GARAGE FLOORING TIPS & TRICKS FROM THE PROS
Grinding vs. Acid Etching We have found that the most efficient way to prep a concrete floor for coating is by mechanical grinding. Our installers use a diamond encrusted floor grinder with a powerful dust collection system that removes a thin surface layer of the concrete. When complete your stained or painted concrete will be white, porous and ready to accept the epoxy coating. A typical 2 or 3 car garage can take up to 2-4 hours to grind.
Some companies will acid wash your floor if it is free of oil and paint, however the acid washing process presents its own set of problems. The acid being used must be diluted correctly or it can damage the concrete. Additionally, the process can create dangerous fumes to, not to mention that it requires proper disposal of the acid water, which can easily damage your landscaping, to include your pavers, plants, grass, etc. The acid wash also leaves behind a wet concrete dust film that must be completely removed from the pores or it could prevent the epoxy from correctly bonding to the concrete floor. This can result in defects to the coating of your floor as the epoxy cures and eventually cause delamination. Additionally the floor would need to completely dry which could take several additional days delaying the start of the applying the epoxy and extending the time to return your garage to service.
DIY Epoxy or Garage Floor Paints
In our opinion these products are nothing but glorified water based porch and floor paints. They hold up fine until it comes to hot tires or anything that drips from your car like oil, antifreeze or gasoline. They usually come with directions that tell you to use a cleaner degreaser which is simply not enough preparation for the traffic of a garage floor. If you have a previously painted floor, all the paint must be removed to insure proper adhesion. The concrete must be ground down or etched to make it porous enough to be coated properly. There are a couple of choices that you have to achieve the proper porous state. One option is to utilize paint removers, which generates fumes as well a big mess, but the industry preferred method is to remove the existing coating mechanically by grinding or shot blasting.
The mechanical methods, which is used by Granite Garage Floors, both remove the paint and grind the concrete. If you choose the paint remover route, you must still acid wash the concrete floor which comes with its own set of issues see (Grinding vs. Acid Etching). Remember, these epoxy coating products are only as good as the surface they are being applied to and, without a properly prepared surface, it will be very difficult to achieve the long-term durability and protection of a professionally installed garage floor coating system. In our opinion, the preparation is the most critical step of the entire process.
For more information or a Free Consultation call (678) 500-9537 or email us at atl@granitegaragefloors.com.
Source: http://granitegaragefloors.com/
For local epoxy flooring installtion in the Birmingham Area, please call 1-800-214-4311 or Local Rep Shawn Dawson at 1-205-607-4663
Birmingham Garage Shapeups installs is a high quality, extremely durable, and easy to clean epoxy flooring system. Unlike tiles that can come loose or paint and sealants that can peel, the fully Lifetime warranted surface is a thick, seamless system that solid state bond to concrete. 
