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Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Concrete Garage Floor

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Greg Bell in Blog with Comments Disabled

Concrete garage floors are quite easy to maintain and don’t require much care and attention from property owners. However, you can extend the life of your garage floor with a little TLC, and in turn save some money in the long run. At The Floor Company, we recommend that you take the following steps to clean and maintain your concrete garage floors.concrete garage flooring maintenance ottawa

Use Recommended Cleaning Solutions

It’s easy to be careless with concrete garage floors because they’re very resilient and durable. However, some coatings and finishing wax on your floor aren’t as resilient as the original concrete surface itself. When you clean your floors, you need to use agents that are recommended by the contractor or the coating and wax manufacturer. This will preserve the coating and seal for a long time and ensure you won’t have to reapply them too often.

Proper Cleaning Process 

Garage floors can become dirty very easily because of chemical spills and oil stains. The grease can accumulate over time and cause permanent damage to the surface. One of the best ways to avoid this is to clean the floor thoroughly. You won’t be able to do a thorough clean as often as you like, but two to three times a year is ideal.

Summer is a good place to start because the weather is very favourable. You can remove all of the unattached items present on the floor, and sweep and scrub the surface. This will remove all of the accumulated dirt and grime from areas that you didn’t have access to before.

Floor Sealer 

If your floor isn’t polished, you need to apply a floor sealer to protect the concrete from stains and grease. Sealers, even impregnating sealers, can erode over time and need to be reapplied. Summer is a great time for this because no moisture will be trapped underneath the sealer solution and it will dry quickly.

You can also apply wax over the sealer as an added protection against grease and oil stains that are prominent in garages. These coatings will wear off based on the quality of the product so you should choose something that’s long lasting.

For information on concrete garage floors or to get an estimate, you can contact us at The Floor Company. If you’re calling from Ottawa and surrounding areas, dial 1800 461 3121. If you’re calling from Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough and Durham, dial 1877 277 9877. You can also email us at info@thefloorcompany.com or fill in this contact us form

 

The Floor Company

Address: 1117 Newmarket Street, Unit B, Ottawa, ON K1B 4N4
Phone:(613) 706-6664

Ripping Out a Concrete Slab Vs Resurfacing It

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

When the time comes to finally admit that your concrete slab is completely shot, think again, it may not be!

It’s very common for us to be called out to see a floor and quote on replacing it only to find that replacing that slab would not only be unnecessary, but more costly than being repaired or resurfacing.

Another detail to consider when going down this path is the fact that even if you do replace a slab that appears to be beyond its years, you end up with a new, unprotected slab, that could see the same fate again.

concrete slab resurfacingConsider this: If the reason you wish to replace your concrete slab is because of surface imperfections like pitting, cracking, mottling or other unsightly issues, a resurfacing product like a self levelling epoxy or one of many other options may do a even better job than new concrete would.

Here is what we mean. By resurfacing a badly pitted or cracked slab with, for example, self-levelling epoxy, you not only get the new, pretty, smooth and easy to clean surface but this new surface is also impervious to the chemical and mechanical attacks that caused it to erode in the first place.

Another benefit is that with epoxy treatments you can choose colours, patterns, graphics, non-slip additives, logos, gloss sheens and more and build these features into the repair cost and process for your floor.

Rather than pay the cost financially of ripping out the old and bringing in the new, not to mention the environmental cost, why not use less material, time and often less money to get a new surface that will outperform the old and provide the custom usability you need?

If your slab is presenting other issues like damp spots appearing with no moisture causing scenarios above grade or if the slab is heaving, meaning the slab is higher on one side of the crack than the other, you may still need to remove the slab.

Usually, with heaving or moisture issues there is a problem below or adjacent to the slab that needs to be addressed. Resurfacing a slab showing these symptoms is a bad idea. The work done to “cover up” the problem will not only come undone in short time but it could make the underlying issues worse.

In closing, consider keeping your old beat up slab a little while longer, it could save you a lot of money and give you a beautiful new and stronger than ever surface.

Contact us today for a free slab evaluation. You may be glad you did.

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.

residential garage floors ottawa

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.