Is Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating 100% Solid? Does it Matter?

By Guest Author: Anthony J Davis 

Not every epoxy garage floor coating is the same and with garage flooring, like many other things in life, you don't always get what you think. When learning about something new, such as garage floors, it's not hard to skip some features which may be important to you, especially if you didn't even know they existed. For example, let's examine a lesser known epoxy paint specification that may still be very important to you. Let's take a look at the idea of an epoxy coating's percentage of solids.

Percentage Of Solids? What Does That Mean?
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Obviously all epoxy garage floor coatings start in a liquid form. Otherwise there would be no way to put it on the concrete garage floor. The term "percentage of solids" is an indication of the amount of the chemical mixture that will be solid in the end. To understand this, think about an epoxy adhesive. When you use epoxy adhesive, it's completely solid when it dries, with no evaporation. In the case of an epoxy coating, though, this might not work quite this way.

But Where Is The Percentage Of Solids Listed?

Like most companies, regardless of the products they produce, the manufacturers of epoxy garage floor coatings tend to leave out any specifications that their product does not excel in. This makes it harder for the consumer to know if he is getting the appropriate product. In general, those epoxy coatings that are not 100% solid won't tell you in so many words. Instead, they will be referred to as water, or acrylic based. Of course, any epoxy garage floor paint that is 100% solids will generally advertise it quite proudly.

Do I Really Need An Epoxy Paint Blend That Is 100% Solid?

You really, most likely, do not. However, you might miss the extra solidity if you ever drop a tool onto your nice, shiny, painted floor. Most people use some sort of garage floor covering on their paint to keep it nice looking, so they'll never even notice that they're using one of the many garage floor finishes that are water based. However, there's just not that much of a difference in price between 100% solid, and the watered down epoxies. Some water or acrylic based paints even cost more than epoxy blends that are 100% solid. This is one of those industry secrets that probably wouldn't be considered socially acceptable if the general public even knew.

Why Every Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Is Not 100% Solid

The most likely reason is profit margins. Any successful company makes the least expensive product and sells it for as much as possible, while not risking their reputation. So, if they can water it down a bit, charge the same amount, and have people buy it and be happy with it, then why not? Does this mean that you should avoid all water based epoxies on principal? Well, that's where you have to make your choice. Do you go with the little guy who doesn't have the reputation but promises a better product for less, or do you buy from the big name and hope you don't notice the difference? When shopping for an epoxy garage floor coating, like many other things, it really just depends on the type of consumer you are.
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Check out Sweet Garage Flooring for more information about epoxy garage floor coatings, as well as tiles, mats, stain, and other finishes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Anthony_J_Davis/378003
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