Floor coating instructions
In this guide you will find detailed instructions on how to do one
Epoxy resin floor coating you can make it yourself.
In many garages or workshops, you can see the bare concrete, which in some cases already looks cracked or simply unsightly. While it's a utility space, and therefore not a disaster, it would certainly look more attractive and tidy if a nice floor covering were laid over the garage floor. Furthermore, one of the major disadvantages of concrete floors is that they become stained over time and are also difficult to clean. There are many reasons why concrete floors are not a good choice, the most common being the aesthetic and cleaning issues. If you've decided to seal your garage floor with epoxy resin, we recommend reading our step-by-step guide. Here you'll find useful tips that will support you in your work and make it easier. These are the materials you'll need for the job:
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primer
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Epoxy resin
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Cleaning agent (acetone), sealing roller, bucket, vacuum cleaner if necessary
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High-pressure cleaner or water hose with brush.
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Nailed shoes
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agitator
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Paint brush
Step by step instructions
Step #1 - Check the condition of the garage floor
Before the garage floor receives a coating, the concrete floor must be completely cleared. You have to make sure that the floor is completely solid and intact. Damage and hollow spots must be identified and repairedbe leveled, for example with filler or self-leveling repair compound. The strength of the screed or concrete slab can be checked with a hammer or a scratch test. If parts come loose during this check, the floor should first be solidified before coating is carried out. After repairing, the entire surface is sanded.
Step #2 – Clean Garage Floor
Should the floor be dirty spotn, e.g. have oil stains, dirt or paint residue, we strongly recommend removing these by cleaning the garage floor with a special cleaning agent for concrete floors. The floor must be clean and must not show any major damage. This is very important so that the floor coating can adhere. Now some spatula work is required because you have to take a spatula in your hand and scrape off the stubborn and dried dirt from the floor. After this work, take a vacuum cleaner and remove all particles and dust residues from the floor. Take an oil stain remover and use it to remove the remaining oil stains. You can then use a high-pressure cleaner or a water hose from the garden to hose off the remaining dirt from the floor.
If the floor is still dirty, you can use special concrete cleaners. Allow the cleaning agents to take effect for some time and then try to scrub the concrete floor thoroughly with a scrubber. Pulling it off with a rubber lip will help you remove the protective residue left behind, including water, from the garage. Now rinse everything off with fresh water and your garage should now be ready for coating.
Step #3 - The soil must dry out
Before you coat the garage floor, it must be absolutely dry and not even damp. The surface must then dry thoroughly. It is recommended to check the humidity. This is possible, for example, by covering a certain area with foil: If moisture has formed under the foil after 24 hours, the floor has not yet dried sufficiently. New concrete slabs or screeds must dry out for at least 5 weeks before the coating can be applied.
Step 4 - Prime the garage floor
You cannot coat the floor until you have primed the highly absorbent substrate, as the floor must be waterproof for the coating. The liquid must be thoroughly mixed. The primer must be applied evenly with a paint roller, as if you were painting the garage floor. The coating material must be distributed over the entire floor.
You also need to make sure that the individual strips do not overlap.
For floors of 20 sq m or smaller, we recommend applying 2 thin coats of primer, 2 x 3 kilos.
Just mix in 1.5% pigment paste .
The primer layer usually needs to dry for at least 12 hours.
Caution is advised in high humidity and high temperatures. Condensation can cause stains. The ideal processing temperature is between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius.
Step No. 5 - Apply floor coating with pigment paste and possibly colored flakes
Take a mixer and start mixing the floor coating.
Mix in 3% pigment paste for a colorful result, start pouring in one corner and work your way out. After you have dumped some of the materials on the ground, SAct quickly by rolling the liquid. You have to roll the liquid into the garage floor, lane by lane.
Make sure that the tracks do not cross each other. The self-leveling layers are particularly easy to process. These can distribute themselves over the surface and at the same time compensate for the unevenness. Work quickly and spread the entire coating on the garage floor without stopping.
Optional: Immediately after coating, sprinkle the colored flakes as evenly as possible onto the floor. This is how so-called pigmentation occurs
It's best to distribute the flakes in 4 portions, coat 1/4 of the base and sprinkle the flakes over it, working steadily until the entire base is finished.
It is then important that you adhere to the prescribed drying time so that the coating can dry out sufficiently.
Optional
When using colored flakes
Step#6 - Apply second coat of floor coating see step #5
We reccomendehlen that after the color chips have been distributed on the epoxy resin, one2nd layerRoll coating is to be applied. The reason for this sealing is that there are no sharp edges. Scattering the paint chips can cause them to stand up, creating sharp edges. By sealing, these edges in particular are broken and a smoother surface is obtained.
Step #7- Allow coating to cure
The optimal room temperature for drying out is 20 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity should be at least 65 percent. We recommend waiting 7 days before loading the freshly coated floor.
Accessible after approx.24 hours
Chemically cured after approx. 7 days at 20°C
Try to have some patience for this important procedure and don't ruin your own work by entering the garage too early. Your patience will pay off in the end because your garage or the surface is now protected from road salt, motor oil and street dirt.
Please note that high temperatures result in faster curing time.
For this reason, the work should be carried out in cool temperatures.
In midsummer, caution is advised when working in ground-level rooms. The air is warm and humid. As the warm and humid air hits a floor that's approximately 15 degrees Celsius cooler, condensation forms, which can lead to unsightly stains. The ideal temperature for this type of work is between 16 and 23 degrees Celsius.
IMPORTANT:
Please only mix as much epoxy resin as you want to use.
Mix the epoxy resin in a container large enough to ensure the epoxy resin doesn't sit high in the container (maximum 3 cm). Otherwise, overreactions or boiling of the epoxy resin may occur.
Once the epoxy resin (resin + hardener) is mixed together, you must work quickly, otherwise the epoxy resin will harden.
Too much epoxy resin at once and insufficient containers can lead to excessive heat build-up, which in turn can cause the materials to cure more quickly.