Back to Blog

What is Epoxy?

Service: Epoxy Floor, Resin Flooring

sConcrete floor epoxy coating is an increasingly popular form of decoration for polished concrete floors. In the past, epoxy floor coating has also been applied to other areas including countertops, tables, doors, and even artistic applications. It is an inexpensive and simple way to fortify and improve the durability of concrete floors.  This epoxy can be applied as paint or resin and is both non-toxic and waterproof. Concrete epoxy can be bought at your local hardware, retail chain hardware stores like Home Depot, or online at various epoxy flooring retailers.

 

Applying Epoxy Paint on your Garage Floor

Concrete flooring in your garage is one of those spaces that will likely go through a lot of wear and tear over the years. Whether it is placing large objects for storage or constantly parking your car inside your garage, you will need a way to keep that floor clean and repaired from any damage. One way to keep your garage floor looking great is to apply a coating of epoxy either in the form of paint or resin. This coating adds a charming sheen to your otherwise dull floor.  The epoxy coating also significantly improves the durability of your floor from chemical spills, footsteps, and vehicle movement, among other things.

When applying epoxy flooring, you will want to consider cost, time of installation, and how much durability are you looking for. One decision that you might have to make when sprucing up your garage floor is whether to coat or paint epoxy onto your floor.

Contrary to popular belief, epoxy floor paint and epoxy coatings are totally different in nature and function. Although both can be used to coat a garage floor for additional durability, epoxy coatings are both more durable and more costly. With a resin that is combined with a polyamine hardener; this mixture must be made before the coating can be applied to a garage floor. Like epoxy paint, by contrast, is an acrylic latex product that is easier to apply, faster to dry, and comes in a wide variety of colors. Epoxy paint shares some of the durability of epoxy coating but is mixed with acrylic paint to allow more customization. Resin epoxy is different in that it is much more viscous as a material than paint and hardens over time, whereas epoxy paint dries.

In this article, we will go over three ways epoxy can be applied to garage flooring. The three methods of epoxy applications are Garage Epoxy Flake Systems, High Solid Epoxy, and Metallic Epoxy. We will compare and contrast each method and consider its strengths and weaknesses of each.

Garage Epoxy Flake Systems

Flake systems are a common addition alongside the standard epoxy resin kit. These vinyl flakes can be sprinkled onto a recently applied epoxy concrete floor to add a bit of visual variety to a seemingly dry but polished concrete floor. These flakes, known as chips, can range in size from 1/8” to 1” in diameter. They are comprised of various irregular shapes including squares, diamonds, and other polygons. The flakes come in a variety of shades including reflective metal, white, black, and grey. Other colors are available including blue, orange, or even green camouflage looks, depending on the user’s aesthetic tastes.

Installing flakes unto a drying epoxy surface has a variety of benefits. The most obvious is that it makes an otherwise dull, polished surface of your garage floor look more appealing. You can customize the size of the flakes used to suite the kind of aesthetic you want out of your garage floor. The addition of flakes generally creates a more abstract appearance that makes the floor look like a concrete tabletop because of the irregular colors and shape patterns used. Adding vinyl flakes onto an epoxy surface is also beneficial because it is anti-slip, safe to use, and reusable. This allows epoxy coating with vinyl flakes to be a cost-effective and reusable means of adding aesthetic flair to your garage floor to impress anyone visiting. The irregular but standardized look of epoxy flakes is also a great way of masking some of the damage and stains that may fall upon your concrete garage floor given enough to use. Overall, flakes are a great way of spicing up the look of your garage floor.

High Solid Epoxy

Traditional epoxy coatings often involve a mixture of solvents which harden in order to make installation and drying an easier process. This is the main difference between epoxy paints vs. epoxy resins. Epoxy coating is likely to be comprised mostly, if not entirely, of solids compared to paint epoxy. These high solid epoxy coatings were first developed to comply with new regulations on volatile organic compounds (VOC), and have considerably more viscosity than traditional epoxy paint. An epoxy with higher solid content offers a variety of advantages over more watered-down variations, including better durability, increased coating thickness, and the ability to self-prime. These high solid epoxies are perfect for users who want an extra durable garage floor or those who want to extend longevity in their epoxy coating. To put this into perspective, the US Navy uses a two-part high solid epoxy coating to apply for all sorts of surfaces ranging from well-deck overheads to apply on vehicles for additional corrosion resistance!

Although there are some benefits to using high solid epoxy, particularly for the DIY-oriented homeowners, higher viscosity makes it more complicated to use. One of the most significant differences between high solid epoxy versus traditional epoxy paint is that high solid epoxy is more difficult to apply and takes longer to dry. Furthermore, the viscosity of high solid epoxies makes it more complicated to apply and may require a more experienced crew to install properly. Improper installation of epoxy coating can lead to reduced durability in the form of outgassing which creates ugly bubbles on the surface of your garage floor. Not only does this make your garage floor less stain-resistant and more prone to damage from vehicle use, but it can also detract from your garage’s appearance.

High solid epoxy is a good choice of coating for the more DIY-minded homeowner that wants to beautify their garage floor whether they want to add more durability or better customize how much solvent is used in the coating process.

Metallic Epoxy

Finally, the latest form of epoxy that has recently been used is metallic coatings for concrete epoxy. These are traditional epoxy coatings blended with metallic pigments to create a bright, shiny surface reminiscent of bronze or gold without having actual metal plating. An example of a metallic epoxy is known as metal fusion which an epoxy coating including either metal pigments or metallic powders. These metallic coatings are easier to install than ever and provide an impressive sheen on any garage floor. This is a perfect way of adding pizazz to your garage floor in order to give it that nice clean shine. When applying metallic epoxy, it is sometimes best to use a leaf blower to help spread the metallic pigment throughout the entire surface.

Metallic epoxy comes in a variety of colors to provide a beautiful look to your concrete garage floor. These colors can include warmer colors like orange and brown, to more striking color schemes such as blue or red. Metallic epoxies are used for a variety of floors and countertops, including the lobbies of hotels, restaurants, and the front areas of retail stores. It is generally recommended that you do not use metallic epoxy on outdoor concrete because the metal coating can discolor upon exposure to sunlight. A metallic epoxy is a great option for those who want a durable, scratch-resistant coat while giving your floor a brilliant metallic sheen.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a wide variety of different kinds of epoxy coatings you can apply to your garage floor. All options are safe, relatively simple to apply with professional help, and look great on your concrete floor. These options are meant to appeal to different practical needs and different tastes depending on the situation. Vinyl flakes are a classic standby in epoxy decoration that give your garage floor that classic granite countertop appearance – a tried and true, classic aesthetic. For homeowners who value self-sufficiency and durability, high solid epoxy offers a customizable option that goes above and beyond in terms of durability while giving DIY aficionados the ability to tailor the amount of solvent in their epoxy. For those who are indoor minded, giving your garage floor a metallic epoxy coat is a great way to increase the durability of your concrete floor while adding an impressive metallic shine to greet you whenever you want to park your car in the garage.

No matter what you are looking for, there is likely an epoxy floor coating option to fit your garage flooring needs!