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Decorative Chip Concrete Garage Floor Finishes

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Greg Bell in Blog with Comments Disabled

Your garage floor is likely the last place you thought you’d renovate in your home. Lately, in the last 10 years or so, decorative chip finishes for garage floors have been popping up everywhere.

Many contractors in various fields have been adding garage chip flooring to their repertoire. The thought process is often “well I’m already doing their central vac, I may as well do their garage floor while I am there!” While this is sound business thinking, it may not be the best for the consumer at the other end of the transaction. flake floor garage finish chip floor ottawa

Decorative garage chip floors go much deeper than the surface you walk on. There is a very specific and technical method that must be followed to ensure the longest lasting decorative chip coating possible.

Concrete flooring contractors know that when it comes to any kind of chip floor, surface preparation is key. You don’t want to hire a contractor who doesn’t have concrete grinding or shot blasting equipment for surface preparation. You want a contractor who has the know how and equipment to properly abrade your floor to ensure the entire decorative chip system is able to seep into the concrete garage floor and expand into it’s pores. This is key for a long lasting and durable installation.

You can read more about surface preparation and the perils of skipping steps or attempting a DIY decorative chip floor elsewhere on this blog.

On the topic of decorative chip choices: There are MANY. Rest easy though, usually a concrete flooring contractor will provide a basic book of samples of decorative chip options. There are always custom blends available of course.

Decorative chips are essentially smashed up little pieces of vinyl. They are available in sizes from 1/32 all the way to 1 inch. The most common, and in my opinion the nicest, are 1/16″ and 1/4″ flakes.

If you have a floor that isn’t quite perfect in terms of smoothness or levelness, a 1/4″ chip is your best bet. 1/16″ chips show more imperfections. However, there are base coats that are self-levelling which can be applied prior to installing a decorative chip floor.

If you level out and smooth your floor with self-levelling epoxy first, you can easily go ahead with 1/16″ flakes for a super rich and less busy look.

Contact us today to discover your options in decorative chip concrete garage floor finishes.

What You Should Know About Garage Floor Finishes

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Greg Bell in News with Comments Disabled

The garage floor in your home is the only surface left unprotected when installed. If you have a smooth finished garage floor, it can be slippery when it’s wet or cold. If you have a broom finished garage floor (which is when it has a series of textured lines in it) it is more likely to be porous and as a result, will often become eroded and worn away much sooner from salt and other contaminants from the street and vehicles.

Regardless of the type of floor that you currently have, if it hasn’t been sealed, or treated to repel water, road salts, gasoline, oils, rad fluid, brake fluid, transmission fluid and other potentiality staining and damaging chemicals, it is never too late to renew, refresh and protect your floor to extend its longevity.

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There are so many options when choosing a garage floor finish. It is often difficult to narrow it down to one choice especially given the fact that most options fall within the same price range.

When deciding on a floor finish, it’s important to consider the consequences of choosing the wrong option. Floating floors, such as plastic or rubber tiles will sometimes trap moisture in the surface of the concrete, which will in turn, increase the rate at which it will deteriorate. The goal is to protect the concrete and reduce or eliminate the possibility of your slab being damaged.

While aesthetically pleasing, polished concrete is not the best option for a garage that will not be cleaned regularly such as a commercial location. It is porous and without consistent upkeep, will become more porous allowing salt to eat away at your floor.

A sealed overlay or epoxy coating on you garage floor is the best option because it will prevent the floor from being exposed to contaminants that can damage it.

One of the fun advantages of shopping for a solution for your perfect garage floor finish, is that all of the coatings and overlay options allow you the freedom to customize the look and feel of your garage with colours, patterns, textures, embedded images, borders, exposed aggregate, sheen options and many more features to choose from. You can truly have a unique garage unlike any other in your neighbourhood.

The first step in choosing a garage floor finish is to contact us to discus your project budget and what options fit within it, and then request a free on site estimate and evaluation of your slab.