Epoxy is a tough, long lasting coating you can apply on top of concrete. It resists grease, oil, solvents and tons of other things that would damage most floors. An epoxy floor will handle most car traffic, salt, oil, chemicals and any scraping. It’s a tough floor finish that will last for many years.

Epoxy floor paint is easily applied but most the work is done in the cleaning and the prep stages. Any grease or dirt will compromise the adhesion process that’s why the cleaning and the prep are the most important parts. Take your time and make sure your floor is extremely clean.

In order to make your job easier might want to consider renting a walk behind power floor scrubber. You can use this to help speed up the cleaning and etching process. Be sure the floors cover comes with a stiff brush. You might want to have a backup one just in case you’re brush wears out. Also having a newer brush will clean the floor better than using the brush until it wears out. Use the new brush until it shows signs of wear and then change it.

Another tool you might want to think about renting if you don’t have one is a let dry vacuum cleaner. This will allow you to vacuum up the dirt as well as any water that pools in the corners. The cleaner you keep your floor the better chance the proxy will stick.

Applying epoxy floor paint is a step-by-step process. Follow the steps below to help you get the overall idea of applying epoxy paint on your floor. Be sure to follow the manufacturers recommendations.

Step 1: Prep the area. Cover unwanted areas with masking tape and plastic

Step 2: Sweep and vacuum the floor

Step 3: Wash the floor with a concrete degreaser

Step 4: Etch the floor with a 10:1 ratio of water to muriatic acid solution

Step 5: Prepare the epoxy paint

Step 6: Apply the first coat

Step 7: Apply the color flakes if you like

Step 8: Prepare the top coat

Step 9: Apply the top coat

Taking the timeout of your busy schedule and epoxying your garage floor is one of the best investments you can make for keeping your garage floor clean and protected from the elements. Once applied following the manufacturers instructions your garage will look fantastic. With a little planning and scheduling you can have your floor applied in no time.

Dealing with Common Floor Tile Problems

After I bought my first home, one of the first jobs I took on was to replace the floor tiles in the kitchen and in the bathrooms. As a result of these projects, I learned a few important tips that might help you as you start similar projects in your home.

Grout Coloring & Floor Tiles

Grout is basically a mixture of cement and other materials that fills in those cracks between tiles. It serves a valuable service even though it can be a real nightmare to keep clean. When I was changing the ceramic tiles in the kitchen, I wanted to make sure to choose a grout color that matched the color of my tile perfectly.

If you’ve ever done any work with grout samples, then you know what happened when everything started drying. The grout ended up drying to a much lighter color than I had wanted. When I called to complain, I was told this was common. In the future, I learned to always choose a grout color a few shades darker than what I wanted.

However, I was stuck with this lighter shade of grout which looked horrible with our new floor tiles so I bit the bullet and purchased some grout dye. I applied the dye using a toothbrush, and the results turned out great.

The lesson here: always buy darker grout than what you want or be ready to buy grout dye if the coloring isn’t perfect.

Floor Tile Removal & Replacement

In the bathroom, I encountered a different problem when I tried to fix the floor tiles. Only a few of the tiles were in bad shape so instead of redoing the entire floor I just wanted to correct those particular tiles.

Removing them was my first challenge. Obviously, I couldn’t just take a hammer to the tiles because that would end up damaging the surrounding tiles, too. Instead, I used a rotary tool (and proper safety equipment, of course) and cut around the grout very carefully so I could remove each single tile. For the most part, this method worked very well but it did require great concentration and a steady hand. I’d advise sending the rest of the family away for the day so you give it your full concentration.

The bigger problem I encountered was finding replacement floor tiles. The tiles I’d removed were actually fairly old and were not being sold anywhere. For awhile I thought I’d have to redo the entire floor anyway, then I learned I had two other options. First, I could try to have the tiles custom made. A number of online places do provide this service, but it can be costly, particularly if you need a custom glaze. Second, instead of replacing the tiles with identical tiles choose decorative tiles.

I ended up opting for the latter choice. I found a few great decorative tiles at my local home improvement store in a color similar to the existing ones on the bathroom floor. After I installed them, they looked as if they had always been part of the floor.

In the end, if you’re replacing floor tiles don’t forget you have plenty of ways to overcome the obstacles that might get in the way of your job.

One thing I learned today was to use laquor thinner on all the area that were still glued to the floor. It softened up the glue and I scraped the old flooring off with no problem at all. There might be a special solvent to remove the glued on pieces but I tried the laquor thinner and it worked awesome. I cut the top of an old beer can and used it as a dish and painted it on the floor. I started off in a small area and used the paint brush to paint the area. The thick areas need to be soaked.

I recently found out  using laquor thinner is hard on the glue in the plywood causing the top layer to bubble so be sure not to use too much.

I started off in the corner and pried up the old linoleum and keep going with a pry bar and scraper. You might be able to rent a special scraper to remove vinyl and linoleum but I assumed it would be aggressive. If you have a wooden subfloor like I do, I didn’t want gauges in the wood as I wanted to prevent slivers.The areas that were really glued down it took a bit more work. I used the scraper and took off small pieces until the linoleum was gone.

If you are going to use a solvent or thinner to remove the glue you need to scrape off the top layer so you are down to the plastic stuff (backing). Get as close to the floor as possible this way the flooring comes off real quick and it takes less laquor thinner or solvent. If you don’t get the top layer off nothing will soak in and penetrate the glue.

These methods should work for vinyl flooring too.

In no time at all your floor will be clean and look great. Now it’s time to decide what to put back down again.

PS. Use laquor thinner or solvents in well ventilated areas, it stinks and is flammable. Always read the user instructions. Keep your windows open and make sure your family is not going to be home for a while and make sure you where your safely glasses and gloves and keep out of the reach of children.