Posts Tagged ‘epoxy’
For quite a long time now Epoxy paints have been on the scene. Their characteristics of being oil and grease-resistant coupled with hardness and long life makes their use ideal for industrial floors. But, of late homeowners too have been using them.
Homeowners use epoxy paints for garage floors and basement floors.These paints can cover dull, gray concrete and provide you with easy to clean surfaces.Some of the advantages associated with the use of epoxy floor paints are: Durability, freedom from rusting, waterproofing and resistance to heat, salt and acid.One major factor prompting its use for the householders is its low price. Keeping the technicalities’ in mind, you should not use concrete floor paint in case your floor has seepage or moisture, as such paints don’t last long under humid conditions.
Primarily epoxies are available in three different types: 100% solids, solvent-based and water-based. The strongest ones being the 100% solids and are the most expensive that need to be handled by experts only.For industrial applications solved based epoxies are the most common. They comprise of 40-60% solids. Ventilation is of prime importance if you decide to use epoxy paints for your garage or basement floor.
They are easily available at any store that deals with industrial goods.The cheapest type is the water-based epoxies. Because of their strength they are recommended for being used for residences. Most of the home improvement stores offer these epoxies.You can have them in many colors.
You can even have a computerized toning.
Most of the brands in the market claim that epoxies are good for exterior purpose only. The claims hold good for some of the stronger coatings. For some, living in unkind weather it may be worthwhile to explore the possibility of using acid based or acrylic concrete stains before zeroing in on the use of epoxy concrete paint.
The first step before you apply epoxy paint on your garage floor, is to prepare the floor.Most of the epoxy coating failures i have witnessed are as a result of wrong or little surface preparation. At the outset you have to clean the floor with a hard bristled brush and subsequently clear the debris created. Next, you should use a mild acid for scrubbing of floor for a thorough cleaning.These are usually referred to as acid etching.
Next, you need to scrub the floor with a solution of warm water and soap and clearing that away. Your floor may still continue to have some water soluble impurities and you are required to scrub a de-greaser on the surface of the floor and finally wash it off. The grease and oil on a garage floor can’t be removed by mild acid treatment. You should ensure that water used for rinsing does not remain stuck on the floor, but if it does, you have to repeat the process once again.
After doing these, the garage floor should then be left overnight to dry.During epoxy concrete paint application, It is important to ensure a consistent application. You should also make sure that the humidity is at the accepted levels to prevent the coating from blistering and discoloring. Generally, two to three coats of paint deliver the required results.
A proper installation ensures years of service and a regular maintenance further enhances is life.
To improve upon the looks of your concrete floor, concrete staining is the most convenient and economical way and is a very interesting DIY project.The alternatives, like epoxy, tearing out existing concrete and replacing with new or decorative overlays, are not recommended for do-it-yourselfers and can be very expensive. However, before you get started with a staining project, here are a few things you should keep in mind.
Concrete staining is of two types: acid floor stains and acrylic stains. Acid stains are caused by the chemical reaction with free lime on the surface and give a translucent floor with natural looks. Acid staining gives spotted, multicolored and multi-hued coloring. Because every concrete reacts differently to acids, the outcome is exclusive in the sense that no two floors can have same type of acid stains. Acrylic stains on the other hand are water borne pigments that seep thru the pores and adhere to the surface of the floor, thus producing a more consistent semi translucent color as if obtained from a dye. A very positive aspect of acrylic stains is that they help to conceal some of the defects or discoloration, but acid stains on the contrary, tend to highlight such limitations.
Acid and acrylic stains work equally good on many of the floors and you have to choose one, depending on the kind of looks you wish to have.
Nevertheless, under certain conditions one may deliver better results than the other. For instance, exterior concrete older than ten to fifteen years may not be to hold acid stains as it has already lost most of the free lime on its surface. Under such circumstances acrylic stains will work very well because of its increased porosity over time. You can’t get this with epoxy garage paints. Acid stains work well with newer concrete because of the availability of free lime. A good feature of acrylic stains is that it will be able to conceal minor repairs like patches and scaling on an old floor. Any patching materials will stand out with acid stains. For smooth trowel led interior surfaces with less porosity, acid stains are usually better because they don’t require as much penetration to color the concrete.
Epoxy floor paints are used on floors that are subjected to heavy vehicular and human traffic, like the garage and the basement. They also work well on laundry room floors, shop floors, brick pavers, concrete slabs, kennels, pole barns, interior floors and on wooden car trailers. These floor finish is made such that it resists oil, dirt, water, grease, and many other contaminants that would make ordinary paint a mess. Tough resins that are mixed during the application are responsible for this. This makes them the most cost effective solution to floor coating.
You can find three separate epoxy concrete paint types. You need to know that 100% solids do not have any solvents that can evaporate into thin air. Number two are solvent based epoxies that penetrate and adhere quite well, but these are dangerous to health and you will have to vent your garage while you are applying them to the surface, due to heavy fumes. Thrid option are water based paints that have anti-slip texture, are cheaper and thinner while not containing any dangerous fumes. You will have to apply a lot of ventilation to dry these up.
When you are applying your paint to the surface, you have to clean it with a hard bristled broom first to get rid of all the dirt, and then use some soapy water on that smae floor so the sweeping will be easier. You need to use a degreaser to remove all those soluble contaminants so your entire surface will be cleaned. If the water sticks on the epoxy coating, that means that your concrete floor is not clean yet. you will then have to leave your coating to dry until the next day. Then simply apply the first layer of paint the next day. A fantastic finishing coating will need two or three layers of paint. Keep a clean cotton rag ready when using water based epoxy, and an epoxy thinner for solvent based epoxy to clean up any epoxy drips and spills.
Its toughness, its durability, its easy to clean finish, its salt and acid resistance is what endears me to this paint. Well, but these can only be attained from proper preparation, proper application and the time that you will give it to cure before you bring back your vehicle or allow traffic back.
If you are one of those people who think repairing epoxy floors is a tough thing, you need to think again. There are plenty of people who find this job quite hard. But then, if you have the makings of a handyman, things like these can be easy as pie. There are only few simple steps you need to follow to repair epoxy flooring. In fact, anybody can actually do it if they try.
You can order repair kits from a store online and have them delivered, but you can also go to a local store near your home. Everything you have to use to repair your epoxy floor will be given to you in that repair package.
Epoxy patches will be included in the package and you will apply them on the parts of the surface that are damaged. The floor that has a lot of traffic can also be repaired with these repair kits.
Flooring that has epoxy paints on them are quite easily and quickly repaired. It is a biggest reason so many people like to have this covering option for their floor. While the initial application of epoxy paint may take too much of your time, repairing it would take just a few minutes.
If you use paint on the garage floor, you don’t have to break the tiles or concrete just to repair it. You can’t have this with paints, but it can happen with tiles. The process of repair is so easy you can do it yourself. You surely don’t need a handy man to mix solvents together and apply the paint on the affected areas.
After you read all the information on the label, you can start with the work. A smart thing would be to purchase a repair kit from a trusted source and good brand so the application goes fairly easy. One more great thing is that a repair kit will dry out in a record time.
And this means that there won’t be any downtime on your garage at all. Apply the repair putty tonight and everything should be fine tomorrow.
It is not so rare to see bubbles appear on epoxy coating. You can find small bubbles, the size of the pinhead, or some large ones, that have an inch in diameter. They are usually found in groups on certain parts of flooring. This is usually due to a phenomenon called ‘out gassing’. This usually happens in the tim epoxy paint is drying up. The rise in temperature is the reason for the heating of the air in the concrete making it expand and form bubbles.
Application primer should be used to reduce the chance of bubble appearance. Also never apply the coating in direct rays of the sun and always use a drill of a slower speed when mixing the coating.
Use medium roller if you already decided to use one. You need to take care how you apply the epoxy, make slow, gentle motions. It is another thing that can help with bubbles that can appear on our garage floor.
You can use rotary scrubber ans some sandpaper to remove all those bubbles on your epoxy floor. The first step is to roughen the area with some sandpaper. Then scrupulously clean the dust. Also use a solvent and a rag to clean the area. After this another coating can be applied. Fisheyes is another type of bubbles that can occur. They are usually caused by residual silicon on the surface.
This can be cleaned by scrubbing the surface area with sandpaper of a medium grit. When you are finished with this, you can clean the entire place with solvent dipped rag. And now you are ready to apply fresh epoxy coating.
If there are bubbles in the entire epoxy flooring area then shot blasting or sand blasting may be considered. First remove the epoxy coating by sand blasting the entire area. You also need to clean the entire area with an acid. You can isolate the entire area, in case it is rather small. You will need to repair the area first and the you will have to make a new coating.
Our epoxy floors can have bubbles due to another reason: moisture. To verify this break one of the blisters thus formed and see if there is any moisture inside.
Epoxy floors are considered to be very good for places where there are lots of chances for the floor getting damaged. And it’s because epoxy garage paint is quite durable material. It is hard to find a type of floor that can endure everything that these floor can in such long periods of time.
There is not type of flooring that has such high resistance damage as epoxy floor. They not only resist to wear and tear but they also resist to dirt and dust. You can clean them with ease. Garages are considered to be one of the most ideal places to apply epoxy floors. And the reason for this is because garage floors have high risk of being damaged to the activities that happen in the garage itself.
Applying epoxy flooring in the garage is quite easy. You can achieve this if you follow few simple rules. The entire epoxy coating process can be divided to four smaller parts. The first part or the first step that one has to take is to etch the concrete. You will do this in order to prepare the garage floor for the epoxy. Before applying the epoxy, make sure you cleaned the floor first.
You will get better adhesion of the epoxy coating if you keep etching and cleaning your garage floor. Step number two is highly important, because you have to make sure there is no moisture. You have to make sure to seal the concrete so that your floor doesn’t have any moisture or you will lower the quality of your epoxy coating.
To bond the epoxy paint and the floor, you should make sure sealing is done correctly. The floor can now receive epoxy coating. A roller, brush or even a spray will be suitable for this. There will be no epoxy coating bonding if your floor is not dry enough, water doesn’t allow for that action to take place.
The last and the final step is applying of the topcoat. Applying the topcoat to the epoxy floor is very necessary. You have to apply the top coat if you want the best epoxy coating results, that’s just the way it is.