Is Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating 100% Solid? Does it Matter?

Garage Shapeups is the epoxy garage flooring specialist in Chattanooga. Garage Shapeups only installs the highest quality epoxy and polyurea garage flooring. Their floors are backed with a 10 year warranty.

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Is Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating 100% Solid? Does it Matter?

By Anthony J Davis 

Not every epoxy garage floor coating is the same and with garage flooring, like many other things in life, you don't always get what you think. When learning about something new, such as garage floors, it's not hard to skip some features which may be important to you, especially if you didn't even know they existed. For example, let's examine a lesser known epoxy paint specification that may still be very important to you. Let's take a look at the idea of an epoxy coating's percentage of solids.

Percentage Of Solids? What Does That Mean?

Obviously all epoxy garage floor coatings start in a liquid form. Otherwise there would be no way to put it on the concrete garage floor. The term "percentage of solids" is an indication of the amount of the chemical mixture that will be solid in the end. To understand this, think about an epoxy adhesive. When you use epoxy adhesive, it's completely solid when it dries, with no evaporation. In the case of an epoxy coating, though, this might not work quite this way.

But Where Is The Percentage Of Solids Listed?

Like most companies, regardless of the products they produce, the manufacturers of epoxy garage floor coatings tend to leave out any specifications that their product does not excel in. This makes it harder for the consumer to know if he is getting the appropriate product. In general, those epoxy coatings that are not 100% solid won't tell you in so many words. Instead, they will be referred to as water, or acrylic based. Of course, any epoxy garage floor paint that is 100% solids will generally advertise it quite proudly.

Do I Really Need An Epoxy Paint Blend That Is 100% Solid?

You really, most likely, do not. However, you might miss the extra solidity if you ever drop a tool onto your nice, shiny, painted floor. Most people use some sort of garage floor covering on their paint to keep it nice looking, so they'll never even notice that they're using one of the many garage floor finishes that are water based. However, there's just not that much of a difference in price between 100% solid, and the watered down epoxies. Some water or acrylic based paints even cost more than epoxy blends that are 100% solid. This is one of those industry secrets that probably wouldn't be considered socially acceptable if the general public even knew.

Why Every Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Is Not 100% Solid

The most likely reason is profit margins. Any successful company makes the least expensive product and sells it for as much as possible, while not risking their reputation. So, if they can water it down a bit, charge the same amount, and have people buy it and be happy with it, then why not? Does this mean that you should avoid all water based epoxies on principal? Well, that's where you have to make your choice. Do you go with the little guy who doesn't have the reputation but promises a better product for less, or do you buy from the big name and hope you don't notice the difference? When shopping for an epoxy garage floor coating, like many other things, it really just depends on the type of consumer you are.

Check out Sweet Garage Flooring for more information about epoxy garage floor coatings, as well as tiles, mats, stain, and other finishes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_J_Davis

Garage Flooring Services

Garage flooring from Monkey Bars provides protection and a professional look for your garage. The installation process involves sealing the concrete and filling in unsightly cracks, and the protective flooring keeps your floor free of stains and streaks. A number of garage flooring options available to match your style. Our flooring is available in four base coat colors: tan, pearl gray, white and sand taupe. There are also five colored chip styles.

Flooring protection

Protect your garage floor with our epoxy flooring. Trained professionals will repair cracks in your garage floor before installing a new, long-lasting coating.

Professional Look

Our flooring services bring professional styling to garage floors. Choose from base coat colors and colored chip styles.

Stain-Free

In addition to looking great, out flooring is stain resistant. You will not have to worry about oil or other stains thanks to our quality flooring.

Easy to Clean

Wiping up spills and dusting the floor is simple with Monkey Bars flooring. Our easy-to-clean flooring is a great addition to your garage.

Limited Warranty

A five-year limited warranty is available on Monkey Bars flooring. Please visit our warranty page to learn more.

Quality Materials

In order to give you a solid and professional-looking garage floor, Monkey Bars uses top-quality materials in our epoxy flooring.

Garage and Basement Flooring: All About Polyurea Floor Coating

By Richard Schulman

You can have the most organized garage or basement in the world, but an unattractive concrete floor can keep you from having your perfect dream garage. There are a number of options on the market for covering your garage or basement floor, including an epoxy coating or a roll-out rubber mat, but the most durable and one of the most attractive is a polyurea coating. Considering the seasonal conditions, you want garage and basement flooring that will be resistant to harsh temperatures as well as chemicals. Polyurea is considerably more durable than an epoxy floor covering (about four times more durable), and is flexible, which makes it more natural and comfortable.

Using polyurea as a floor covering is a newer idea, but polyurea has been around for the past couple of decades as pipe coating, sewer lining coating, and in any other place that demands the most durable coverage. It is the perfect choice for garage floors especially, because it is resistant to temperature damage, chemical erosion, staining, chipping, and tire indentations. The environment can be extremely damaging to any flooring, particularly flooring that is not protected from the elements as well, such as basement and garage flooring.

Polyurea is also great for the basement also because of the high moisture content that basements usually have. Concrete floors are usually unattractive, but paint is usually only a temporary fix, because paint will fade and peel due to time and moisture. Tiling or carpeting will also not last long because of moisture; carpeting also invites dangerous mold. Applying a polyurea coating will keep you from having to re-carpet, retile or repaint your basement floor every few years. Often, when a company applies a polyurea coating to your floor, it is accompanied by a lifetime guarantee. If a company does not offer a lifetime guarantee with polyurea flooring, then you may want to consider going with a different company.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a key factor in a polyurea floor coating is safety. Vinyl or acrylic chips are mixed in with the coating to provide a non-slippery surface. Even when it is wet, your polyurea garage or basement floor will not be slick, nor will moisture sink into the flooring.

Additionally, polyurea is versatile; it comes in, or can be ordered in many different colors to match any décor. In many cases, you'll also have a choice about the color of chips, and the amount of chips in the coating. You may have never thought you'd be able to put so much thought in the coloring and decoration of your garage, but polyurea flooring lets you do just that! Your basement and/or garage will be transformed from dirty catch-all rooms to places that you can feel proud of, and comfortable in.
You can apply polyurea coating yourself, but you can also hire professionals to do the job. There are plenty of companies that will do garage and basement flooring, and many of them will do free consultations. Polyurea floor covering is just what you need to have the exact garage and basement you've always wanted!

Richard Schulman started White Rabbit Garage Organizers in 1988, because hed had a passion for organizing and there was a need for such a company in Chicago. Since then, White Rabbit has grown into a versatile, highly reputable business that has gained an A+ from the Better Business Bureau, received an Angie's List Super Service Award, was selected for EBSCO Research's Best Picks. Additionally, White Rabbit has appeared in major Chicago newspapers: Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, Daily Herald, and Pioneer Press and has been featured on NBC and HGTV. Richard does not expect his enthusiasm for organizing to ebb, and plans to continue writing about his company, and helping his clients obtain their dream garages, basements, and offices! You can read more about organization and about White Rabbit by visiting White Rabbit's website: http://www.whiterabbitinc.com/ and blog: http://whiterabbitinc.blogspot.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Schulman

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Garage Shapeups, LLC is the Chattanooga Tennessee Dealer for Monkey Bar Garage Storage. Services offered include new polyurea garage floor coverings, garage storage systems, garage storage cabinets, and garage storage overhead racks.

 

Visit http://www.monkeybarstorage.com/chatanooga for more information on your local dealer in Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Southeast Tennessee. We also cover Northwest Georgia.