"Will You Need Help
Applying Epoxy Finish
Compounds On Your Garage Floor?"

When mixing and applying epoxy finish compounds onto your garage floor, you will probably need a helper due to time constraints that occur once you mix the epoxy-resin into the color-coat material.

Step 4 - Applying Epoxy Finish

Depending upon what brand of epoxy garage floor finish you purchase, you should read the mixing and application instructions very carefully before you pop the lid on any of the ingredients. There are temperature constraints by each manufacturer concerning the air temps and the floor surface temp at the time of application, and you need to be within that range.

If you are going to tape-off (mask) any areas from the epoxy garage floor finish, do that before you mix any of your ingredients. Most people put a nice tape line at the overhead door(s) where they intend the finish to stop. Your editor's recommend not running the epoxy garage floor finish past the interior line of the overhead door. You may want to scribe that line onto the floor with a pencil-line mark before you start your masking operation.

There are various additives that can be mixed into the color-coat at the time the epoxy-resin is added for mixing, such as non-slip grit. If you want a slip-resistant floor, you should plan on that in advance. Keep in mind that after applying epoxy finish to your garage floor, you will be walking on a high-gloss surface which can be slippery, even when dry.

After mixing the epoxy-resin and any other additive into the color-coat, you will have to keep the mixed-compound away from direct sunlight. Your will want to work in 4' x 4' square zones. The best approach is to start in a back corner and have your helper cut-in with a brush along the walls to about 4" onto the floor surface. Then you can use a roller to cover the remaining area of the zone while your helper is cutting-in along the walls in the next zone.

As you finish rolling out the first zone and move over to the next zone, your helper can apply the various-colored chip finishes to the wet paint surface of the first zone. You need to blend each zone together with your roller at their common boundaries. Keep in mind you need to do this quickly. The epoxy-resin will not allow for any breaks once you start applying it, so get a rhythm going and stick with it until you have worked your way towards the overhead doors.

For the best overall results, you want to work wet-into-wet with the finish as you move from one zone to the next. So always start a new zone by first blending the wet finish into the edge of the last zone you just finished. The same wet-into-wet principle applies to those areas along the perimeter that were cut-in with a brush.

Humidity and temperature play a big part in how fast the epoxy-resin sets up. You don't have a lot of time for applying epoxy garage floor finish in the first place. If it is very hot and dry when you start the application process, you will have to work even faster than normal as the epoxy-resin will start setting up even faster in hot and dry conditions due to accelerated evaporation.

It is best to plan ahead and try to get some reference to the weather forecast in your area for the time period in which you plan your application. You don't want to work outside the temperature limits of the product as specified by the manufacturer. Some of the most successful periods for aoolying epoxy finish have occurred in the late summer-early fall time periods when the weather has been warm, yet still humid.

Next, visit our page: Curing Epoxy Finish to learn about that process.