By Lifetime Epoxy's Expert Guest Author: Richard Alone

For most homeowners the garage is the black hole of their home's universe. Unwanted items from all other areas of the house are pulled in, stacked and forgotten until one day you open the door, look in and realize you can't see from one side to the other. But if you do little bit of work it can turn out to be an attractive and valuable space to spend your time and store some of your valuable possessions. Many homeowners store all their valuable possessions like ATV's prized automobiles in this less prime condition.

You can make your garage attractive by installing garage coatings. Such type of coatings will protect your garage floor and look great at the same time. If this part of your house looks good, you're more likely to keep the rest of it organized and in good shape.

One main reason why homeowners do coating in garage is due to its sharp appearance. This coating are available in many different colors, and you can add flaking materials to give it more traction and a classier appearance. Another advantage of taking up garage coating is because they extend the life of your garage floor. Most are made up of a high-grade epoxy which repels water, oil and other materials, resisting the contaminants that eat away at your floor and eventually cause it to fail. Most auto shops have attractive garages due to garage floor coatings.

Various types of garage floor coatings are available in the market but the most popular ones are epoxy based paints. Do make sure that your floor is in the right shape for the paint to take. One of the best ways to test it is to pour some water on the floor and see if it soaks in or beads up. If you see it is still sitting there after a few minutes, you have to treat your concrete with a sealer and you can break that down or etch it before you apply the coating. You have to purchase a special concrete etching solution that breaks down the sealer and your floor is ready for final application. After that, make sure your floor is as clean as possible before starting the job.

Many people use coatings to protect their floor from harmful chemicals, destructive scratches and mechanical shock due to cleaning equipment. Different types of garage floor coatings are available in the market like epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic sealer and latex. Many homeowners use polyurethane coating as it can resist chemical pills. This coating does not fade off easily. You have to first apply epoxy paint on the floor and then use polyurethane coating on the floor. However, latex paint can fade easily as they are exposed to sun and so it is advisable to apply a protective coating over it.

Richard is an Expert author for metal coatings [http://www.asc-tx.com/] and Acrylic coatings. He has written many articles like leather coatings [http://www.asc-tx.com/xtreme_leather_coatings.html], garage floor coatings and WaterBorne Trailer Coating Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Richard_Alone/354825 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5988894

By Tom Turner - Expert Guest Author

Garage flooring is not something that everyone is familiar with. Most people consider the concrete floor they park their car on every night as the only garage flooring that exists. Garage flooring is actually a very big business and many people consider it to be one of the most valuable flooring projects in your entire home. This article will look at garage flooring and its true value.

Why Choose Garage Flooring?

Even if you do not spend much time in your garage you may want to consider garage flooring for your next home upgrade. Most people that spend time working in their garage will use it as a wood shop or car shop. If either of these two uses is familiar to you then perhaps you have considered garage flooring. However, if you do not spend much time in the garage or do not have a collector car then garage flooring may be a foreign term to you.

Garage Flooring Adds Incredible Value

Garage flooring is like the finishing touches on a master piece. If you are redoing a home or considering building a new one then you should put garage flooring high on the priority list.

Most of the time your garage is the one room that is rather neglected and messy. It is only a place where you park the car, boat, and other vehicles. You see oil stains on the floor and stuff stacked every where.

What If That Image Was Changed?

Now imagine a shiny new looking garage floor, boxes neatly stored, and ample storage shelves on the walls. This could actually increase the value of your home by three to four times the amount of money you would have to invest into your garage renovation to make this a reality.

Garage flooring is a very big business and you can find many garage flooring manufactures online. Most garage flooring projects can be completed by the home owner and are very economical as well.
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For more information on flooring try visiting [http://flooring-solution.com], a website that specializes in providing helpful flooring tips, advice and resources to include Garage Flooring [http://www.flooring-solution.com/garage-flooring.php] and more. Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tom_Turner/63997 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/569438

Garages today, more than ever, are a cherished, appreciated and loved part of the home. Now, people care about the look and function of their garage space! They desire it to be a “happy place” rather than a dark, drab, messy, and embarrassing eyesore.

The majority of today’s homeowners spend their precious time, researching every large purchase or home improvement project they plan. Garage floor coatings are one of the most researched such topics. Here I have compiled 7 important garage floor coatings facts that every homeowner should know.

1. Beautiful Garage Make the Home a Better Place!

Most homeowners enter their homes through the garage. Many visitors to a home also enter through the garage space. It’s a fact that the garage’s condition and appearance make an impression on those passing through it.
It’s an absolute great feeling to travel through a well organized and beautiful garage every time you walk through the garage. It’s especially nice to be greeted daily by a well organized and beautiful garage that is a true sense of pride for the whole family. Let’s face it, who wants to come home, have to park outside, and navigate through a treactherous maze of an unorganized collection of “stuff”.

2. It’s Not Safe to Continually Neglect Your Garage Floor

Neglected garage floors are often a safety hazard. It is not safe to walk in your garage because the surface is uneven, damaged, slippery, and covered with clutter. Applying a coating to your garage flooring will leave the surface smooth, unbroken, and safer. Some coatings even allow an anti-slip additive to be mixed in that improves foot traction. Another option is to use a coating that has decorative flakes broadcast on the floor before a top coat is applied. This creates a textured surface that provides even better traction.

3. Coatings Provide Vital Surface Protection

Upgrading the appearance of their garage floor will be one of the main motivators for anyone looking to get a floor coating. But it’s the protective benefits of floor coatings that warrant an equal amount of  attention.
Better quality coatings provide a stronger bond with your existing cement floor and have a higher percentage of solids by volume. A high quality floor coating should have excellent resistance to chemicals, abrasions, and impact. Also look for a floor coating that has a higher heat tolerance (to minimize tire marks) and can provide a waterproof floor seal. 

4. Proper Surface Prep is a Must!

The only reliable method of floor prep is to mechanically grind every square inch of the surface.
Chemical or acid etching is considered as a method of cutting corners and will inevitably lead to poor results.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, our floor coating application experts have an efficient and highly specialized process that allows floor projects to be completed in as little as a day.

Temperatures also need to be taken into account with any floor coating application. A freshly applied epoxy or polyaspartic floor coating can peel and bubble if temperature conditions aren’t optimal. One of the advantages of using a polyaspartic coating is that it can be applied in a much wider range of temperatures and humidity conditions.
Professional flooring applicators often make adjustments to the formulations of the base coat and top coat and the floor’s curing times to properly adjust to varying conditions.

5. Garage floors with coatings require less maintenance

A clean seamless, wall-to-wall, floor surface drastically reduces the required time to clean and maintain. Properly applied coatings eliminate cracks and “blemishes” that gather dirt, grim and filth. Most homeowners with professional grade floor coatings simply use a leaf blower to blow the dirt out of their garage. The clear-coat prevents stains and dirt from penetrating the surface. It the floor coating is professionally installed to create a “solid-state” surface coating, often times it can be power-washed should mud or heavy dirt be tracked inside.

6. Professional Floor Coatings add to a Home’s Value

If you’re looking for one more reason to justify getting a new garage floor coating, how about the fact that it can boost your home’s value? A professionally applied high-end coating will serve you well for years to come with a high gloss flooring finish that won’t peel, flake, or yellow. And when you eventually sell your home, a nice garage floor really stands out to prospective buyers who already place a high value on the garage as a home storage space.

7. Quality Varies Among Installation Companies

It’s a fact that the Epoxy Flooring Business is a difficult business in which to succeed. The average new floor coatings company stays in business less that 11 months. In this business, you are either really, really, really good at what you do or you disappear. Homeowners should always investigate a company’s history. How long has it been in business? What are their reviews? Have you seen legitimate pictures of their work and quality? Do they have professional grade equipment? Are their crews professionally trained and highly skilled? It is nothing more disappointing and frustrating to make a huge investment or purchase for your home, to find out three months later, the company has gone “belly-up”. And because of that, the warranty you were promised is absolutely worthless!

ABOUT LIFETIME EPOXY FLOORS
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Lifetime Epoxy Floors is a 10 year-old company located at 200 Elizabeth Street, Boaz, Alabama. The company has 15 employees. It is licensed, bonded and insured. It’s company homepage, http://www.LifetimeEpoxyFloors.com . Their facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/EpoxyFlooringCompany.
The territories they cover are all of North Alabama including Metro Birmingham, Huntsville Metro and all areas in between. Their crews travel up to 75 miles to do installs. So, if you live within, or close to, 75 miles from Boaz, Alabama. You can call them to schedule a free estimate. Their sales staff can be reached at 1-800-214-4311.

Here are the questions you are probably asking: Is a DIY Kit Floor a smart investment? Will a DIY Box Kit Floor last if I buy it and install it myself? How difficult is it to install a DIY Garage Floor Box Kit? What could go wrong if I do my own DIY Garage Floor? What causes DIY Garage Kit Floors to Fail?

This article from Titan Applicators, clearly states and explains the 5 major factors that cause DIY BOX KIT Floors to go bad or fail: 

These are 5 of the critical factors taken in to consideration by floor coating professionals during the application process; and could very well be the reason your DIY coating project is failing:  

1. Floor Preparation: Most DIY floor coating kits underemphasize the the importance of properly preparing the concrete floor prior to application. It takes much more than just power-washing and vacuuming. Most coatings, such as epoxy, will not adhere to a smooth surface. The floor must be ground  to the correct Concrete Surface Profile (CSP) by a commercial-grade floor grinder or shot-blaster, which opens the pores and allows maximum adhesion.
2. Contamination: The surface must be free of all waxes, oils, greases and other contaminants, even those invisible to the naked eye,  which can decrease adhesions and increase chances of chipping, peeling or bubbling
3. Hydrostatic Pressure: It's not about the moisture that's IN your concrete, it's about the moisture moving THROUGH your concrete. As temperatures change around your concrete slab during any given day, moisture travels through it. If the right amount of moisture is wicking too quickly through your concrete slab, hydrostatic pressure will push the coating off the surface, causing it to blister and fail. - There are methods to combat this problem, but just like any endeavor, proper planning puts you in a better position to succeed. And the only real accurate way to determine how much moisture drive is present in a concrete slab is with a calcium chloride test.
4. Product Mixing: If products are not mixed at the right ratios and for the right amount of time, prior to application, coatings are at risk of not curing properly, nor adhering properly.
5. Material Grade: In most cases, there's a reason large box-store materials are sold at more discounted rates than those only available to certified contractors; it's more about quantity and less quality. Real floor coating professionals will use a tried and trusted product that has been engineered to perform.

Article Source: https://www.titanapplicators.com/blog/5-reasons-your-diy-garage-floor-coating-is-failingwww.titanapplicators.com/blog/5-reasons-your-diy-garage-floor-coating-is-failing

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