Your garage floor is not commonly seen as a very hazardous place, but accidents usually happen when you least expect them. Unforeseen issues like fluids leaked from a car, poor lighting, clumsily stored home improvement products and potentially sharp tools are all factors to consider when treading in your garage.

A Car Can Be The Cause Of Hazardous Conditions

As your vehicle is stored in the garage for the night, seeping of a automotive fluid will be difficult to discover before you begin your day at your career. The leaked fluid will rest on the garage floor until it desiccates. In the time frame of drying a person could amble in the garage and step in the spill, which would cause them to fall.

Look For Potential Problems

Poor lighting, like a dim light bulb or a single light that is ill placed, could leave much of the garage in darkness. This could make a slip in the garage even more probable. Clumsily stored home improvement products, like cans of paint or tubs of plaster, could be placed in the garage as storage. This could cause someone to trip over it or stumble over it and into something potentially deadly. One of these deadly items could be sharp tools that are on a work bench and seemingly out of harms way. However, if you trip over something on the garage floor you could run into one of these objects.

Be Prepared For The Worst

Installing a First Aid Kit in your garage can help prepare for potential injuries that may occur. Make sure it is packed with band-aids, antiseptic wash and a collect of gauze and cloths. The last two items are especially important because they can wipe up spills that can cause yourself or someone else to slip and fall. These cloths should be disposable since any time you need to clean up car fluid you need to immediately throw it away.

Take Action Before The Accident

A better way to store your paint cans, tubs of plaster and pointed tools is by either making your own cabinet or acquire one by some means. This will make certain that there are no items on the garage floor that could cause injury. Take note of where the problems are with your garage lighting and make sure to fix it by either installing more lighting or addressing the initial issue.

Need more garage floor information before you make your move? Harry would like to point out this other excellent garage floor resource.

Posted under Cars

Not all epoxy garage floor coating kits are created equal and, when it comes to garage flooring, you don't necessarily get what you pay for. When you're diving into something that is new to you, such as garage floors, it's easy to miss out on some features, especially when you don't know they exist. Let's take a look at one of the lesser known specifications pertaining to epoxy garage floor paint. Let's examine the concept of the percentage of solids in epoxy garage floor coatings.

A Brief Explanation Of What Is Meant By "Percentage Of Solids"

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 garage floor coating, though, this might not work this way.

How Do I Know The Percentage Of Solids?

Like a lot of companies, those who make epoxy garage floor coatings will tend to omit anything that makes their product look less than perfect. This can make it particularly difficult for consumers to know when they are getting the product they need. For the most part, epoxy garage floor coatings which are not fully, 100% solid, will not say so on the label. Instead, they'll often be called water or acrylic based solutions. However, epoxy garage floor paint that's 100% solids generally advertises it plainly.

Do I Really Need An Epoxy Garage Floor Coating That Is 100% Solid?

You really, most likely, do not. 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 garage floor coatings 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 Aren't All Epoxy Garage Floor Coatings 100% Solid?

The best, most likely reasoning would be profit margin. Successful companies make their products as cheaply as possible, and sell them for the most that they can, without gaining a bad reputation. If they can water the paint down a little without charging less and still have returning customers, why wouldn't they? So, should everyone avoid water based paints? Well, this is where personal preference comes in. Would you rather go with the smaller company who lacks the reputation, yet promises the cheaper, better product, or do you go with a big name, hoping there's no discernible difference? When you shop for epoxy garage floor coatings, as with many other products, you have to ask yourself what kind of consumer you're wanting to be.

Check out Sweet Garage Flooring for more information to help you choose or your epoxy garage floor coating.

Posted under Cars

Applying an epoxy garage floor coating is not terribly difficult, but it is rather hard on the body. If you have back issues and do not foresee being able to spend a few hours stooped over, then you may want to either look for other options, or be ready to pay someone to lay your epoxy garage floor coating for you.

Pay Close Attention To Directions When Applying Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating!

If you do decide that you want to apply your epoxy garage floor coating by yourself, then read on for a very fast rundown on exactly what you will have to do to apply your coating. Keep in mind, though, that anything you read either here, or anywhere else on the web, should be considered a rough guide only. Always follow the directions included with your epoxy garage floor coating kit to the letter. If you don't, you may end up with a mess for your garage flooring.

Selecting Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Kit

The first step, obviously, is deciding and picking up your epoxy garage floor coating kit. Thankfully, this is one of the few items that cannot be wrong or damaged upon arrival, so buying online is a great way to save even more money. Look for a kit that includes a DVD with instructions if you are new to these types of things. Trust me, they exist, you just have to look for them, and they're usually not any more expensive. If you want some color, be picky. There are a bunch of options, so don't settle, because your epoxy garage floor coating is likely going to last for decades. Although garage flooring is typically not on the grand tour, you don't want to be embarrassed by it, either.

Getter The Garage Ready For Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

The very first step, after you have your kit, is cleaning your existing concrete garage floor. Even if there is already paint, you can still generally lay your new epoxy garage floor coating right over the top. Be sure to check the directions in the kit, though, as not all kits are designed for this. You may also get better results if you sand the original coat of paint down to the surface of the concrete garage floor before you begin cleaning.

Laying Your Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Most kits start their instructions with mixing. Once you have cleaned your concrete garage floor, that will probably be the next step. Again, follow the directions, or you can easily mess up the entire process. The instructions are generally quite easy to follow, but you do have to pay attention. Take the time to read them a few times before you even start; it's worth it. Once the epoxy part is down, you'll be applying the color flakes, should you choose to use them and your kit have them. Although they are far from necessary, they do add a bit of random color. After all of this has dried, the next step is the top layer, or the paint itself. After that, if you've done everything right, your garage floors should be nice and shiny!

Check out Sweet Garage Floor for more information on installing an epoxy garage floor coating.

Posted under Cars