6 DIY Garage Epoxy Mistakes Lehi Homeowners Make

The DIY garage epoxy mistakes we see most in Lehi are coating a cold slab, leaving winter road salt in the concrete, relying on acid etch instead of grinding, coating damp concrete, and skipping the topcoat and crack repair. Any one of those can make a kit floor peel by spring, so call 435-773-8856 for a free on-site estimate if you want it done once.

We get it. A kit costs less than a crew, and the box makes it look like a Saturday job. Some kit floors turn out fine. A lot of the ones we see in Utah County start lifting after the first winter, and it is almost always for the same few reasons. If you are going to do it yourself, here are the six mistakes to avoid in a Lehi garage.

1. Coating a cold slab

Coatings need the concrete and the air to be warm enough to cure. A Lehi garage in late fall, early spring, or on a chilly night can drop below what the label calls for, even if the afternoon felt mild. A coating that goes on a cold slab can stay tacky, cure soft, or never bond properly, and you will not know until it starts peeling. Check the slab temperature with an inexpensive infrared thermometer, not just the air, and compare it to the label. Plan your weekend for warm days with warm nights, and leave extra time before you drive on it.

2. Leaving winter salt in the concrete

By spring, the parking lanes in most Lehi garages are full of salt from snowmelt. Some of it is visible as a white film. A lot of it is down in the pores of the concrete where you cannot see it. Coating over that salt is like painting over dust. The coating sticks to the residue instead of the slab, and it can let go. Before any coating, the floor needs a thorough scrub and rinse, more than once if the salt is heavy, and then enough time to dry completely. Grinding removes the salty top layer, which is one more reason it beats an etch.

3. Trusting the acid etch that came in the box

Kits come with an etching product because it is easy to ship and easy to use. It does roughen the surface a little. What it does not do is cut through sealers, old paint, salt-damaged concrete, or the weak top layer of the slab. That leaves the coating stuck to the weakest part of the floor. In a Lehi garage, where hot tires pull at the coating in summer and freeze and thaw works on it in winter, that weak bond is usually where failures start. A diamond grinder fixes it. See grind vs acid etch for why we grind every floor.

4. Coating damp concrete

Concrete can look dry and still be holding water, especially in spring when snowmelt has been sitting on and around the slab for months, or on the side of the garage near sprinklers. Moisture pushing up from below can make a coating bubble or peel. Before you coat, tape a square of clear plastic to the floor and leave it overnight. If the concrete under it is darker or the plastic has droplets underneath, the slab is not ready for a standard kit. Give it more time to dry, or have a pro check it. We do a moisture check before we coat any floor.

5. One thin coat and no topcoat

Most kits put down a single thin coat. On a Lehi garage floor, that thin coat has to handle salty slush in January, hot tires in July, and sun coming through the door in the afternoon. It usually cannot. Tires start printing and lifting it, salt dulls it, and it wears through in the lanes. A floor that lasts is built up in layers: a base coat, flake if you want it, and a clear topcoat made for heat, UV, and salt. If you go DIY, look for a system with a real topcoat, and do not skimp on thickness. See hot tires and UV for the summer side.

6. Skipping the cracks, edges, and door threshold

Cracks and chips are easy to roll right over, but freeze and thaw will find them. Water gets in at an open crack or a chipped edge, freezes, and lifts the coating around it. The edge by the garage door takes the worst of this because snowmelt runs there. Before coating, fill cracks and patch chips with a compatible repair product and let it cure. Grind or sand the edges along the walls, too, so the coating bonds all the way to the perimeter instead of peeling back from the corners. Small details at the edges decide whether a kit floor lasts through a winter.

When a kit is fine, and when to call

A kit can work for a small shop corner, a storage area you do not park in, or a garage that never sees winter cars. If your garage parks cars through Lehi winters, has salt damage or old paint, or you just want it done once, call or text 435-773-8856 with your city and a rough garage size. We come out for a free on-site estimate, diamond grind the slab, fill cracks, and finish with a polyaspartic topcoat. See garage epoxy floors for what goes on the slab and the FAQ for more answers. We do not publish rates online.

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