Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Reason Your Epoxy Garage Floor Paint Flakes Away
Whenever you first realize that your epoxy garage floor paint has begun to peel, your initial reaction may be to place blame to the product itself. I mean, if the coating is tarnishing, then it has to be some cheap, ripoff product, correct? Well, not necessarily so. In truth, this "cheap" and "inferior" floor coating normally won't peel, dull, crack or even wear away. Most likely, if your garage flooring is having a peeling problem, it is more of a moisture problem.
Epoxy Garage Floor Paint Keeps Moisture Out...And In.
Garage floor paint will certainly protect the concrete from any moisture in the air, but it do nothing against moisture that comes from underneath. Epoxy, by design, creates a seal that is nearly impenetrable by moisture of any kind. When oil drips onto the floor, this is a good thing because that means it will not get past the paint, so will not be absorbed by the concrete, and can therefore be sprayed off.
Concrete Has Pores Too!
Your concrete garage floor's sides and bottom and underground, and that means it will absorb moisture from the ground. And if you are worried about stains, don't be because they would be on the underside of the concrete. The problem though is that water always tries to find a way to evaporate, and that isn't very ideal. Do you recall that seal-like ability that the epoxy floor coating creates? This seal won't release water any sooner than it would let it in. And the moisture from the water around the concrete begins to make its own way to the top, the surface, it starts to pop up under the epoxy paint. Naturally, this creates bubbles that continue to collect more water until they burst, creating that peeling problem we were talking about before.
Labels:
concrete,
concrete garage floor,
epoxy,
epoxy floor coating,
peeling
Humidity Kills Garage Floor Paint
Some issues related to your area can cause this peeling effect. Humidity, for one, can play a big role. In humid areas, everything, including the earth itself, will stay moist for quite a while after rains. This creates a large area from which the concrete will draw water. The situation is even worse if water is able to pool against the concrete in any way.
Labels:
concrete,
garage floor,
garage floor paint,
peeling
Ground Water Is No Exclusion
The height of the local water table can also affect garage floor paint. The water table is, put very simply (and not entirely correctly), the top of the ground water. If the water table is high, then the ground water sits close to the bottom of your concrete garage floor, which means water is far more likely to soak through. Does your area's soil stay somewhat moist, even when in a drought? Odds are pretty good that the water table sits high.
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