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Here are useful tips learned during more than 40 years of installing epoxy urethane floor seals and coatings on Fortune 500 company concrete floors, as well as in basements, garages, and decks. These tips can help you avoid mistakes that can limit the life of your floor.

There are three broad steps to doing your floor project: planning and preparation, repairing, and applying the coating. This article is the first in a three part series, and deals with planning and preparation.

General guidelines for applying an epoxy coating to your floor:

Do no harm.

Investing in prep produces the best value, (cost divided by years of service).

Let the chemicals and equipment do the work.

What can go wrong, will go wrong, unless you think ahead.

Technique is what separates mortals from Rembrandts.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Now let’s get started with tips on how to plan your job and prepare your floor.

Plan the job.

Stick your coating to something that is not going to move

The better the tools, the less work you have to do.

Removing loose concrete is as important as removing dirt

Different types of dirt require different cleaners

“Shocking” the floor can help free dirt and contaminants.

Some things must be abraded off.

Don’t blow bubbles through your finish

There is only one way to remove gum

Asphalt bleeds

If you coat over things that move, your floor may move

Vacuum out those holes

Gravity is unforgiving

Floors are often laid with materials like jib create, that deteriorate from moisture and abrasion. Kitchens, baths, and work areas have liquids and other materials that end up on flooring which can cause spalling, erosion and flaking. A coating of 100% solid epoxy can level those floors and seal them from further damage. By using a squeegee type motion, liquid epoxy can be pulled over floor irregularities allowing them to fill in. Because epoxy is hard and water tight, once sealed further erosion is usually stopped.

Water standing in low spots on floors can often last for days creating safety problems and cleaning issues. During the troweling of floors some uneven ness can create low spots where spilled liquids can form. Low spots or depressions can now be filled in with 100% solid epoxy to bring them to level. Berms can also be adhered within an epoxy floor to contain liquid spills rendering them easy to squeegee out. Often containment of liquids to safe areas is all that is needed to avoid damage to items stored on the same floor.

Epoxy flooring is not only seamless but can be Class III Laboratory qualified. These mold and mildew resistant surfaces are easy to clean with hoses and squeegees. Bleach resistant epoxy flooring can take strong cleaners and heavy abrasion.

Epoxy floors can be flooded, and scrubbed back into service in minutes. Mold, bacteria, and contaminants can be rinsed off. The surfaces are impervious to penetration by liquid-born contaminants. Even diesel, gas, and oil will not penetrate them and can be washed or wiped up. Old technology floorings, including paint, carpeting, vinyl tile, linoleum, and wood, are subject to severe contamination and damage if flood cleansing is used. Beautiful flood-proof epoxy coated flooring can be used from wall to wall, often including coated vertical surfaces to help further contain liquids.

Here are useful tips learned during more than 40 years of installing epoxy urethane floor seals and coatings on Fortune 500 company concrete floors, as well as in basements, garages, and decks. These tips can help you avoid mistakes that can limit the life of your floor.

There are three broad steps to doing your floor project: planning and preparation, repairing, and applying the coating. This article is the first in a three part series, and deals with planning and preparation.

General guidelines for applying an epoxy coating to your floor:

Do no harm.

Investing in prep produces the best value, (cost divided by years of service).

Let the chemicals and equipment do the work.

What can go wrong, will go wrong, unless you think ahead.

Technique is what separates mortals from Rembrandts.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Now let’s get started with tips on how to plan your job and prepare your floor.

Plan the job.

Stick your coating to something that is not going to move

The better the tools, the less work you have to do.

Removing loose concrete is as important as removing dirt

Different types of dirt require different cleaners

“Shocking” the floor can help free dirt and contaminants.

Some things must be abraded off.

Don’t blow bubbles through your finish

There is only one way to remove gum

Asphalt bleeds

If you coat over things that move, your floor may move

Vacuum out those holes

Gravity is unforgiving