"Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should."
This is a saying that I constantly reiterate to my staff and sometimes to our customers. Usually, it's because someone has asked us to utilize our epoxy coatings in a way that is outside of their appropriate usage model. Or, we receive a request to install other types of concrete coatings or decorative concrete overlays that we have purposely chosen not to install.
Below, we've listed one example of a flooring system request we've received - and why it's not a good idea.
Epoxy and Stone - BAD Idea
One request that we've received quite a few times is to install a type of flooring system that combines fine stone and epoxy, often under the names of Nature Stone®, EverStone®, or CrownStone®. These types of epoxy flooring systems are now marketed as appropriate for basements, garages, and other internal rooms. In years prior, they were only marketed for patios and porch decks.
While these systems are often aesthetically pleasing, for homeowners in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, this system is not a good idea to install.
Why have we chosen not to install stone epoxy flooring in Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Virginia?
Water Gets Trapped in Stones
STRONGHOLD FLOORS doesn't install stone epoxy flooring for many reasons. One reason is because this flooring system allows water to go down between the stones. Because of this, if water enters your garage or basement, it will get stuck in the stones. This will lead to odor, mildew, and mold.
Nightmare to Clean
These epoxy and stone flooring systems also allow dirt to enter the cavities between the stones. Given the amount of road salt, small stones, and road grime our tires bring in during the winter, this system would be a nightmare to keep clean. Spraying water wouldn't work, as the water would have no place to go. Worse, your vehicle may drip oil or anti-freeze, giving the chemicals free reign to invade the surface of your floor.
Can't Survive Winter Freeze/Thaw Cycles
Speaking of winter, a system that allows water to lie within it cannot survive the freeze and thaw cycles that are common to our winters. The last five times I've seen these systems already installed, all of them were heavily damaged by water freezing and lifting the upper stones. Sure, these systems may work well in Florida, Arizona, and southern California. They don't, however, work well in Harrisburg, Leesburg, or Baltimore.
Our Recommendation? Decorative Chip, Epoxy Floor Coatings.
For homeowners in our service area that are searching for epoxy and stone flooring systems for their garage, we recommend our decorative chip, epoxy floor coatings.
Only a flooring system that fully traps water above it can be quickly dried and not allow mold/mildew. The fact that our decorative chip and metallic epoxy systems meets the FDA requirements for commercial kitchens is the same reason it works well in the garage or basement.
Our decorative chip systems lack pores, allowing the water to lay on the surface and giving it no opportunity for mold to grow. Oil and spilled gasoline can also be cleaned up with nothing more than a paper towel. We even wrote an entire blog post on how to keep our coatings clean: 12 Tips for Use & Care of Your Epoxy Floor Coatings.
A picture showing the before and after of applying our decorative chip, epoxy floor coatings in a garage in Fairfax, Virginia.
We're also partnered with many homebuilders to install our floor coatings in the garages of their newly-built homes, including Toll Brothers, Miller & Smith, and Roland Builder. If our floor coatings didn't last, these homebuilders wouldn't still be using us to this day.
Deciding on a Flooring Solution
There are so many flooring systems out there today for use in and around the home that it becomes overwhelming. A couple suggestions I often provide to undecided homeowners are:
- Find out how long these systems have been installed in the geographic area and how they've held up. Go see them for yourselves, if possible.
- Find out which homebuilders utilize these types of flooring systems. Homebuilders don't continue to use systems that create headaches for them later.
- Talk to homeowners who have had these flooring systems for years and find out what they liked and didn't like.
Be careful before paying for a basement, porch, or garage floor coating system. And remember one of the rules of STRONGHOLD FLOORS:
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
