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Clearing the Space
The first step to preparing your garage floor for painting is to clear the space. Move any vehicles, bikes, or other items out of the garage. This will give you enough space to complete the painting process.
Whilst you can certainly paint the total area in stages, to paint a floor can be a very quick process and so it is much better if you can paint the whole area at the same time. However, we are conscious that everything currently in the garage must go somewhere and if you do not have another storage unit or secure area, and don’t want to leave it ‘outside’, this might mean the painting has to be done in stages.
Cleaning the Surface
Any loose material such as dust and dirt must be removed from the surface. Pay close attention to corners and edges, as these areas can often collect more dirt and debris.
Oil and any other contaminants must also be cleaned from the surface and Polycote Degrease IT is an excellent product to help remove such contamination. Degrease IT is designed to lift the oil from off the surface which must then be washed away with clean water and/or can be vacuumed up using a suitable aquavac machine.
It is best to allow the floor to dry as much as possible before applying the chosen coating.
Repairing Cracks and Holes
Before painting your garage floor, fill any cracks or holes in the concrete using an epoxy filler. Polycote has several floor repair products for this but for ease of explanation here we will mention just four:
1) Polycote Cretex EP.
Cretex EP is a twin pack epoxy floor repair that is extremely strong and will feather-edge to nothing, meaning that any shaped hole can be filled quickly and easily without having to cut out the concrete to a certain thickness. This not only saves time and mess but also money! Remember, the more concrete you remove, the more material you need to fill the now bigger hole!
2) Polycote Easifil
Easi-Fil is a fine filling paste that can be used to fill all those annoying chips, dips and holes caused by previous impact damage, worn or even poorly laid concrete.
3) Polycote Crackfiller EP100
Crackfiller EP100 is a 100% solids ultra-low viscosity resin professionally formulated to penetrate well into the cracks and complete solidify the concrete. The low viscosity means that it will even ‘pull down’ into hairline cracks as thin as 0.1mm. Should you have the unfortunate matter of a loose screed or topping, Crackfiller EP100 can even be used to re-adhere the topping to the substrate below.
4) Polycote Cretex OT Mortar.
Cretex OT Mortar is a highly specialised epoxy resin floor repair that includes oil tolerant resins in order to adhere to oil contaminated substrates. An absolute must for many garages and engineering workshops.
5) We do indeed have many other hole fillers and mortars and our technical experts, most with years of practical experience, will be more than happy for a quick call to give you free and honest advice.
Etching the Concrete / Removing Loose Dust or Paint
It is imperative to remove any loose or friable material, including any loose paint from the surface prior to painting.
Chemical Cleaning – Polycote Etch IT
If it is only dust to be removed, the Polycote Etch IT is an ideal solution to help achieve this. However, you might need to consider that the floor will have to be given time to dry before the application of most paints and this inevitably means longer downtime and inconvenience. If speed and time is of the essence, then we would suggest you consider the use of mechanical preparation equipment.
Mechanical Preparation
The most popular machines would be a Vacuum Assisted Shotblaster, a Diamond Grinder and/or an STR machine. Whichever machine you choose, we strongly suggest you make sure they are ‘Vacuum Assisted’ as the dust extraction unit can help to contain as much as 95% of the dust removed from the substrate.
In Summary
The cleaning of the surface is imperative to the successful adhesion of your chosen paint or floor coating system and will also ensure the paint lasts for the longest period of time.
Unfortunately, so many people try to ‘skip’ the preparation process and in turn only end up with a paint that begins to peel and flake in a very short space of time.
Let me just make these three points loud and clear:
1) If you paint over dust and/or loose material, you might as well paint the sand on the seashore and then wonder why it’s all coming up.
2) If you paint over a previous coating that is flaking or peeling and has clearly not adhered to the substrate, you might as well paint over a sheet of paper and then wonder why it lifted!!!
We are of course very aware that both of these statements are obvious but sadly, you would be amazed how many people just ‘hope’ the new paint will miraculously stick to the strong substrate ‘below’.
3) We would of course like to finish on a good note.
‘With a little bit of effort and the right tools, you can transform your garage into a clean, organized, and attractive space to be proud of and by preparing the substrate properly, you can achieve a new and improved look for your garage floor, get rid of that annoying dust, make your cleaning far easier and finally, greatly enhance the floors durability, longevity and safety’.
Related Articles
Choosing the right Garage Floor Paint
Benefits of Painting Your Garage Floor
How To Stop Garage Floor Paint From Peeling
Polycote UK would like to take the opportunity to thank you for taking an interest in these product and application articles and hope they have been some help to you.
We would of course be pleased to answer any specific questions should you wish to contact us directly on 01234 846400 or email: help@polycote.com