brush it over the entire floor. Follow up with another plain cold water rinse.
Next, if the epoxy flooring is a one step epoxy like epoxy floor paint, skip this step. If it is the two step epoxy paint and hardener, they will need to be mixed together into a five gallon bucket for five minutes. Allow this mixture to sit for an additional 30 minutes before applying.
Using the masking tape, tape off the edges of the wall along the floor to prevent epoxy from getting onto the walls. Using a flat narrow paint brush, paint along the edges of the walls, and any other small areas that are unreachable with a roller. Next, pour some of the paint into the roller pan, roll the paint roller into the paint to coat the roller, and start to roll the epoxy paint onto the floor starting at the far edge of the room, working your way outwards. Allow the paint to dry completely for at least 24 hours before walking on the floor.
