Teresa: One of the most dramatic ways of upgrading the look of your garage floor from plain drab concrete is to add a colorful floor covering. We covered this garage floor with a solvent base urethane and flake system by Concrete Solutions.
The project starts by preparing the floor. First, the crew used a power washer to clean dirt from the garage. Then they applied a detergent scrub and use a floor machine to thoroughly clean the concrete. The next step is to apply an acid etching to wrap up the surface so the floor coating will bond with the concrete. To further prepare the floor, the crew used a mixture of epoxy and sand to repair several broken areas of concrete to create a nice even surface before the coating is applied.
Finally, the crew used a metal squeegee to apply the primer coat, an epoxy base coat. Day one of our project ends by using a 3/8 inch nap roller to even out the primer coat. All right, this day two of our project. Now the primer coat is still a little bit tacky and you can probably hear that while I’m walking but that’s okay because it’s going to create a better bond with our floor coating.
Now comes the fun part. Getting to choose what color we’re going to put down. Joining me in this project is Bart Sadleir of Concrete Solutions. Hi!Bart.
Bart: Hi! Teresa.
Teresa: Homeowners that are considering putting down the floor coating might have some concerns such as, what’s it going to look like? How durable is it? And then also, is it resistant to stains such as oil, gasoline, tire marks and things like that.
Bart: Well Teresa, the ultra surface color flake system is a beautiful granite tor azul like surface that resist all those kinds of chemicals that you mention. The chemicals that are on the floor can be wiped up or wash off with water. They can sit there for days and you can come back and wipe them off, it’s an easy clean up system.
Teresa: Good. Well Bart while you finish mixing up the color, I’m going to give a safety tip. Now because of the surface urethane, there’s going to be fumes in the garage. So it’s recommended that if you have a gas heater you need to turn off the pilot light and then also, if you have an electric heater, you need to unplug it. Before we put the down the floor coating, we need to coat and flake the vertical areas which is this concrete here. But Bart, I understand there’s just a little bit of a technique on how you apply the flakes.
Bart: Yes there is Teresa. These are colored paint flakes. This is going to give the pattern that the homeowner chooses in the coating. The best way to apply this paint flakes is to take a small amount in your hand and broadcast them directly onto the wall. If you take too much in your hand and throw against the surface, it will plaque. So it best to just take a little bit and start off from there.
Teresa: Can I turn it?
Bart: You bet.
Teresa: Okay, is that enough?
Bart: That’s great.
Teresa: And then you just throw it directly at the wall.
Bart: That’s right.
Teresa: Okay. Like that?
Bart: Perfect. Okay Teresa, now that we have the vertical surfaces done, we’re going to roll out a little bit of the ultra surface SB urethane light gray. And roll this out with a quarter inch nap roller.
Teresa: Now Bart, we have the spiked shoes on so that we can walk on top of the surface without causing any damage because it keeps us up off there.
Bart: Okay Teresa, after we’re finish rolling down the ultra surface SB urethane, we’re ready to broadcast the flakes into it.
Teresa: Now this time the technique is different. Before, we were throwing it directly at the edge. This time we are going to throw it up and out and let it stand all onto the floor.
Bart: Exactly. We’ll still take that small amount and broadcast it into the air and if you like a heavier coverage, you can broadcast more on to the floor.
Teresa: But really there’s no way you can mess this part up, is there?
Bart: There really isn’t. After we’re done, this is going to look great.
Teresa: Okay, is this a good amount?
Bart: That’s great.
Teresa: Okay, so, up and out.
Bart: Beautiful.
Teresa: This is fun. Bart, this has really been a fast application. We’re almost finished with this entire two car garage and it’s only taken us about an hour.
Bart: That’s right. We just need to finish this small area here. We’ll roll it and flake it, and then we’ll let it dry overnight and comeback tomorrow and put two clear coats on it.
Teresa: Okay, let’s do it.
Bart: All right.
Teresa: Okay, this is day three of our project, and our floor is now dry. Bart, this great color isn’t the only color choice you that you offer.
Bart: That’s right, there’s many different color option that you have. We could’ve used a white base or a tan base, and you could’ve use a different color flake. These are the few of the different color flakes that we offer. This is the blue, terrazzo, tan and the green.
Teresa: These are really pretty and this does really offer the homeowner a lot of different choices.
Bart: Yes it does.
Teresa: Okay before we put our sealer down, there’s still one more step we’re going to do. This is the maintenance step and I’ve got a metal squeegee and what I’m going to do with this is scrape the excess flakes off that are sticking on top of the surface.
Bart: Yes and if the homeowner didn’t want a real smooth surface, you could leave it this way and just put on the urethane coat, clear coat on.
Teresa: Well let’s get going.
Bart: Okay Teresa, right now we’re applying our first coat of urethane sealer and about three hours later, we’ll come back and put on our final coat. Now this will give us a high gloss, decorative, durable floor.
Teresa: Well Bart Sadleir from Concrete Solutions, thanks so much.
Bart: Thank you Teresa.
Teresa: Great job. This application isn’t just for the garage. It can also put down in the kitchen, the bathroom, even on counter tops. And for do it yourselfers this would run you about $1.50 per square foot or you can hire a contractor to do the job for you. But no matter what the application, this floor covering is going to give your home a distinctive elegant new look. If you would like more information on Concrete Solutions products, visit them online at concretesolutions.com or call them at 1-800-232-8311
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