Epoxy Flooring Facts You Must Know & What To Avoid For The Best Results
The first thing to know is that garage floor epoxy is not like regular floor paint and that all epoxies are not the same. The second thing is even with the best epoxy coating in the world, if you don't prep the floor correctly it will fail. See the How To Prep & Paint Your Floor link at the bottom of the page or on our Home page to see what your concrete should look like before applying any epoxy floor coating.If you want your floor to come out right the first time it's important to know the difference between the various types of epoxy floor coatings. Those differences play a huge role in the longevity of the coating. If you're serious about getting an garage epoxy floor coating that's not going to fail or wear out.
Reading this page will save you time, money and heartache even if you decide not to buy our product it'll be the best 5-10 minutes you can spend if you're doing any type of epoxy flooring. Also please don't be fooled by deceptive ads touting "Limited Time Only Sales" that never end and have a price on the product page with a discount listed to make it look like you'll be getting the discount off that price and then on the checkout page prices are jacked up and the discount is applied against the jacked up price to make it seem like you're saving money when in reality you're not saving anything. Think about that when they're telling you how great their product is! You'll find no deceptive prices or gimmicks here.
We have been seeing a lot of articles and videos that are putting out everything from useless information to outright wrong advice. So before you think you know what to do or buy after watching a few videos and reading some popular website articles do yourself a favor and keep reading this page. Our crews did the floors at the 9/11 Memeorial and all the mechanical room floors in the new Freedom Tower (500,000sf) so we know what we're talking about.
We're seeing things like "remove all articles from your floor" as if you were going to coat your floor with stuff still on it. We see articles advising to use degreasers to remove oil stains. Degreasers are notorious for leaving residues that interfere with adhesion and don't do a good job removing oil stains even though they're very expensive. The best way to remove oil stains is with Liquid Tide and Muriatic acid. Cheap and super effective! Some floors simply can't be cleaned no matter what you do they're so heavily stained in which case you need our proprietary oil stain primer to bond with the oil in the floor. One video is touting shotblasting. The last thing you want to do is shot blast unless you're a professional and doing full broadcast. Shotblasting leaves lawnmower lines that show through even the heaviest epoxy coatings if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Same for full broadcast, most first-time users are sorry they did it. Go with our Armor Granite garage epoxy kit that gives you 90% coverage and comes out perfect every time. Then there's the "You can simply paint over an existing coating", not true many coatings are not compatible, and we always use our proprietary bonding primer to ensure our epoxy bonds to any type of existing epoxy. One article from a popular website site says to simply throw the flakes up in the air. That advice is guaranteed to result in blotches and lumps of flakes in your new epoxy floor which you will not be happy with. We saw one video where the contractor is prepping the whole entire floor with a hand grinder! Ridiculous, it means he can't afford a professional floor grinder. Hand grinders are good for small area prepping or to grind down repair areas and that's it. Another one to watch for is when they say to apply their epoxy primer that is also moisture sealing. What that means is the primer is water based and completely inferior. It's moisture compatible because it's 50% made up of water! Don't use it! Another video states to apply the epoxy over the entire floor before applying the color flakes. This is bad advice unless you do this for a living and or have a couple of helpers. It will take you a few hours to cut in and apply all the epoxy. By which time the first section you did will be tacking up especially if you're doing your project in the hot weather unless you're using big box store or mega online retailer products that take forever to harden which means you will then have a whole different set of problems. If you apply the epoxy over the entire floor by the time you go back into it with your spike soles to disperse flakes all the pin holes you make with the spikes will not self heal and you will have hundreds of holes in your floor! Don't do it! We can go on but we think you get the idea. Follow our advice on our prep page and you'll be much better off not to mention saving a ton of time and money.
Most people have never dealt with epoxy paints before so they simply go to their local big box store and buy off the shelf epoxy or a bargain type kit online thinking that these types of epoxies are the same as a military grade epoxy system. Which is like saying a Volkswagen Beetle is the same as a Ferrari because they are both cars. Any epoxy can look good and stick to your floor when you first put it down but it's how long it stays looking like the day you put it down that counts! That's what we're all about, every product we make has that prime directive to look the best and stay looking new the longest with no one else even close!
We get calls everyday from customers who went to a big box store or went online and bought what they thought was a heavy dutyd product with a good warranty or what they thought was a good deal without doing any research. Then they had to buy additional epoxy kit(s) to cover the floor properly. Then when it failed very prematurely they found out that their guarantee didn't cover the coating wearing out (peeling off and wearing out are two different things) or the unsightliness due to the coating dulling, yellowing and failing to come clean in just a a year or two! They never took a few minutes to read about proper floor prep, what type of epoxies are the best, whether to use a primer or not, what the minimum thickness an epoxy floor coating with vehicle traffic should be or the importance of topcoats and what their abrasion loss ratings mean. These are critical core capabilities that you must know if you only want to do your commercial or epoxy garage floor once and have it stay looking like the day you put it down!
An epoxy floor coating is usually a two part coating that you mix and will adhere to your garage floor or any concrete floor much better than any conventional oil based, water based or enamel paint, think epoxy glue type adhesion vs duct tape adhesion. Your floor will have a much more dramatic look to it with a super high gloss finish no conventional paint can match, it will also be tough as nails, waterproof, mold & mildew proof. A good epoxy floor coating when cured is just about stain proof and cleaning it is similar to cleaning your Teflon pan.
Over the past 30 years we've manufactured and sold every type of epoxy garage floor there is, we've tested and installed every type of garage floor epoxy there is so we know exactly what works best and what doesn't. There's no such thing as a lifetime coating nor an100% perfect do every application epoxy coating. That's why we offer so many different epoxies and epoxy systems. One of the biggest mistakes people make is using an epoxy floor coating for applications it was not designed for.
We have found that by far the best all around epoxy is 100% Aliphatic used with a true urethane epoxy topcoat that has an abrasion loss rating equal to your traffic load(more about that below). Using a primer if the budget allows(more on that below) increases your adhesion and overall coverage and coating thickness. All good things when doing an epoxy floor.
Another thing we'd like to stress is to make sure to prep your floor properly! The hardest part about doing your floor is cleaning all your stuff out of the garage. Trust us you only want to do it once! If you're lucky enough to be moving into a new home do your floor before you move all your stuff in!
Applying the epoxy coating is the easy part. If you're going to take the time to clean out the garage, clean the floor properly and spend the money to do your own epoxy flooring you might as well do it right so you only have to do it once(especially the getting all your stuff out part).
If price and saving a few dollars are your main criteria in buying an epoxy floor coating for your garage floor you'll be making a big mistake. You won't be saving any money or more importantly any stress/time when(not if) you have to redo your floor a second time. Our epoxies provide you with professional looking results with no prior experience needed. Plus it costs a fraction of what franchise companies charge and you get a much higher quality product than they use or can buy off the shelf.
The following are our best selling complete epoxy floor kits designed for first time users to have the peace of mind knowing that their floor is going to come out looking great, stay looking great for the next 15-20 years and not have to worry about any warranty issues/hassles.
While other epoxy floors get beat up and nasty looking in short notice to the point you have to grind them completely off. With ArmorGarage epoxy floors when the time comes for a facelift all you'll have to do is give the floor a quick roughing up with 120 grit sandpaper. Then simply roll on a new topcoat that will stick to the old one(because you roughed it up) and your floor comes right back to looking brand new for another 15-20 years. We're pretty sure it doesn't get any better than that.
If you see a WB in the product name or part number, it's water based and should never be used. Did you know that up to 50% of a water based epoxy is water which evaporates out of the coating as it dries. The average thickness of water based epoxies is 4Mils thick which means you only have 2 Mils of coating on your floor after it dries! If you add in flakes as most epoxy garage floors do you have even less thickness! As opposed to 100% solids Aliphatic Epoxy we recommend that have an average of 20-25 Mils dried thickness!
The following group of products are epoxies but their main feature is a low selling price not performance.
High solids epoxies are not as good as 100% solids epoxies and should only ever be used as a primer. Same with any and all Cycloaliphatic Epoxies even if they are listed as 100% solids are all just a cost saving Hybrid All In One Epoxy touted as something superior that wear prematurely, bubble during application and easily yellow. Polyurea coatings are similar to lower percentage solids epoxies with similar performance issues. We classify them as glorified concrete sealers and prone to premature failures you read about online due to their lower adhesion characteristics. Aliphatics have an average adhesion rating of about 400 psi, Polyureas are around 300 psi. If doing an epoxy coating job outdoors than Polurea or Polyspartic is the way to go. As we mentioned above unfortunately there is no 100% perfect epoxy coating that can do any and all jobs. So the trade off here is that Polyureas and Polyspartics are outdoor rated whereas Aliphatic epoxies are not. So you sacrifice adhesion and durability for outdoor UV stability.
This is why we offer so many different epoxy coatings and we can't stress this enough, you have to use the right epoxy for the right job. There is no one do all epoxy! You can out the best Aliphatic Epoxy outside and it will fail, you can use the best Polyurea for forklift traffic and it will fail. These are not the right epoxies for those jobs. It's one of the most common mistakes made. If you're not sure there's a simple solution, call us, don't guess!
Most epoxies you'll see don't equal our primers! Plus none of them guarantee against wear. We manufacture the highest quality epoxy coating you can buy combined with the most durable urethane topcoats in the business. It's why ArmorGarage is the only company that can offer a 5 year guarantee against wear which is the number one enemy of any epoxy floor!
Another way to recognize an inferior coating is to look at the Pot Life, any epoxy coating with an hour or more pot life is an epoxy to steer clear of.
You can compare our epoxy garage floor coating specifications to other brands on the Epoxy Comparison Chart. It's a great page to read after this one.
The Key To Having A Garage Epoxy Floor That Lasts 20 Years vs The Average 2-3 Years.
The topcoat is the most critically important part of any epoxy floor installation because it's the where all the wear & tear happens from traffic abrasion. Having the highest quality topcoat over your epoxy means it's going to last 15- 20 years versus the average 2-3 years. Unfortunately with most other brands and types of epoxy garage floor coatings you'll redoing your floor sooner than you ever thought possible! And guess what your floor wearing out, staining or dulling is not covered by so called lifetime guarantees!
So you must use a topcoat without question and it should be a urethane epoxy, not just a clear version of the same pigmented epoxy you applied to your floor with some UV additives in it. Those are not real Topcoats. We simply cannot stress this enough, without the right topcoat on an epoxy garage floor coating it's just a complete waste of time and money! Why? Because a true topcoat is made to be chemically harder and stronger than the epoxy it goes over to protect it from scratches, impacts and wearing out from any type of abrasion.
Your topcoat must have an abrasion loss rating lower than the epoxy it's going over otherwise it makes no sense to put a weaker coating on top of a stronger coating.
The Abrasion Loss Rating is determined by the industry standard Taber CS-17 test method. The test measures how much coating wears off in mgs so the lower the amount of mgs means the better the coating is. Keep in mind that the mg ratings are like the Richter Scale, each mg makes an exponential difference in the durability rating of the coating! Disregard any ASTM abrasion test numbers, no one knows what they mean!
Do your research and you'll see a lot of garage and so called commercial duty epoxy garage floor coatings have abrasion ratings over 25mgs and as high as 50mgs. 25mgs is way too soft for anything other than light foot traffic and 50mgs is no better than semi-gloss wall paint for your floor!. Most companies don't know their abrasion rating or won't publish one its so bad!
Our 30 years of experience has taught us for garage duty type vehicle traffic you should have a 20 mgs or lower abrasion rating. For garages with big SUVs, Tractors, trailers or are workshops we offer a military grade topcoat version with an industry best 4mg loss rating that can handle all the abuse you can throw at it! For commercial duty traffic applications with pallet jacks, forklifts or shop work(commercial or residential) you need to be under 10mgs of abrasion loss rating. You can use the Commercial Package for garages when you don't want the color flake look. We also recommend not using color flakes in a work shop, you can't find dropped parts on a flake floor. For industrial applications or for those who just want the best and heaviest duty floor coating you can get, even in their garages you need a coating 23 mils and thicker and a 6 mg rating or lower. Our Ultra Military System is designed exactly for these types of projects with 23-30 mils thickness and 4mg loss rating..
Notice the difference between the Gray Armor Chip Floor and the Blue Arrow which was done with a competitor's lifetime guarantee polyurea epoxy to save a few dollars after the Armor Chip Epoxy floor was done. The arrow wore out after 2 years(not covered by lifetime guarantee!). The blue arrow is repainted every year or so while the Armor Chip floor looks like the day day it was applied and still looks new after 15+ years! Which epoxy is the better value?
For those of you buying epoxy flooring for the first time the following topics are a good idea for you to familiarize yourselves with. It's another 5 minutes of reading and it's important to know this stuff whether you're buying our product or not. These facts apply to all epoxy garage floor coatings good bad or in between.
What You Don’t Have To Know About Epoxy Floor CoatingsJust as important to knowing what makes a qualities make an epoxy flooring product the best is to know how to spot useless information which we call marketing hype and fiction to trick you into thinking you're getting a superior product. Ratings such as compressive strength and tensile strength are meaningless and not relevant unless you're driving an M1 Abrams Tank on your floor.
Lifetime Guarantees are another thing to not be concerned with or give any thought to. Know that there is no such thing as a Lifetime coating of any kind! It's just a marketing gimmick. They don't cover the coating wearing out, yellowing or even dulling prematurely which the majority will do and there's all sorts of hoops you'll have to jump through to get any type of coverage. The best plan is to buy something that you will never have to use a guarantee for.
Another meaningless criteria is cost per mils!(Our Favorite) What that is saying is that the more you get of an inferior epoxy the better the deal is. Bad epoxy is bad epoxy no matter how much of it you get! Worry about how long your epoxy will stay looking new, not just staying stuck to your floor.
One more meaningless feature a lot of companies like to tout is Flexibility. All epoxies are flexible to a certain point and since they mostly go over solid concrete their flexibility rating is irrelevant. Now if you're coating a wood floor or a precast planks, they usually have a good amount of deflection in which case you need an epoxy coating that can handle constant deflection. We have a specific epoxy made for floors with deflection as opposed to trying to make our standard epoxies work on floors with deflection like other brands do. If you go the one epoxy does all route you're really rolling the dice.
Grinding your floor is great if you have the right machine! The Floor Prep Machine you can rent from Home Depot works fine and if you can get the Vac attachment with it, it'll make cleanup much easier. If that's not available rent the largest diamond grinder you can get and always ask for new 25-35 grit bits, it'll make the job quicker with better results and again get a vac attachment if you can.
Acid Etching is very easy and is just as good if done correctly. If your floor is new or was power troweled smooth you must etch twice! You must also neutralize the floor back to the proper PH to obtain maximum adhesion. See the link at bottom of this page for The How To Prep & Paint Your Floor page. It has a lot of great info and images of what your floor has to look like prior to coating it with any type of epoxy floor coating or paint if you don't want it to peel up.
This customer used Rapid Set Concrete Mix he bought from a local big box store. We don't mind recommending products other than ours as long as they do a good job. Our customer was very happy with the results as you will see below but he said the one drawback is that it sets up really fast in like less than 10 minutes. So it's harder to work with than our crack & joint repair product but also much cheaper. We would say for smaller areas and less severely damaged areas use our repair/patch products but for larger areas use the Rapid Set to keep costs down. He also mentioned not to use the Rapid Set Mortar because it doesn't set right and is not as strong. Also do not use an Underlayment product as it will not hold up to vehicle traffic! So here's a picture after he patched and is grinding it down smooth. Just another note when using our product its much easier to lay it down smooth so you don't have to grind or at worst you have to lightly grind here and there. He used a hand grinder but you use a diamond floor grinder to get the job done faster. 
The two most common issues for epoxy floor coatings is that the coating simply wears out prematurely because it wasn't industrial grade even though it was advertised as such. Which by the way is not a warranty issue. Then the other issue is when the epoxy simply starts peeling up. You'll most likely be told the floor wasn't prepped right when in most cases it's the quality of the epoxy you purchased.
The tires on your vehicle can reach up to 180 degrees in temperature. If you use any epoxy under 10 Mils of dried thickness it won't have sufficient mass to absorb the heat especially if you use color flakes which displace some of the epoxy under them leaving even thinner coverage. If you use some of the other type epoxies mentioned above they won't have sufficient thickness to start with or strong enough chemical cross links to prevent the epoxy from getting reactivated from your hot tires sitting stationary on them.
Once reactivated the epoxy turns back into liquid form and does what epoxies are made to do. They stick to your tires then as it cools it gets glued to your tires so that the next time you pull your car out of your garage part of your epoxy floor coating is going along for the ride. The problem with many epoxies is that they are not of high quality. Avoid water based products and any non aliphatic epoxy. Prep your floor so it looks like the images on our How To Prep & Paint Your Floor Page. If you have an older floor(more than 20 years old) make sure it has a vapor barrier. Tape some plastic down with duct tape and let sit for 48 hours and see if there is any moisture underneath. Always acid etch a new floor twice! And be sure to neutralize after etching.
A good primer adds additional thickness and adhesion which will prevent Hot Tire Pickup especially on less than perfect floors. All ArmorGarage floor coatings are made to be hot tire pickup proof any floor!
Every year there seems to be some new magic formula that hits the market with outlandish promises. Recently it has been High Solids Epoxy are good enough , Polyureas are 10 times better than epoxy floor coatings. No they're not! Again most of these products don't even equal the performance of our primers. If you need a fast dry or outdoor application go with a Polyurea or Polyspartic but know that you are getting a trade off in performance for getting the other attributes.
Anyone thinking of using a one part epoxy coating on their floor or not prepping it is just wasting their time and money. Don't fall for marketing hype, we wish you good luck if you do. Go by the numbers, see the link to our Epoxy Comparison Chart at the bottom of this page to see the performance specs of other brands compared to us.
Our epoxies are self priming but using a good quality primer is always a good idea. It creates a better job because it adds another layer of coating(thicker is always better)and can strengthen older floors in poor condition plus it adds impact resistance. Primers are usually a little thinner than epoxies(not 100% solids) so that they can soak into the concrete and lock in. There's a reason why you grind or acid etch your floor, it's so that a primer or your epoxy can soak into the pores and lock in like glue. A high quality primer will have a higher adhesion rating than a pure epoxy, a poor quality primer won't. You need 400psi adhesion rating or higher for total peace of mind against Hot Tire Pickup.
If you have any kind of high end sports car, heavy vehicle or forklift traffic, have lots of toys like boats, tractors or ATVs or your floor is exposed to lots of harsh weather conditions(large temperature swings) you should use a primer. If your floor is oil stained over a good portion of it you need a specialized primer such as our oil primer that will bond to the oil in your slab otherwise any epoxy coating you put on it will peel right up.
As with any other part of your epoxy floor installation the quality of the primer you use makes a big difference. Using a poor quality primer is worse than not using one at all. Our primers are better than 90% of actual epoxies being offered and can never be separated from your concrete unless you drop something very heavy and pointed that actually gouges your concrete out.
A primer is also great to use when you need to extend the coverage of the epoxy layer since the epoxy is now going over a sealed surface rather than porous concrete. So if your floor is close too or a little over the rated coverage of an epoxy floor kit you're purchasing don't buy more epoxy, use a primer! A good primer can extend your epoxy coverage by up to 20%. It's a win win deal, more coverage and a thicker floor finish.
Just a word of caution here full broadcast garage floors are not as easy as the look on some videos you'll watch. There's a lot of flakes that get tossed on the floor, up to ten times more than normal and most of the time they end up in lumps and blotches that takes a lot of sanding and tweaking to look right. Most times it doesn't. Plus it takes twice the amount of topcoat to cover the flakes properly. Our advice, leave that to a professional or use our Armor Granite kit that will give you 90% coverage and your floor will come out looking like real granite every time. So you'll save time, money and grief from the wife.
Again a word of caution, metallic epoxy floors are expensive to do properly and it's a little more tricky then what you see on online videos. Every floor will come out different no matter which product you use or who does it or how many times you do it. Trust us metallic epoxy floors are completely random and anyone telling you different is not being honest. The key to success here is good floor prep, a good primer layer so it doesn't peel up, a good quality black primer that won't be streaky needs to be used because it shows through the metallic epoxy as the highlight swirls, obviously a good metallic epoxy that swirls properly when applied with the proper type squeegee and here is where your knowledge about topcoats comes in real handy. You want the absolute best topcoat you can get to protect your new very expensive epoxy floor. You'd be shocked at how quick and how bad your amazingly beautiful 3D metallic epoxy floor can look without the right topcoat protecting it. That goes for any epoxy floor actually and not to mention how upset you'll be every time you look down at your floor and think about how much time and money you spent on it. Metallic epoxy floors are strikingly beautiful when done right with the right materials there's no question about it but just know they're expensive and can be a little tricky.
All our epoxy flooring kits are formulated with the highest quality ingredients available without a single compromise and come complete with everything you need to do the job right with no forms to fill out or separate individual items to purchase to get a complete system. Every epoxy system/kit is designed for the first time user. All the images below were done by first time users with no prior experience so your floor will come out looking just as good, we guarantee it! When it comes to installing an garage epoxy flooring system to your floor that is innovative, safe and super durable no name is more trustworthy than ArmorGarage. Plus all our epoxy flooring Ships Free.
If you need any assistance in product selection or application please contact us at 866-532-3979 or info@armorgarage.com. You can email us pictures of your floor if you're concerned about any areas that may be an issue. One of our experts will be happy to help you with everything you'll need for your project.
Another important thing to keep in mind when purchasing is customer service, we try to ship everything as fast as possible. All our sales reps have installed and used all our products so they can answer any of your questions. We also provide unlimited tech support even after business hours. Application is very straight forward but now and then Mr Murphy strikes and the unexpected can happen and it's always after hours or on the weekend.That's when you need to get in touch with someone the most so just in case you need us we monitor our support@armorgarage email at all times.
Lt Gray ArmorGarage Military Ultra System is a 3 layer epoxy floor system that's perfect for shops, warehouses. hangars and garages both for durability and a professional appearance.
Our most popular Granite Garage Epoxy Floor Pattern #1.
This is a beautiful Lt gray with Black & White Flakes.
This is our Commercial Armor Two Layer Epoxy Flooring System in Lt Gray. As far as we're concerned it doesn't get any better looking than this plus it will stay like that for the next 15-20 years.Perfect for garages that don't want the color flake look.
Bright Red Commercial Armor II Epoxy Floor System. Our Bright Red is the best in the business. No bleed through no streaking just deep red luster! Also available in 12 other colors.
Lt Gray ArmorGarage Military Ultra Epoxy Floor in Classic Car Shop. Available in 12 colors with or without color flakes.
FAQ's
Why should I choose epoxy flooring over other flooring options?
Epoxy offers the best of all flooring options. It's very versatile and we have an epoxy coating system for just about any application as compared to say the rubber roll out mats that may not be suitable for certain applications. Epoxy has a dramatic look, it’s cost effective when done as a DIY project, it’s very durable and is easy to do. It's also waterproof, mold & mildew proof and very chemical resistant.
How long can an epoxy flooring system last?
It varies and is sort of the same answer as how long can a car last. Epoxy longevity depends on the quality of the epoxy used, the quality of the floor prep and the amount of traffic. But on average a high quality epoxy coating with the proper military grade topcoat can last up to 20 years or more in a normal garage application before needing a refresh. With ArmorGarage topcoats you don't need to start all over just a quick/light sand with 120 grit of the topcoat to get it cleaned and roughed up is all you have to do prior to rolling on anew topcoat that brings the floor back to brand new looking.
What is the disadvantage of garage floor coating?
The only disadvantage of epoxy flooring is that it is more labor intensive than installing rollout garage mats or interlocking garage tiles and there dry times involved between the coatings so the process requires 2-3 days to complete even though the actual labor hours involved are only 6-8 to complete an average 2 1/2 car garage.
Where can epoxy flooring be used?
Epoxy coatings can be used just about anywhere regular paint can be used even on walls. Just be sure to use the right epoxy for your application. We do not recommend epoxy paint for ceilings or if you have a very high water table and no moisture barrier under your slab. If you have exposed aggregate type of concrete(where you can see gravel or pebbles) call us to discuss. If you have an application you are unsure of or what would be best for you just give us a call or shoot us an email. We have done and seen just about everything there is when it comes to flooring applications so we can guide you in the right direction which may even be to another brand or even to do nothing at all. The truth is every now and then some floors are better off left as bare concrete due to their unique circumstances.
What different types of garage floor coating do you provide?
We have many epoxy types, Military grade, commercial grade, residential grade, epoxy for food processors, for walls and even epoxies that resist the most corrosive acids. We have outdoor coatings that resist UV rays and extreme harsh weather. We also have epoxy kits with decorative color flakes or a swirling multi color marble type metallic finish.
Why should I choose Armorgarage for garage epoxy flooring?
See Why ArmorGarage Has The Best Garage Floor Coating. For a detailed explanation, it's a great page to read to learn about all the different epoxy floor coatings. In short we use only the highest grade components to manufacture our epoxies. Durability, Performance while looking new the longest is our mantra to the point where are primers outperform and are better than the majority of actual epoxies being sold as heavy duty. The other thing that sets us apart is our great customer service and support. When you buy from a big box store or reseller you're buying from people who have no knowledge of the product or how to apply it. Who do you go to when there's a question or problem, the guy in the aisle that never even opened a can of epoxy? All our reps are experts in the industry and we provide support 7 days a week.
We also make a great variety of epoxy coating systems to more precisely match the needs of different applications rather than trying to make one epoxy do it all. Using the wrong epoxy in the wrong application is a recipe for under performance and disappointment. That's what we try to help you avoid.
How long does it take to install an epoxy flooring system?
You should allow 2 days if grinding your floor or 3 days if acid etching. The actual labor hours involved is only about 3-5 hours but since you need to wait for your floor to dry after acid etching and then you need to let each layer of coating to dry. So it stretches the total time out to 2-3 days.
Does epoxy flooring work well in a commercial setting?
YES, we have several systems that can be used in commercial applications with or with color flakes. See our Military/Industrial Systems or the Commercial Epoxy Systems. Even our "Garage Floor Epoxy" epoxy kits are used in commercial applications when the epoxy flooring primer and military grade topcoat options are used. Even our Metallic Epoxy Flooring is perfect for commercial applications since it's three layers using our high performance primer, high build military grade metallic epoxy and our military grade 4 mg abrasion loss rated topcoat!.
How much does a garage floor coating cost?
Ok so this is sort of a tricky question, like asking how much does a car cost. So with some caveats we will answer the question. If you go to a Big Box store or go to a mega online retailer you can buy epoxy coatings for your garage for under $100.00. In between that and us are the various other types of epoxies you can purchase such as water based, polyurea, cycloaliphatics that were all discussed above with their various drawbacks. Then you have our military grade epoxy systems for various applications, we don't do the one epoxy fit all thing like most of our competition. On average a DIY military grade epoxy floor kit from us will cost between $1.15-2.225/sf depending on whether you use a primer, what type of topcoat you use, if you use color flakes or not and what type of epoxy system you want to install ie: industrial, commercial, residential, acid resistant and even some colors impact the cost such as white, bright red and black.
The more important thing to keep in mind is what is the cost of ownership? So for example, lets take our $600.00 garage epoxy floor that will stay looking good for up to 20 years before needing a refreshing. Now take the average off the shelf epoxy that you'll spend a couple of hundred dollars on that will stay looking new for maybe 2-3 years until it needs to be redone. So which epoxy is really less expensive? The one you need to continuously redo or the one that lasts 20 years. One other thing to keep in mind with other epoxy coatings is that they will start looking shabby way quicker than you would ever think and when it's time to be redone you will have to start from scratch. As opposed to an ArmorGarage floor that will only need a light sanding to clean and rough it up and a new coat of clear to bring it back to brand new. Our underlying epoxy will last indefinitely. So, it's up to you to determine which is the better buy for you, the epoxy with the cheaper upfront cost and perpetual recoating or the epoxy you do once. And this is not even taking into account the time and labor to empty out your garage and redo your floor over and over.
Thanks for taking the time to read this page we hoped it helped and if you have any questions regarding costs or which product to purchase give us a call or send us an email and we'll be happy to help.
