Epoxy flooring is a type of flooring that has been gaining popularity over the last few years. It’s popular because it looks great and can be installed in many different ways, but there are some disadvantages to installing epoxy floors in your garage. Can I find garage storage cabinets to match my style? Absolutely! Even the cabinets in the garage should reflect your unique tastes and style. Garage Storage Solutions offers stylish storage in a variety of materials and finishes.
What Is Epoxy Flooring?
Epoxy flooring material is made up of two components: resins and hardeners. It’s one of the resinous flooring systems that form seamless flooring. The resulting material is usually a very rigid plastic material that has advantages, including the following:
- Highly durable
- Very strong
- Highly resistant to degradation
- Forming strong bonds with base materials such as wood, concrete, and steel.
Disadvantages Of Epoxy Flooring
Here are the disadvantages of installing epoxy flooring in your home and garage.
Epoxy floors are resistant to a large number of chemicals such as solvents and acids;
The floors are decorative. Epoxy floors are available in many different colours and designs. It is
possible to create a concrete look or to sprinkle the bottom with flakes;
Because of the fast application, there is only minimal work interruption;
Epoxy floors are very easy to maintain. After all, the beds are seamless and liquid-tight and therefore easy to clean, benefiting hygiene;
Epoxy floors combine well with underfloor heating. Very sustainable. In combination with underfloor heating, you save energy and no longer have radiators insight, saving space.
The floor has no seams or edges; it completely blends into the space.
Robust. This makes epoxy floors suitable for heavy use and mechanical loads, such as forklift traffic in warehouses, workshops and production areas.
Strong Toxic Fumes
As soon as you start installing an epoxy floor, you’ll notice a strong smell when wet. Sometimes, you may see the epoxy floor smelling like ammonia as soon as you start applying.
These fumes are toxic and may cause some side effects to anyone near. Some of the common signs and symptoms you’ll experience from inhaling the fumes include inflammation in the nose and eyes, throat, and lung irritation. In addition, asthmatic people may have problems breathing.
However, fully cured epoxy floors pose no health risks unless you decide to sand the surface.
The dust from sanding should never be inhaled as it contains the component chemicals.
This is a Con for the garage epoxy floor despite being one of the cost-friendly floorings.
Study shows that epoxy may enter your body and affect the lungs, skin, eyes, nose, and throat.
Extensive exposure is known to cause health issues and affect the nervous system, just like alcohol. In addition, skin cancer is also reported in animal clinical studies.
Sensitivity
Epoxy flooring needs to be installed exactly according to directions. If not done properly, the flooring will not last as long as it should.
The coating also gets scratched pretty easily. It’s very hard to clean the paint off of it.
The coating should be applied only during that time of the year when the humidity levels are low.
This is because moisture can affect the durability of these floors.
We recommend using a dehumidifier to lower humidity for 24 hours before applying your first coat of resin.
This will extract as much moisture from the air as possible, which will prevent water from becoming trapped underneath the floor once the resin finish has been applied.
Adherence
The concrete floor must be dried, prepared and cleaned thoroughly before applying epoxy to avoid adherence issues.
Epoxy does not adhere well in a moist environment such as a basement. In addition, the epoxy paint peels off the floors if applied in a damp environment on a wet floor.
Epoxy Takes Long To Harden Completely
It takes several days for an epoxy installation to cure completely. Therefore, the general rule is that the floor should be left to dry in warm conditions, and the duration should belong.
A slow curing process yields a very strong, more durable result. However, a faster epoxy curing method may be used with the best curing products.
However, this can be a con, especially if you’re installing this floor in a home you already live in. Some installations can take even as long as 30 days to dry and cure completely. This can cause inconveniences to any homeowner who’s not planning to go on holiday during the installation process.
Temporary Flooring Solution
Epoxy flooring is not a floor on its own. You’ll need to install either steel, concrete, or wooden floor before adding an epoxy on top of it. This coat is merely a temporary flooring solution.
As the coat wears away, you’ll constantly need to install new skins frequently required. Also, unlike other flooring solutions, high traffic and heavy impacts wear out epoxy floors. For some people, this is a con because the costs involved may not be planned for.
Cracks And Chips On High Impact Areas
If you’re planning to install an epoxy floor in your garage or storage areas, prepare to do frequent replacements.
Epoxy flooring does not do so well in high impact and traffic areas like other resinous flooring systems. In addition, the surface chips and cracks easily, meaning you’ll incur extra costs and labour repairing and fixing the damaged areas.
Preparation
Getting the existing floors ready for applying epoxy is tedious. A significant amount of effort goes into it too.
The concrete floor must be clean and free of any grease, oil, or solvents before the epoxy coating is applied. Cracks will need to be filled as well.
Cleaning concrete floors requires multiple attempts. All this preparation work required is a drawback.
The good news is that with the advancements in the manufacture and application methods, homeowners will find it relatively easy to apply using hand tools in a minimum amount of time.
Application
Apart from the extensive preparation for getting the concrete ready, applying the epoxy coating is a time-consuming process.
It also takes several days to dry properly. Additionally, the first coat of epoxy must dry completely before adding the next coat.
If you’re in a time crunch, you can also utilise a penetrating concrete sealer instead. You’ll be able to save on time and cost, but the downside is you won’t have the aesthetic look of an epoxied garage floor.
Very Slippery When Wet
Epoxy floors are relatively skid resistant. However, this con is not universal. It’s specific only to oil-covered epoxy since that can be very slippery. But they can also become very tricky when wet, which creates a dangerous situation.
They are not a good choice in areas prone to spills or water on the floor. This is another drawback.
However, you can mitigate this risk, at least to some degree, if you’re able to texturise your floor.
One serious disadvantage of epoxy flooring is that it can become very slippery, especially when wet. Any resinous flooring material is non-porous.
This means that it creates a very smooth surface that becomes dangerous when wet or when there’s oil on the surface.
Homes with kids, the elderly, and even pets can pose a huge hazard to these vulnerable groups when epoxy flooring and the coating is installed.
However, there are mitigation measures that can be applied to make epoxy flooring less slippery. These measures are, unfortunately, an additional cost. They may include the following:
- Using silica sand on the final coating when installing to create resistance.
- Adding an aluminium oxide additive to the epoxy material to get the maximum grip.
- Adding Shark Grip to the final layer for texturing and adding resistance to the floor.
- Purchasing containment mats
Some of these methods are an extra cost. Others such as containment mats may not be very attractive if you’re planning to install designer epoxy flooring for beautification.
Tedious Installation Process
Preparing the existing floor for the installation of epoxy coating or flooring is very tedious. For example, removing grease, oils, or any solvents must be done on concrete floors for proper installation of epoxy coatings.
Another sensitive disadvantage of epoxy flooring is that it requires the installation process to be done exactly according to instructions.
For example, the humidity levels must be low enough for you to install an epoxy floor. If you do not note this, moisture usually ends up damaging your foundation, affecting the durability of your foot in the end.
Any amount of moisture trapped inside the flooring material can cause serious damage to the epoxy installation as it dries.
For example, when trapped moisture starts to evaporate, it can cause buckling, warping and even bulging on the surface as the flooring material dries.
When this occurs, you may incur extra costs for reinstalling your epoxy coating or flooring, doing re-touches, and refinishing to prevent visible flaws on the surface.
It takes a lot of effort to prepare concrete floors for the installation of epoxy. In addition, getting rid of all the moisture and cleaning can be tedious before applying epoxy material on the surface.
In some cases, you’ll find small particles still trapped beneath the application of epoxy. These usually become the origin of cracks in the future.
Complex Removal Procedure
Probably your epoxy flooring was installed by a professional, which increases the probability you will need one to remove it.
Epoxy in your garage or home is meant to be durable and lasts long, which reduces the chances you will need to remove it soon.
Removing epoxy from the concrete floor requires grinding, and it’s an expensive undertaking.
Since many people don’t own industrial grinders, this means you consider hiring a contractor.
Remember, it is important to prevent damaging the underlying concrete, or you will need to pour a new floor.
The main, very important characteristics that make epoxy flooring desirable are also very difficult to remove from concrete.
Thankfully, with proper maintenance, a professionally done epoxy floor should last a lifetime.
Costly Maintenance
To properly maintain your epoxy flooring, you will need to buy special cleaning acids and other chemicals.
In addition, you will need to have protective gear during installation and or when cleaning with these chemicals.
The cost of protective eyewear and breathing gear increases the constant time and effort required to install and maintain the floor.
It’s Cold Under-feet
Compared to hardwood floors, epoxy without a heating system is cold on your feet. As a result, the epoxy floor feels hard, just like tiled floors.
However, this may be addressed by installing an underfloor heating system on your floor.
Epoxy Dis-coloring
When you DIY, improper mixing of the epoxy can make the floor coating look off. In addition, if you use multiple kits during installation, there may be colour variations due to different batches.
Ultraviolet rays are also another problem that can lead to colour variations. If one batch sits in the sun and not the other, it could result in colour variations. Garage Storage Solutions features an innovative wall storage system with heavy-duty sliding wall components such as hooks, garage shelving and stylish, durable steel cabinets designed to hold your gear securely and neatly in place.
Moisture
Since the material doesn’t breathe once it cures, any moisture trapped below the surface can be a problem as it evaporates.
It may lead to the eventual need for repair or refinishing, as bubbling or buckling in the flooring material may occur in some cases.
Additional Costs
Homeowners have to buy special cleaning acids and other chemicals to ensure that the epoxy sticks. It’s also necessary to purchase and use special protective clothing, protective eyewear and breathing devices when using these chemicals.
Not only does this increase the amount of time and effort necessary, but in some instances, it can also increase costs.
Removal
Once the epoxy is applied, changing colours or designs can be a labour-intensive and costly endeavour. Moreover, when the floor has to be repaired, removing the coating is quite extensive and difficult.
There are several pros and cons to using epoxy floors. It’sTherefore, it’s highly recommended that you consult a professional contractor to analyse your bed before making any decision.
A professional can also evaluate the moisture tolerance of the floor to minimise the chances of delamination.
Advantages Of Epoxy Flooring
Here are the advantages of installing epoxy flooring in your house or garage:
Epoxy floors are hard, and therefore there is contact noise during walking. For that reason, flexible polyurethane floors are usually used in office spaces and homes.
Without underfloor heating, an epoxy floor feels somewhat cold, similar to tiled floors.
If there are unevennesses or cracks in the substrate, ripples can become visible on the floor.
This only happens if the epoxy floor can no longer bridge existing cracks. The floor adheres to the substrate.
It is therefore important to apply epoxy floors only on a smooth surface. If the surface is not even, you must first repair it.
He has a thixotropic paste based on epoxy resin and lightweight fillers, with which you can remedy unevenness in concrete surfaces.
Without a finish, the floor is sensitive to UV radiation. Fortunately, the UV resistance with 1 or 2 coats of an HIM finish coat can easily be improved.
Appearance
Compared to an average garage floor, epoxy floors are bright and professional. Their appearance alone makes them enticing to use.
The smooth and even surface is also very easy to sweep and maintain. Since not much sticks to this type of flooring, cleaning up a mess is very easy.
Cost Friendly
One of the major considerations for each homeowner is how much does the epoxy floor cost?.
The price is relatively cost-effective compared with other durable floorings like hardwood floors.
The cost of installation depends on the space and the needs of each person.
Compared to even concrete, it’s inexpensive especially considering there will be no need for painting and routine maintenance due to chippings.
Affordability
Compared to other types of flooring, the per square foot cost of epoxy floors is tough to beat. However, since it can be installed directly over concrete and different flooring types, the installation costs are quite a bit lower than the others.
Pricing remains one of the biggest and the most immediate advantages you’ll find with epoxy flooring.
Easily Customisable
Once you get a professional installer, they may be able to customise your epoxy floor depending on your likes, whether you like a honed stone finish or a glossy and brilliantly coloured base.
Resistance
Epoxy floors are highly resistant to just about everything – oil, gasoline, bleach, transmission fluid, cleansers and more.
This is one of the main reasons they’re frequently used in garages and within the automotive industry.
Besides withstanding chemical spills/cleaners, epoxy floor coating is also heat and water-resistant. As a result, they are almost impervious to most chemical spills without any negative effects on the coating.
Another pro is that these floors are also resistant to bacteria and germs, making them very easy to sanitise. This is why epoxy is an excellent choice for hospitals and clinics.
Durability
Distinctly valued for their durability, epoxy floors have a longer lifespan than many other floor types.
Concrete is the only material that beats it, but it needs to be properly sealed and maintained. Besides, an epoxy floor coating required concrete beneath it anyway. Epoxy floor coating renders concrete exceptionally durable.
They also offer anti-fatigue benefits and can be easily rolled out on the cement without mortar or glue. But if you wish to go that extra step to care for your floors, consider getting yourself epoxy resins for wood on wood improvement.
Damage Resistant
The epoxy flooring is resistant to wear, cracking, peeling, and corrosion. In addition, it can resist damage from chemicals like acids and other environmental degradation.
Cured epoxy can resist moisture. Epoxy on its own may not be UV resistant. However, adding epoxy coating will help the floor last longer and make it even scratch-resistant due to the composition of the ingredients.
Urethane and other variety of top coatings can make epoxy flooring more abrasive and scratch-resistant. Long term curing may even make it gasoline. A Heated healed or cured floor will also make the epoxy floor more heat resistant.
Durable And Long-lasting
Epoxy is durable in fewer traffic areas like the garage. In addition, when the epoxy is installed in the grade, it helps eliminate the need to keep on repainting, which is a costly undertaking.
The epoxy layer also adds more protection to your garage or home when installed correctly for decades. It’s also able to withstand extreme temperatures for long as well as severe impacts like fire.
Protective
Epoxy flooring protects the underlying concrete from moisture, stains, grease and cracks. In the long run, this can save you a great deal on cleaning and maintenance costs by eliminating the need to clean carpet or grout. It’s also very reasonably priced for the duration and level of protection that it offers.
However, the protective qualities of epoxy flooring depend on the installer. It would help if you found a quality local epoxy floor. You can find epoxy flooring near me if this is a concern.
Longevity
Epoxy coating lasts longer than many types of flooring. When installed properly, it can last for several decades without cracking or peeling.
Besides its durability, its lifespan makes it popular for commercial and industrial use.
Variety
Epoxy is a great choice to decorate your floors as well. It’s available in a variety of colours that add a flawless, smooth, elegant shine.
The flooring can also be arranged into traditional or personalised patterns and designs. The number of choices makes it an economical way to upgrade plain concrete and improve the ambience of a home or office.
Safety
One of the lesser-known advantages of using epoxy on a garage floor is it enhances visibility inside the garage by reflecting light off the floor. A storage solution from Garage Storage Solutions can transform your garage into a social focal point for visitors with a modern look.