Floor coatings are an excellent way to improve upon the appearance and functionality of your floors – when properly installed. However, floor coatings involve quite a bit of prep work and expertise in order to ensure proper installation. DIYers and professionals alike can cut corners or simply lack the necessary skills, equipment, and time in order to ensure a job well done.
While some minor mistakes could potentially be fixed, in many cases, if your floor coating was poorly installed, you likely will need to have it removed and replaced. To avoid such expenses and stressors, it’s best to work with experienced professionals who know the common – and not so common! – mistakes that people can make and how to avoid them so that your floor coating comes out beautifully.
Here are some of the telltale signs that your floor coating was poorly installed.
#1. Bubbling
A properly installed floor coating should be nice and smooth, or with a texture that you asked for. There should be no bubbling. If your coating is bubbling, there are several ways in which the installer could have gone wrong in order for this to occur.
- Incorrect mixing. If the coating products were not mixed together correctly, at the correct ratio, speed, and for the right amount of time, this can cause air bubbles to appear.
- Concrete outgassing. This is talking about when concrete has more pockets of air that can be released after the floor prepper. If the installer does not account for this, this can lead to bubbles in your coating.
- Rushed application. In an effort to get the job done, some installers may try to rush through the application process. This can lead to bubbling due to the lack of care and time needed for coats to cure.
#2. Not Bonding With Your Concrete
This usually happens more with polyaspartic coatings, due to their quick-curing nature. Moisture can prevent coatings from bonding with your concrete. If there’s too much moisture in your concrete, this can prevent the coating from adhering as it should. This can cause your coating to be less durable and to not last as long as it would otherwise. It can also prevent the coating from curing correctly. Excessive humidity can also cause this problem to occur.
Professional coating installers should check the condition of your concrete prior to the job. This includes checking for damages, as well as checking the moisture content of the concrete.
#3. Tacky Or Gooey Coatings
If the allotted cure time has passed and your coating is still tacky or gooey to the touch, this can be a sign that your floor coating was poorly installed. By the time the floor coating is cured, it should be hard and solid. If it’s gummy or sticky, this can be because of a few different problems in the installation process that prevented it from curing.
- Incorrect mixing. If the coating is not mixed together properly or the installer forgot to add part of the product to the mix, this can cause the coating to not cure.
- Temperatures that are too cold. If the installer tries to install a coating when it’s too cold, this can impact the curing process, and lead to a gummy floor coating.
#4. Hard Lumps
If your floor coating has hard lumps in it, this is usually from dirt and grime, either from a failure to clean the floor properly prior to application or from using dirty equipment. Professional coating installers are careful to keep their equipment clean and in good condition and to ensure that your floor is nice and clean and properly prepped prior to application in order to avoid this mistake.
#5. Peeling
Now, this depends on the type of coating that you had installed. For instance, if you used a garage floor paint, these will end up peeling over time due to wear and tear, even if you did everything right.
However, when it comes to professional floor coatings, peeling is a sign of poor installation. Peeling can result from a failure to properly prepare the floor. Floors should be ground or shot blasted and have all contaminants removed. If the installer is not careful to ensure that the floor is clean, your coating could end up peeling.
Get Your Floor Coating Done Right – The First Time!
Solid Custom Floor Coatings Utah takes pride in our detail-oriented work and close communication with our customers. All of our installers are properly trained in order to ensure that they know how to avoid mistakes such as those listed above. Contact us today to receive an estimate for your top-quality floor coating installed by experts who care.
