Concrete Staining and Epoxy Finish

Concrete Staining and Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Big Benefits Include Character, Color, Durability, and Resale Value

ProTEK Painters can help you make your garage or other concrete floors more inviting and easier to maintain. Adding a stain or epoxy to your concrete floor is an affordable way to add increased appeal and functionality.

Concrete Staining

Concrete stain comes in either water-based acidic (reactive) or water-based acrylic (non-reactive).

• Reactive stains react with the concrete's lime content to become an imperishable part of your floor. It forms a permanent bond with the concrete and won't chip off or peel away.
  Wide color variations are normal. Surfaces will have a mottled, multicolored appearance and these variations will be emphasized when the final coat of sealer is applied.
  The stain may not reveal its true color until it has been allowed to remain on the concrete for several hours or more. We suggest applying the stain to a small test area before covering the entire surface.
• Non-reactive stains are formulated to penetrate the concrete surface and deposit their pigment particles in the open pores.Though non-reactive stains come in a much broader color palette, the color effects tend to be more opaque and uniform.

No matter which type you choose, color effects will generally be more intense on new concrete than on older or weathered concrete.

Garage Floor Epoxy Coating Process

To most people, garages are a bit of an afterthought. We park our cars in them and use them for storage, and we maybe don’t clean them as often as we should.

ProTEK Painters executes a proven process of applying a concrete epoxy garage floor coating. It is not only visually appealing but is durable enough to resist oil, gas, antifreeze, road salts, heavy equipment, and foot traffic. When you have an epoxy garage floor, you can use your garage proudly and comfortably as a workshop, a business, for entertaining family and friends, as storage, and much more.

• Step 1: Surface Qualification
  We start by assessing the current floor condition, moisture conditions and other criteria to professionally qualify the floor for an epoxy coating. Missing this step can result in an epoxy coating failure and very costly repair.
• Step 2: Surface Preparation
  A thorough cleaning and repair of the concrete includes applying our biodegradable floor etching solution to open the pores in the concrete for proper epoxy adhesion.
• Step 3: Prime & Seal Concrete
  After preparing the floor completely, we are now ready to apply our epoxy prime coat to the concrete. The primer will seal up the concrete, fill in minor imperfections and the pores of the surface, and give us a firm layer for our base coat to adhere to.
• Step 4: Base Coat Application
  Once all of the necessary surface preparations are complete, a seal coat of epoxy in the color of your choice is applied. We start by cutting in the edges and coating seams, and then roll out coverage throughout. Now you’ve got a shiny finished epoxy garage floor coating.
• Step 5: Flaking
  Next, we hand-throw a thick layer of paint chips in the colors you’ve selected. These ‘flakes’ are made from the same durable epoxy material as your base coat. So they add color, stability and texture to the coating, help hide minor imperfections, and add an additional layer of resilience.
• Step 6: Final Coat Application
  After the floor has set overnight, it is tediously hand-scraped to remove excess flakes and to even out the surface. A final coat of tough clear epoxy is applied. The coating requires a minimum of 24 hours to cure; however, we recommend waiting 48 hours to move anything onto your newly finished floor.

Depending on the size of your concrete floor and number of repairs required, most epoxy floor applications are completed in a few short days.