If you’re investing in garage flooring in your Toledo-area home, you’ve probably heard it all: industrial-strength coatings, lifetime protection, fast installs, national brands.
But here’s what most companies won’t tell you: the long-term performance of your garage floor has less to do with branding and more to do with what’s underneath it all.
The Real Reason Some Floors Last, and Others Don’t
At Garage Floor Coating – The Great Lakes, we’ve seen how coatings fail when the wrong system is applied, no matter how flashy the name on the brochure. Most failures come down to one missing step: moisture mitigation.
Here’s what our 2-day installation process looks like when done right:
Day One:
- We mechanically grind the concrete with commercial diamond grinders to open up the pores.
- Then we apply a slow-curing, 100%-solids, moisture-mitigating epoxy primer coat direct-to-concrete; it acts as a thick moisture vapor barrier, essential in Ohio’s weather extremes.
- While the primer coat is still wet, we broadcast vinyl or mica-infused flake blends in a full flake spread into the coating for strength, beauty and texture.
Day Two:
- We allow for over night curing (the slow curing allows the primer coat to deeply penetrate and strongly bond with the concrete slab).
- We then apply two coats (not just one!) of our clear, 100%-solids polyaspartic topcoat.
- These dual UV-stable, chemical-resistant layers protect against hot tire pickup, salt, and staining.
The result? A thick garage floor coating that can last 30 years or more, backed by a lifetime warranty against delamination, even from moisture vapor.
Why Brand-Name 1-Day Systems Fall Short
Many “1-day” systems skip critical steps like moisture mitigation by applying a fast-drying, poorly-penetrating polyurea-polyaspartic primer coat (in lieu of a slow-curing, moisture-mitigating epoxy). In addition, they apply a single (less-than-100%-solids) clear topcoat only! The issues follow quickly:
- Peeling and bubbling due to moisture vapor transmission
- Hot tire transfer, aka plasticizer migration, after a few seasons (or they may ask you to park your car on vehicle pads!)
These coatings may look good at first—but in Ohio’s variable climate, they don’t hold up.
Don’t Shop Labels. Shop Systems
When it comes to garage flooring, don’t get distracted by branding. The true test of a coating is how it’s installed, what it’s made of, and how well it performs through Ohio winters and summer heat.
Contact Garage Floor Coating – The Great Lakes today for a free quote, and get a coating that’s built to last.