The Drawbacks of Coating Your Own Garage Flooring

It’s nice to enjoy a fun DIY project. However, some projects just aren’t meant to be done on your own. One of those said projects is coating your garage floor. While it may seem beneficial and tempting to save money and put the effort in to do it yourself, it is not advised. Why, might you ask? We’ll explain the reasons below why it’s better and more efficient to have your garage floors coated by a professional.

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Drawbacks of DIY Garage Floor Coating

DIY State-of-Mind

Having a DIY state of mind can be both exciting and challenging. It’s easy to jump into a new project if you know what you’re doing, but if it’s something that’s on the more difficult side, it’s recommended to research experts for extra support. When researching materials to use for coating garage floors, epoxy arrives at the top of search results due to its durability, luster, and minimal maintenance. However, while the affordability of doing it yourself may be tempting, consider the long-term benefits (and cost savings) of hiring an expert.

Think about how many things could go wrong when trying to do it yourself. All the hours you would spend watching YouTube tutorial videos for DIY Epoxy Floor, DIY Garage Floor Coating, the list goes on. Wouldn’t you rather sit back, relax, and let someone who specializes in it do the dirty work? Don’t deal with the headache and backache that will come from the eventual peeling that will need to be replaced later on anyway. Get it done right the first time with garage floor professionals.

Your Floor Preparation is Less than Perfect

Have you started noticing cracks or peels in your epoxy flooring? These may be one of the culprits:

  • Improper epoxy material preparation and installation.
  • Long-term changes in humidity levels and/or temperature.
  • Poor flooring preparation, including not cleaning it beforehand to remove debris, oil, grease, etc.

Not Allowing the Concrete to Dry

One major contributor to epoxy peeling is due to excess moisture in the floor. Though it is pretty common for moisture to build up, especially if you go the DIY route, always allow ample time for concrete to dry completely before proceeding. Not allotting enough time for concrete to dry after acid etching will make the epoxy separate from the surface. If that happens, you’ll either see bubbles appear in the finish or notice pieces of concrete separating with the epoxy. In other words, neither are ideal to have. A way to prevent this issue from occurring is to perform a moisture test before applying the entire epoxy material, which will help reduce the risk of it peeling.

Stretching the Epoxy More than You Should

On top of the potential to have moisture build-up, there is a risk of stretching the epoxy material when you’re running low. Even though you may think you’re being resourceful with this method, the lack of material will result in your garage floor having a dimmed or less glossy surface, which means a weaker coating in that area.

Here’s a trick to prevent this from happening. Purchase 15% more product than you would typically use. That way, there is a less likely chance that the product will be wasted.

Inadequate Mixing of the Epoxy Itself

On top of properly applying the epoxy material to your garage floor, preparing the mixture is essential for the best result. However, there are a few common issues that can come from epoxy mixing, including:

  • Mixing the epoxy too quickly, which can cause air to be trapped inside the material and produce bubbles.
  • Calculating incorrect ratios for resin will cause it to either not cure or harden entirely. Always pay close attention to the epoxy installation kit instructions if you’re DIY’ing your garage flooring.

Not Paying Attention to the Temperature or Humidity Levels

Please note that epoxy doesn’t bond to water well on the molecular level. With moisture and cooler temperatures present during the epoxy application process, there’s a high chance that you may not get the floors you imagined. That’s why it’s always beneficial to have a professional help you or at least advise you on what to do.

Aside from any downspouts or foundation/construction-based water issues that may affect the concrete slab you’re wanting to bond the epoxy to, you may start to see delamination, cloudiness, improper curing, or hardening. This is an entirely larger problem.

Let Our Professionals Do the Work for You

Now that you’ve read the five most common problems with DIY’ing your garage flooring, they are not the only ones that could go wrong if you try to do it yourself. Sit back, relax, and rely on Showroom Garage Flooring to do the hard work for you. With a quick and professional service, your garage floor would be done within 24 hours. Our team of trusted garage floor experts provides free onsite estimates and a 10-year manufacturer warranty (which you certainly don’t get with a DIY kit), full-service installation, and a personalized follow-up within 24 hours after installing your new flooring!

Don’t wait and try to DIY. Instead, do it right the first time. Schedule your free onsite assessment and consultation to get started today.

303.999.0167

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