Bargain Epoxy Garage Paint Failure, A Case Study
The technicians and installers at Garage and Storage Plus are often
asked how effective the discount epoxy kits at the big box home centers
are. As we all know, big home centers sell (relatively) inexpensive
one- and two-part epoxy kits from Rustoleum, Behr, and other manufacturers.
Generally speaking, these discount kits are of inferior quality, although
we do not wish to disparage any particular brand. Discount kits have
their time and place, such as for laundry room floors and light traffic
areas. But, for the heavy duty use required for automobile parking,
discount kits generally will not fit the bill. Unfortunately, some commercial
installers are using discount kits in order to keep their costs down.
If you have received a low-ball bid on a concrete coating job at your
home, you should be quite suspicious.
Always ask your installer:
●The brand of coating they intend to use.
●Where the installer intends to purchase it. High-grade coatings are
purchased from concrete specialty supply houses and directly from manufacturers.
●What is the installer's method of
preparation of the concrete?
It has been our experience, in reviewing and inspecting concrete that
is coated with such products, that the discount coatings fail prematurely
for two reasons. The first problem with such coatings is that they lack
sufficient abrasion resistance. Thus, such coatings are prone to scratching.
Scratches dull a coated surface and make it appear lifeless; also, scratching
promotes the accumulation of debris in the coating surface. But the
more important, and more significant failure that occurs with these
coatings is the failure of adhesion between concrete and coating. When
a concrete coating fails to adhere to the concrete below, the coating
chips away, revealing the concrete underneath.
Bargain Epoxy Kit Failure: In Detail
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The garage shown at left was coated with an inexpensive two-part epoxy system from one of the big box stores. The arrows indicate some of the larger areas of chipping/failure. The customer stated that this floor was coated 2.5 year previously. |
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This photograph shows a close up of the same floor. As you can see, the coating has loosened from the concrete below and will continue to chip away, revealing a larger and larger gap in the coating. |
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To remedy the failure of the coating system, the entire floor had to be ground down to the concrete underneath--at a tremendous expense to the customer, of nearly 4 times the cost of the original job. |
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The same floor, fully ground, and prepared for several coats of high-adhesion, commercial strength epoxy coatings. |
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The re-coating of the same garage,
beginning with a hand-painted Texas-themed logo. We'll post a picture of the finished garage in the next few days. |
The failure of discount coatings is attributable to two factors. First,
the coatings themselves lack the commercial strength adhesive properties
of more expensive coatings--such as the coatings used by Garage and
Storage Plus. We do not use discount coatings on any floor. The greater
factor, though, is the lack of proper
preparation available with
the discount kits. Only some discount kits offer any preparation materials
at all--and the kits that do offer it, offer a meager packet of acidic
powder. Experienced installers know that
acid preparation is an inferior
method of concrete preparation.
Want to talk about it? If you have a question, or want to share a picture or simply discuss garages, etc., why not post in our Garage Forums.
