If you’re thinking about tackling your own garage floor project, consider hiring the professionals instead

By Ken McEntee

If garage floor restoration remains an unfinished task on your stay-home honey-do list, it may be another blessing of returning to work, says Mike Padden, owner of Encore Garage Ohio.

“Installed correctly, a polymer floor coating will beautify your garage and protect it from salty winter slush and oil stains for a long time,” Mike explains. “An incorrectly installed, low-quality coating can lead to disappointment.”

If you’re thinking about tackling your own garage floor project, Mike suggests that you consider the Carl Perkins approach: “Honey Don’t.”

He explains here:

Q: What does a pro do differently from a do-it-yourselfer?

A: We are trained professionals who do this every day. We have the proper equipment and the skill. We start by preparing the concrete surface with a “mini-Zamboni” that scores the concrete, cleaning and refining the top surface to open up the pores, allowing our base coat to penetrate deeply for excellent adhesion. It is far superior to the acid etching in the DIY kits. Because epoxy is affected by temperature, we use laser- thermo guns to monitor the floor temperature. Our trucks incubate materials in cold weather and refrigerate it in hot weather. Quality control ensures a quality installation.

Q: What about the flooring materials?

A: DIY kits usually come with a diluted, water-based epoxy coating and a miniscule amount of color flakes intended to provide traction and a quality appearance. The DIY material deteriorates quickly—usually within a year—recognizable by hot tire peel up, blistering, cracking and fading. We get a lot of calls to fix floors that homeowners have tried first to do themselves. In the end, do-it-yourselfers may have spent more time and money than they needed to.

Encore Garage Ohio offers advanced polymer floor coatings, garage cabinetry and organization systems in the Akron, Canton, Medina and Cleveland areas. To schedule a no-cost consultation, call 330-922-4411 (Akron/Canton) or 440-668-8953 (Medina/Cleveland). You can learn more at EncoreGarageOhio.com.