Garage Floor Epoxy: Why It’s the Best Choice for a Stronger Base Coat

In Michigan, garage flooring takes a beating—from snowy boots and road salt to humid summers and freezing winters. That’s why Garage Floor Coating of Michigan uses garage floor epoxy as the base coat in every install. It’s not just a preference—it’s a performance choice.

Garage Floor Epoxy Bonds Better in Michigan Weather

Epoxy doesn’t dry in a hurry. That’s a good thing. Its slower cure time means it’s the perfect direct-to-concrete base coat. It has time to penetrate the pores of your concrete slab (we allow a full day), creating a strong, permanent bond. Quick-curing polyurea and polyaspartic coatings are often used as both the base coat and clear top coat in “1-day” systems. They need to, in order to get the installation completed in the promised one day.

But these fast-cure coatings cure so fast in the presence of moisture, that they fail to adequately penetrate the concrete slab. As such, they sit atop the slab and are susceptible to moisture-related issues.

Moisture Mitigation You Can Rely On

Michigan garages are exposed to water, snowmelt, and humidity—sometimes all in a single week. Garage floor epoxy acts as a moisture vapor barrier, sealing the concrete surface and helping block vapor from rising through the slab. That means no bubbling, peeling, or flaking caused by hydrostatic pressure. Thin, poor-penetrating polyurea-polyaspartic coatings, when used as base coats, just don’t deliver the same defensive power.

More Thickness = More Durability

In addition, an epoxy is a “high-build” coating, meaning it can be applied in thicker layers. It provides a solid foundation that can handle Michigan’s toughest moisture conditions. Conversely, polyurea-polyaspartic coatings can only be applied thinly (due to the inherent chemistry). The combination of poor concrete penetration and thin application make these coatings poor base coats…they are excellent coatings but best used as clear top coats only.