How To Prepare Floors for Epoxy Coating

An epoxy floor in your garage or workshop is a smart investment. It protects the floor from damage and stains and keeps it looking beautiful. There is a lot of prep work that the flooring professionals do before they can apply the epoxy coating, though. Knowing the preparation steps can help you understand the process they go through to make your floor look as good as possible.

Cleaning
Before high-grade epoxy can be applied to the floor, the floor must be thoroughly cleaned. Technicians will usually start by power-washing the floor. If there are oil stains, an oil remover must be used to get rid of it, as the wash alone won’t do the trick. Then technicians go on to the etching process. Etching is an acid wash that gives the concrete floor a deep clean, removing any dirt or impurities that are embedded. It also provides a rough surface that will help the epoxy adhere to the floor better.

Buffing
If your floor is already sealed, the sealant has to be buffed away before the epoxy floor coating can be installed. Technicians use industrial buffers to remove the sealant and an acid solution to clear away any remnants and ensure the floor is clean and ready for the coating.

Testing
The floor may look ready for epoxy, but you want to make sure before you go to the expense of having it applied. A simple water test can answer this question. If you sprinkle water on the floor and it beads up rather than soaking in, you still have sealant on the floor that needs to be removed before technicians apply the epoxy.

Priming
A primer helps smooth out the floor and prepare it for the coating. Technicians apply the primer and let it dry. Then your floor is ready for the epoxy coating.

To get an epoxy floor that looks nice and lasts for a long time, the surface has to be prepared. Flooring professionals know all the steps to take to make sure the installation goes smoothly.