There’s no hiding that epoxy flooring has become one of the most popular flooring choices for businesses, basements, and garages in Vancouver. Unfortunately, there’s also no hiding the results of a DIY installation job gone bad.
Epoxy flooring has been steadily gaining momentum in places like Vancouver because it is versatile, durable, easy to maintain, and most importantly, impermeable. However, with its growing popularity has come an increase in the number of application fails, most often by those taking on projects with no previous experience.
Here are the five most common causes of DIY epoxy failures in Vancouver.
#1 Poor Preparation
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, and that is certainly true of installing epoxy flooring. Just because a floor looks clean doesn’t mean it’s ready for the cost of epoxy. Preparation is one of the most critical steps in the application process. Any surface flaws or unevenness, even those not visible to the naked eye could result in a disastrous finish, with problems like bubbling, chipping, and peeling.
#2 Insufficient Adhesion
Good adhesion is crucial to a proper epoxy installation. Unfortunately, many of the available DIY products do not perform as well as commercial epoxy flooring, resembling closer to a fortified latex paint than a true epoxy.
To adhere to a concrete surface effectively and avoid issues of peeling and lifting, epoxy coatings should have a bond strength that exceeds the pull strength of the concrete.
#3 Moisture and Humidity Problems
In a damp climate like Vancouver, moisture and humidity can be a major barrier to a seamless epoxy flooring finish.
Excess moisture in your concrete flooring can lead to efflorescence, a situation of elevated moisture vapour from the concrete slab rising to the surface and reacting with the concrete to create a white powdery substance. While it may be tempting to epoxy over this unsightly mess, excessive moisture in the concrete subfloor will in many cases cause the epoxy to lift and more seriously, could cause permanent damage to your substrate.
Excess humidity in the air during epoxy installation or curing is another challenge that often leads to epoxy flooring failure in Vancouver. If the humidity is too high it can cause the epoxy to sweat and blister, too low and the epoxy may not cure.
#4 Mixing Mishaps
Epoxy is a very finicky material. It needs to be mixed carefully, and the ratios need to be spot on otherwise it will lead to problems down the line. For instance, if your ratio of resin to hardener is off, the epoxy flooring will not cure; if there is too much air in the mixture, your epoxy flooring will end up looking cloudy or hazy.
#5 Sparse Application
To last, your epoxy coating needs to be at least 0.02 inches thick. Unfortunately, most DIY products are of poor quality and do not contain enough material, leaving you with spare surface coverage prone to premature wear and tear, chipping, and peeling.
