Professional vs. DIY: Why Your Garage Floor Deserves Better

 Are There Any DIY Coating Options, Or Is Professional Application Recommended?

Thinking about sprucing up your garage floor with one of those DIY epoxy kits from the hardware store? You might want to hit pause on that project.

David Nanninga, president of Mile High Coatings, pulls back the curtain on why those tempting DIY concrete coating kits so often lead to disappointment and wasted money. With over 17 years of experience—much of it spent fixing failed DIY floors—David shares critical insights that you won't find on product packaging.

The differences between professional-grade applications and consumer kits are stark and significant. From improper concrete preparation using acid etching (which leaves behind a fine powder that prevents proper adhesion) to insufficient materials (most kits include just 2-3 pounds of decorative flakes when professionals use 50+ pounds), DIY solutions cut corners that directly impact longevity. Perhaps most deceptive is the common claim that these products "resist hot tire pickup"—when in reality, many DIY coatings bond better to your car tires than to your concrete floor!

While there's certainly satisfaction in completing home projects yourself, concrete coatings represent an area where professional application consistently delivers superior results. As David explains, once you factor in the cost of additional tools, specialized repair materials, and potentially having to redo the entire project after premature failure, the supposed savings of DIY quickly evaporate.

Whether you're considering a garage floor, basement, patio, or commercial space coating, this episode provides crucial information to help you make an informed decision that will stand the test of time. Ready to create a durable, beautiful concrete surface that truly lasts? Listen now to discover why professional application makes all the difference.

To learn more about Mile High Coatings visit:
https://www.MileHighCoatings.com
Mile High Coatings
970-314-1023

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Mile High Coatings podcast, where we
elevate your spaces to a newpeak in quality.
Hosted by David Nanega,president of Mile High Coatings,
this podcast explores howexpert residential painting,
concrete coatings and epoxyflooring can transform garages,
basements, patios and commercialspaces across Colorado's front

(00:25):
range.
So grab your favorite beverage,sit back and dive into the
world of high-quality coatings.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
DIY coating kits might seem tempting, but are
they really built to last?
David Nanica breaks down thepros and cons of going solo
versus hiring a pro and whathomeowners should know before
they crack open a bucket.
Welcome back everyone.
I am Millie M, co-host andproducer.
Back in the studio with DavidNanica, president of Mile High
Coatings.
How are you, david?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
I'm pretty good and how are you I'm doing?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
well, let's talk about something a lot of
homeowners wonder Are there anyDIY coding options or is
professional applicationrecommended?

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, we probably know where I'm going to go with
this one, but there are DIYoptions and I think probably
most people are likely familiarwith what you would find in a
big box store you know your HomeDepot, lowe's, you know
hardware store type of placesand certainly there are DIY kits

(01:31):
that can be ordered online.
But of course, you know, I'vebeen doing over 17 years and and
I have seen a lot of diy floorsbecause people call us
basically to fix or repair orcompletely redo their floor.
Um, you know, after very youknow it literally we've, we've

(01:54):
done.
I've seen floors that are two,three weeks old and, um, they're
already failing.
I mean it's, it's kind ofridiculous and you know, and
occasionally uh you know you,you see some they're maybe a
couple years old but again areclearly failing and um, and you
know, those homeowners typicallywant to have those redone

(02:14):
because they've they've alreadydone it once.
They used the DIY kit and, youknow, failed for whatever reason
.
So kind of a quick rundown ofsome of the key differences
between you know what, you knowwhat we do, versus what you
might find in a DIY, say, epoxykit.

(02:35):
I guess I should preface thiswith I.
I'm specifically referring togarage floors.
So, first and foremost,typically the epoxies that you
find in a you know.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
DIY kit.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
They're going to be kind of consumer grade.
They're going to be fairly easyto work with by design because,
clearly, of a homeowner, thisisn't something likely that a
homeowner does often, you know,each and every day.
They usually come with an acidmix.
A lot of times it's citric acid.

(03:09):
It could be something a littlebit more aggressive, but the
acid is to etch the concrete,which really is not a great way
to concrete, which which reallyis not a great way.
Um, and and when we firststarted, we actually did some
acid etching on on floors,thinking that that was
acceptable, because you lookonline and you know and and and

(03:32):
whatever, do some some kind ofbasic research and it seems like
, oh yeah, acid etching is agood way to prep for it it's's
really not.
Primarily because what happenswhen you etch a floor with acid
is it leaves behind what'scalled latents, so it's
basically like fine powder.
Essentially, what the acid isdoing, it's eating the top layer
of the concrete to produce someporosity and some profile is

(03:54):
what it's called.
But really it's also alteringthe pH of the concrete and in
that latents that that superfine powder can.
basically, it doesn't goanywhere, it sits down in the
concrete, so you got a reallyreally really rinse it off very
well, otherwise you'reessentially putting, you know,
coating over powder your dustyconcrete, even if you think it's

(04:15):
really clean.
So there's that.
Plus, the kits come with, likeyou know, a couple of pounds,
maybe three pounds of flakes,which is not nearly enough
flakes to to cover most garagefloors.
I mean, when we, when webroadcast our flakes, I mean we
usually have minimum 50 poundsand usually, you know, could be

(04:36):
a couple hundred pounds offlakes that we broadcast on the
floor, and so you can reallytell the DIY floor is because
the flakes are really sporadic,they can get heavy in light
spots, because they're just notenough to do a nice consistent
coat.
The kits usually are one coatplus flakes and that's it.
You might be able to find kitswith a clear coat, whereas we do

(04:59):
a three-coat application andwe're not using, obviously, a
consumer-grade epoxy.
We're using industrial-gradeproducts like polyaspartic.
We have other coating systemsthat we use, depending on what
the use of the floor is anddepending on what the customer
is looking to get out of it.
So it could be epoxy, it couldbe urethanes.

(05:19):
The use of the floor is and,depending on you know, what the
customer is looking to get outof it.
So it could be epoxy, it couldbe urethanes, and and so the
other thing to consider too isif concrete repairs need to be
done.
You know the diy kits don'tcome with repair materials, so
then, so then homeowners have tofigure out okay, what, how do I
repair this?
What do I need to use to repair?
And a lot of times the productsyou might find at Home Depot

(05:39):
aren't, you know, or those.
I don't want to call it HomeDepot specifically, but just
anywhere, in any, any you know,hardware store usually aren't
going to be sufficient inprobably a lot of cases the
other sort of this is where Ihave a love-hate relationship
with a DIY floor.
Or I should say, the kits isright on the box.

(06:01):
You know, they often will sayresist hot tire pickup.
And it's crazy to me that theycan put that on there, because
very clearly they do not resisthot tire pickup.
And what that is essentially is, once the coating is dry and
cured, you drive your, you know,you park your vehicle on it,
that tire obviously rolls on it,it sits on it, that epoxy

(06:24):
basically bonds to the tire andso when the car backs out the
next time it basically pulls offthe coating from the concrete.
So it's crazy that it actuallywill bond better to the tire
than to the concrete.
So our floors have a lifetimewarranty.
Never have hot tire pickup.
That's essentially just anon-issue.
You know, we diamond grind ourconcrete, we make sure we have

(06:47):
really good prep, we have dustcollection, we clean up the
floors really well before wecoat it, so so yeah people
exploring DIY floors.
I think maybe might want to kindof be prepared for to maybe be
let down or disappointed in thelong-term results, and of course
you know to maybe be let downor disappointed in the long-term

(07:09):
results and of course you know,you know, looking on YouTube or
whatever you know, for you knowhow to do it, how to actually
do it always makes it lookeasier than it really is.
So those are probably someimportant things.
Some other DIY concreteapplications are concrete stains
and I've seen a lot of thosefail because usually the
technology that again that youfind at a big box store, you

(07:34):
know the, the stains, the theyjust don't bond well and you
know we, you know we just seeissues with them all the time
people call us to to basicallycome and redo their you know
their patio or their walkway, orredo their you know their patio
or their walkway or their porchbasement, you know whatever it
is because they stay in theconcrete thinking, you know,
thinking they did it right andthey probably followed the

(07:54):
directions correctly and it justdoesn't last.
So we have definitely some otheroptions there for people that
want, you know, a nice outdoor.
You know coating that's goingto last.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
What I'm hearing you say is don't try this at home.
I remember from our previousconversation Well, I just
remember from our previousconversations about you talking
about the chemicals that areinvolved and I just personally
wouldn't feel comfortabledealing with those types of
things, and I heard someone makea statement once that the cheap
comes out expensive.

(08:26):
So, like you said, you mightthink you're saving some money
by doing it yourself, but if youhave to call in a professional
to come and fix you know whatwhat's wrong, you're just ending
up spending more money.
So I know a lot of us havegraduated from YouTube
university, but leave it to theprofessionals.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Well, and you know, the other thing too that a lot
of people don't necessarily takeinto consideration is, you know
, they may not have all theequipment or the tools needed to
do that.
So then they got to purchaseyou know supplies basically to
do all this.
And then if they think, oh yeah, I'm going to do it right, I'm

(09:04):
going to diamond grind it, yougot to go've got to go find for
one.
Good luck finding a place torent an actual, a decent diamond
grinder, plus dust collectionand all Really it does.
by the time you factor in thosereal costs, it generally doesn't
really make sense, unlessyou're just gung-ho and you just

(09:24):
really love that satisfactionof doing something yourself
which don't get me wrong isgreat, but if you don't
necessarily want to do it butyou're trying to just save money
, I'd maybe caution you toreconsider that.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well, I appreciate you, david.
Thank you so much for helpingus understand the real
differences between DIY andprofessional results, and in
this case, let's go professionaland call David with Mile High
Coatings.
We'll see you next time on theMile High Coatings podcast.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
Sounds good.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Thanks for tuning in to the Mile High Coatings
podcast.
Ready to give your space afresh, durable finish, visit
milehighcoatingscom for a freeprice quote or call 970-314-1023
.
At Mile High Coatings, we'renot just painting walls, we're
setting a new peak in quality.

(10:24):
Until next time, keep yourstandards high and your coatings
higher.