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Working Garage & Gutter Magic

Careers

Blog

Specials

Presto Garage and Gutter Logo - 195x186

Hours

Office M-F: 8AM-6PM; Sat: 8AM-3PM
Door Repair 24/7

Call Today

(704) 397-3002

Book Online

Free Consultation

Working Garage & Gutter Magic

Presto Garage and Gutter Logo - 195x186

Hours

Office M-F: 8AM-6PM; Sat: 8AM-3PM
Door Repair 24/7

Call Today

(704) 397-3002

Book Online

Free Consultation

Complete Guide to Garage Floors and Coatings

garage floor guide header

BY ROBERT BROOME, OWNER

Garage floors take a real beating— the average car weighs about 4,000 pounds, and a small pickup truck can weigh 5,000 to 7,000 pounds. If there are two or more vehicles in a garage, the burden on the floor grows significantly. Add in the people who walk through your garage, the equipment you store inside, and so forth—and our original statement stands: garage floors sure take a beating!

In response, people have tried numerous methods to protect their floors, and we’ll talk about several of them here. If you’re already interested in exploring the best garage floor coating available, one that’s both attractive and super tough, let’s talk! Just contact us online or call 704-397-3002 for our Charlotte office or 704-895-1006 to talk to someone in our Cornelius office.

Evolution of Garages

Before there were automobiles, people had stables and other types of outbuildings to store their horses and buggies, which were the most effective types of transportation available then. As autos were invented and people with enough money were buying them, it became clear that autos also needed to be stored—and, if their owners planned to still keep their horses, they couldn’t just use the same structures. 

For one thing, noisy vehicles would scare horses, and who wanted their autos to smell like manure? Innovative early solutions included public garages, portable ones, and private ones, too. To show how new the concept of garages really is, the English language didn’t even have a word for these structures until 1902, when they tweaked the French word of “garer” (which means to protect, shelter, or store) to come up with the modern word of “garage.”

By 1915, garages typically made up 8 percent of a home’s square footage. People clearly recognized the value of these structures because, post-1960, garages were taking up about 45 percent of an average home’s square footage. Today, nearly one in every five newly built garages is constructed to shelter at least three vehicles. 

So, 100 years after these structures became a thing, there was already a whole lot more to protect!

Evolution of Garage Floor Coverings

As garages themselves improved in quality, floors also got more attention, with dirt ones becoming covered with concrete. Although that improved the sturdiness, concrete surfaces were difficult to clean, got staind by chemicals, cracked, and otherwise looked unattractive.

In response, some people painted those floors. This improved the look, at least temporarily. Plus, over the years, the quality of some of the paint options has gotten better, adding more durability to the solution. Yet, it’s still temporary, with paint needing to be reapplied fairly often. ed by chemicals, cracked, and otherwise looked unattractive. 

Other people have purchased garage mats, placing them where cars are parked. These mats can catch dripping oil and chemicals so they don’t stain the floor. Still other people paint the floors and use mats—repainting, as needed, and replacing beat-up mats. Tiles can be laid down and protective material can be rolled out. In short, there’s certainly not a lack of low- to mid-level options available. 

To add more protection, some people have applied a garage floor sealer product to add more resistance to oils, chemicals, dirt, road salt and more. A big step forward were the epoxy floor coatings, and so we’ll describe that solution and then compare them to Presto NextGen® Flooring.

Epoxy Floor Coatings

Epoxy is a glue-like substance combining the function of paint with that of a garage floor sealer, giving people two products in one. Epoxy is applied like paint at a relatively low cost, coming in different colors and textures. If the price of a particular epoxy seems lower than others, take a second look because it may not have the slip resistance you need to prevent falls when flooring is wet or slick. 

Epoxy floor coatings clearly have advantages over many other solutions for garage floors. This material, though, also comes with significant disadvantages. For example, this material is applied in a way that’s similar to painting. But, if you’re going to DIY, you’ll need to do pretty intense floor prep, from sweeping to scrubbing, and pressure washing to grinding and, sometimes, that’s still not enough. Sometimes, an acid wash is required.

Next up is applying the epoxy, usually in several coats. Figure about two days before you can walk on this flooring and five days or more before you can drive on it again. 

Then, after doing all of that prep work, layering applications of epoxy, and waiting before use, an epoxy floor covering may not even last as long as floor tiles and rolled products. If the garage sub-flooring cracks, you’ll need to repair that before reapplying epoxy all over again. 

If we had to provide a review of epoxy floor coverings overall in just one sentence, here’s what it would be:

This option can be more effective than many garage floor coverings out there, but there’s something much better: Presto NextGen® Flooring.

Presto NextGen® Flooring: The Best Garage Floor Coating on the Market

This polyaspartic garage floor coating has all the benefits of epoxy floor coatings while also solving its challenges. In fact, this polyaspartic floor coating allows you to have a beautiful, ultra-tough, heavy-duty floor covering in your garage in just four hours—with this coating lasting 400 percent longer and curing 12 times faster than epoxy. Seriously!

Let’s break down eight of the benefits here.

  1. The polyaspartic compound we use resists stains that can occur because of chemicals, also resisting corrosion that can take place. So, no matter what gets dumped, dropped, dripped, or poured onto the floor, it still looks amazing. Compare that to epoxy coatings, which can be stained and/or corroded through chemical and liquid spills.
  2. Polyaspartic is scratch-, chip-, and fade-resistant, and doesn’t yellow. This superior material is actually twice as thick as epoxy, which is why it can withstand heavy foot traffic, as well as high impact force, for 400 percent longer.
  3. Garage floors need to endure a lot of punishment, and Presto NextGen provides the maximum in protection. For example, when vehicles pull into your garage, tires are hot from driving. Car and Driver notes how tires become 50 degrees hotter than surrounding temperatures and, in Charlotte a full one third of summer days reach 90 degrees. So, by adding 90 + 50, it’s quick and easy to see how often your garage floor must endure temps of 140 degrees! Under these conditions, epoxy coatings can lift up from the floor, but our solution is impervious to hot-tire pickups.
  4. With Presto NextGen, garage floors are glossy and beautiful and, because they’re so easy to clean, they easily stay looking like new. All that’s needed is a periodic dry sweep and a wet mop with mild detergent, as needed. There’s no stripping, waxing, or polishing required. No labor-intensive cleaning or costly maintenance is involved.
  5. Epoxy floor coatings need to be installed in temperatures that aren’t too hot or too cold. They need to be installed in just the right conditions, somewhere between 50⁰F to 80⁰F. Our polyaspartic garage floor coating can be installed year round, in just about any temperature. In fact, it can even be properly installed in near 0⁰F temperatures!
  6. Air quality within your garage is also important, and epoxy has the potential to worsen it. Polyaspartic, fortunately, is free from volatile organic compounds (VOC), making the material virtually odorless. It can even contribute towards satisfying Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) credits.
  7. The best materials, when improperly installed, won’t get you the results you want and need. That’s why, at Presto Garage & Gutter, we use skilled employees (not contractors) who are well trained, carefully vetted, and highly skilled professionals. During each installation, we examine the garage floor concrete first, fixing cracks and/or uneven spots to ensure the smoothest finish possible.
  8. As noted above, you’d need to wait two days before walking on a garage floor with epoxy coatings and at least five days before driving on it. We install our NextGen Flooring within just four hours. Walk on it and return your garage belongings in six hours and drive on it in 24!
Need a ninth benefit? Our polyaspartic floor coatings are beautiful! Here is our garage floor gallery featuring just a few of our completed projects. 

Garage Flooring Installation

At Presto Garage & Gutter, we’ve made a deliberate choice to hire garage floor installers, rather than using subcontractors. There are subcontractors, of course, who do good work. Others, though, don’t. That can be because of a lack of training or skills, or the person not having enough passion to pull off premium results.

So, for great quality control, we only use our own employees for our garage flooring installations. We carefully vet our crews, which means thorough background checking and drug testing. Plus, we create their schedules while, with subcontractors, they make their own. This gives Presto Garage & Gutter the ability to have the installers arrive right when scheduled. You can even text your installers to check where they are, en route to your home. 

We hire for talent. We hire for attitude. We hire only the top one percent of applicants.  We care deeply about your installation experience, so we only hire people who are friendly, courteous, and reliable. In short, we hire the cream of the crop. Only.

Besides choosing precisely the right people, we use time-tested, proven processes on each project. This includes rigorous training from the ground up with our proprietary processes, as new employees apprentice under experienced ones until they become proficient. Next up, they handle simpler jobs on their own and, when ready, more complex ones.

This process takes about six months, with results that are 100 perfect worth the investment in time. You’ll benefit by having garage floor installers with the optimal amount of experience, knowledge, and skill. In fact, we’d go so far as to say these are the most skilled installers in the Metro Charlotte area.

Here’s another reason to choose Presto Garage & Gutter: Our garage floor installers only do garage floor installations. They don’t get assigned, for example, to projects involving any of the other services and products we offer, such as garage doors or gutter guards. That’s because we want each team member to specialize and be the best at what they do. We want their specialty—in this case, floor installation —to have 100 percent of their attention, so they can direct 100 percent of their unrivaled attention and skills toward you. 

Our installers have an average of five years’ worth of experience and, when added up, that totals an incredible 180 years of know-how at Presto Garage & Gutter. So, when choosing our company, you’re saying “yes” to seasoned veterans. Talent in this industry is hard to come by, so we treat our employees well, doing everything we can to keep those with the “it factor”!

No Pressure Presto Design Consultation™

Whether you’re ready to get a new garage floor covering, or whether you’re still exploring possibilities, we invite you to talk to one of our experienced consultants about polyaspartic garage floor coverings. During that consultation, we won’t just toss down a catalog and tell you to pick out what you want. On the other hand, we won’t pressure you into making a decision. Instead, we consult, meaning to offer you a free discussion with a design professional. 

In our exclusive consultation process, offered virtually, we help you to custom-create your dream garage flooring, one that’s eye-catching and attractive while also being beautifully durable: long-lasting and tough as nails. We’ll also ensure that the flooring you choose is perfectly calibrated for your needs, as well as your budget. Through our proprietary Needs Analysis, you can also compare choices to eliminate surprises and regrets, homing in on exactly what’s right for you. 

Presto NextGen® Flooring Costs

 

Our polyaspartic garage coating is not the cheapest option on the market today, but we believe it’s the best—while also fully acknowledging that our flooring is an investment in your home. To help you have superior garage flooring, we’ve made sure that easy financing is available with excellent terms for people with credit scores of 580 and above. You can get pre-approved in 60 seconds and, with approved credit, no-interest plans are also available. Financing is available for projects that start at $1,000 and pre-approval comes with a soft credit pull that won’t have an affect on your credit scores.

Why Choose Presto Garage & Gutter

“Presto was fantastic. Explained everything in detail, worked fast, and were very professional. Would recommend this company to anyone.”

 

Awards and recognition we’ve earned include:

  • Angie’s List Super Service Award (2011-Present): This is one of the home improvement industry’s most recognizable symbols of trustworthiness. To be granted an award, the company must maintain an “A” rating, pass a background check, receive a certain number of reviews, and be in excellent standing with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
  • HomeAdvisor Screened & Approved: To have this status, a company must be vetted every two years and pass a comprehensive screening process.
  • Houzz Recommended Contractor: We have been honored as an official “Recommended On Houzz” contractor by this established brand.
  • National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) Certification: Members of NARI are committed to integrity, high standards, professionalism, and more—and that, we are.

So, why are we getting all these great reviews, certifications, and awards? From our design services to the quality of our materials, and from our in-house installers to no-nonsense warranties, relentless reliability, and proven processes, Presto Garage & Gutter provides all that’s needed and more for new garage floors in North Carolina. 

There’s also the matter of insurance. Sixty percent of contractors don’t have the proper insurance. This means that, if an accident happens on your property, you aren’t appropriately protected. At Presto, we carry all proper insurance, including workers’ comp, so that you won’t be liable if any incidents occur. When we meet with you, we’ll show you proof of our insurance. That way, you’ll know you’re dealing with a professional company that operates with absolute integrity. Talk about giving our customers peace of mind!

Plus, we don’t play pricing games. Thanks to our special technology, we’ll provide you with instant, transparent pricing in real time, showing you exactly where your money will go—down to the last penny. After we’ve provided you with a firm quote, we’ll step back to give you time to make your decision. We don’t do hard closes.

If you decide to move forward, that’s wonderful! We’ll be thrilled to serve you and, throughout your project, your pricing will remain the same as we put all of our focus on providing you with your flooring of choice in a refreshingly low stress environment. 

To ask questions or to get started on the process, please contact us online or call us in Charlotte, North Carolina at 704-397-3002 or in Cornelius, North Carolina at 704-895-1006. We look forward to meeting you and talking about the best garage floor coatings available today!

Give Us A Call: (704) 397-3002

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