There is not going to be a better time to have a professional garage floor coating installed than right now. Waiting is not a good idea. While that may seem bold or misleading, I’m going to explain several reasons why this is likely true for you, regardless of whether you're building a new home, updating an older one, or considering a DIY epoxy kit.
Staying in your current home? Make better use of the garage.
Having a professional, commercial-grade epoxy floor coating applied to your garage floor makes more sense now than ever before as people are staying longer in their homes. The past couple years of volatility have made many homeowners realize now isn’t the time to change homes. So, instead, they are improving and investing in the home they already have.
A decorative chip, epoxy garage floor coating increases the usability of the room significantly. It makes the garage not just a place to park your cars, but also a multi-use room for entertainment, a home gym, hobby space, or a projects room. On cold or rainy days, a finished garage can even be the place parents tell the kids to go play.
Epoxy, polyaspartic polyurea coatings also protect the concrete. You don't want to have a surface that's being eroded and damaged, so garage floor coatings double as a protective layer. Granted, for most, the beautifying aspect of the coatings is probably just as important as the protective aspect.
Building a new home? Coat the garage floor before you move in.
Chances are your new garage is already getting wired, lighted, drywalled, and painted. The same applies to every other room, except they also get flooring appropriate to the room’s use. While many homeowners don't realize this, you can schedule your garage floor coatings before your move-in date!
Before coatings can be applied to a concrete surface, the concrete mix must cure to 85% of the intended compressive strength (decreasing the water ratio). As a rule, this takes about 30 days. But most times, the garage concrete is poured 60+ days before the home is complete. Therefore, epoxy can be applied near the end of the construction and prior to move-in.
That way, the floor coatings are applied to a concrete surface that has no contaminants (oil, silicones, etc.). Plus, the epoxy coatings can treat every square foot of the floor – before installation of cabinets, shelves, appliances, or other permanent items.
It also makes sense to have the coatings installed before you move in to ease the transition. The garage is often used as a staging area for all the homes contents. Some stuff may sit there for quite some time - weeks to even months. If you get your garage floor coated before moving in, the items you choose to store in there will be sitting on a finished floor. Your garage will be a room ready for every use that you're going to have for it during the move-in, right after, and much later in the future.
Finally, pre-move-in installation of the floor coatings prevents the surface from future staining (from grass/mowers, spills, and overspray), chemical attack from ice-melts, road-treatments, and abrasion (the typical wear being the tire paths into each bay).
Waiting on prices to drop? That’s extremely unlikely. Prices will only go up.
Chemicals, fuel, and labor are only going up in price. Since 2019, some professional grade (epoxy, polyurethane, and polyurea) chemicals have gone up more than 50% in price. In the 18+ years we have been in business, we have yet to see anything but fuel drop in price (that being temporary, as there is always some reason for it to go back up too).
What this means for the homeowner is that the price per square foot of a professionally installed, garage floor coating is not going down. If price is your only consideration and you want it done right, then waiting isn’t going to help achieve your desired result of an easy-to-clean, aesthetically pleasing garage floor.
Thinking of applying a DIY kit? Think again…
In past articles, we've covered this topic from numerous perspectives. Here are a few:
- Professional Garage Floors Epoxy – Skip the Paint Kit & Frustration
- 5 Things to Consider Before You DIY Concrete Floor Coatings
- Surface Preparation for Floor Coatings: DIY vs Professional
- Materials & Maintenance of Garage Floor Coatings: DIY vs Professional
- 7 Reasons Why Epoxy Coatings Fail
In general, the DIY kits from big box stores are going to fail in a normal use, residential garage. They are a waste of time and money. When they fail, it either takes more of your time and money to re-apply or pay extra to a professional to remove the mess that is already on the floor before having it done correctly.
Conclusion
Unless you really don’t want professional garage floor coatings or plan to live in your current home for only a short period of time, then the time to schedule your coatings is now. Request a free quote today!
