The Stronghold Floors Blog

The purpose of this blog is to deal with questions we get so often when it comes to epoxy floor coatings. Since these questions most often come from residential homeowners concerning their garage or basement floors, I’ll concentrate our answers to this audience.   A fair amount of the information is applicable to the commercial environment as well.

Here in part 1 of this blog, I’m tackling some of the common questions concerning cracking of the concrete surface. Next week in part 2, I’ll get into the types of joints used in residential construction and how they impact the installation and performance of the coating system. 

Why did my concrete floor develop cracks?

Over the years, we have been asked about applying epoxy coatings to basement floors to mitigate radon.  Most homeowners who asked didn’t know whether they had a radon issue, so I suspect it’s more about curiosity and not always about solving an existing issue.  I first always recommend testing their home for radon – it’s cheap and easy.  Second, I try to explain my best understanding of epoxy coatings and other floor sealing systems with regards to their impact on radon transmission into a home.

So, let’s start with a description of radon and move onto some questions and answers.

Last Thursday, Dave and I went to see three commercial prospects in northern Virginia and Maryland. That, in itself, was not unusual. What was bizarre was the variety of prospects we went to see in just one day.   I’ll review them in order to show how broadly epoxy coatings can be applied in different industries. 

I’ll apologize ahead of this article for all the plays on beer slogans.   I just couldn’t help it. :)

In epoxy and other polymer coatings, there is always the question of whether the concrete has been properly prepared.   Is the surface rough enough to allow the coating to soak in?  Is it too rough so that the ending surface is not the desired or specified texture?

Again, sorry if the title threw you off.  This is not a blog poking fun at plumbers’ beltlines or the new Cannabis laws in Colorado.    It deals with common questions we receive about epoxy floor coatings.     Many of these questions come from residential homeowners concerning their garage or basement floors.   So, I’ll concentrate my answers to garage and basement coatings.    Much of the information is applicable to the commercial environment as well.

In part 1 of this blog, I discuss some of the common questions concerning cracking of the concrete surface. Here in part 2, I’m discussing the types of joints used in residential construction and how they impact the installation and performance of an epoxy or other polymer floor coating system.

Question:  Why do the cracks in my garage floor have white plastic strip in them?

The purpose of this blog is to deal with questions we get so often when it comes to epoxy floor coatings.     Since these questions most often come from residential homeowners concerning their garage or basement floors, I’ll concentrate our answers to this audience.   A fair amount of the information is applicable to the commercial environment as well.

Here in part 1 of this blog, I’m tackling some of the common questions concerning cracking of the concrete surface. Next week in part 2, I’ll get into the types of joints used in residential construction and how they impact the installation and performance of the coating system.

Question:   Why did my concrete floor develop cracks?

It's Pennsylvania Farm Show time again. This event is one of the largest indoor agricultural shows in the nation.   Over 5000 animals, thousands of farmers and even two dozen wineries will be present during this 7 day show.

Seeing gray epoxy coatings in commercial service bays are not going to shock anyone - we’ve all been to a quick-lube center or automotive shop where the service bays were one solid color.  

Why are coatings in garage bays so common?   Aesthetics may be the reason that immediately pops in most persons minds.   While a beautiful, new, shiny epoxy floor (like the picture on the right of New German Performance of Lorton, Virginia) may make a great impression on those walking through the shop, our experiences tells us that most service managers and owners are more concerned with the physical properties of the epoxy floor coatings listed below.