When it comes to a home improvement project of any kind, there are those that you can handle yourself and those you want to leave to professionals, or at least to a professional system that has been tested. For gearheads who really want to show our truck off, the garage floor needs to be just as nice as the vehicle parked on it. Vortex has taken the guesswork out of a floor coating that is both good-looking and tough. According to John Kott, President of Vortex Sprayliners, "The Granitex Baked On Floor System has been developed with over 50 years of experience in the coating industry." The coating was designed to go over virtually any surface such as concrete or wood, including other coatings that have become defective and ugly due to UV light fading and oxidizing them. Unlike other coatings, Vortex has made the system portable so it can come to you, and because the coating actually gets baked onto your floor, the finish dries quickly.
 1.As you can see, the floor...  1.As you can see, the floor is stained and the epoxy coating is chipped in some places. By the end of the day, the floor will look so much better it will be a shame to park a p.o.s on it. |  |  2.The first step is to clean...  2.The first step is to clean the surface with a degreaser and stain remover. This is accomplished by both scrubbing the surface (foreground) and using a power washer (background) if necessary. |
 3.After cleaning, the surface...  3.After cleaning, the surface is sealed with Super Seal. The Super Seal does two important things. It locks out moisture in the concrete that would normally cause a coating to lift. Many epoxy floors will end up with bubbles and blisters after a few months because of moisture that pushes its way through the concrete and pushes off the coating. The Super Seal prevents this. It is also an adhesive to bond the Granitex glaze and chips to the floor. |  |  4.Once the Super Seal has...  4.Once the Super Seal has been applied and dried, a coat of Granitex is applied with the Granitex HD8000 system. The Granitex HD system holds the two part Granitex glaze that is then heated, metered, pumped, and mixed prior to entering a perforated roller that applies the heated material directly to the floor. Chips are then broadcasted onto the glaze while it is still wet. They will create the color and granite-like look on the floor. Thousands of different color combinations are available to meet your demands. In this case, the color Tuscan Tan was chosen to give the garage a new clean and bright look. |
 5a.Once the Granitex Chips...  5a.Once the Granitex Chips have bonded to the surface, the excess chips are then vacuumed up and saved. Any remaining chips that may be on angles are trimmed down with a floor scraper to create a smoother surface. | 
5b. |  6a.At this point, the Granitex...  6a.At this point, the Granitex machine is outfitted with a power squeegee and filled with glaze. This replaces the power roller and was specifically designed by Vortex engineers to work with the Granitex system. It is used to put down an exact measure of the Granitex Clear glaze over the chips. Not enough glaze and you end up with dull spots that expose the raw chips; too much glaze and you get "pooling" or puddles forming on the surface that again can give you an uneven look or modeled surface. The Power Squeegee produces the exact amount of glaze every time for a uniform texture. |
6b. |  7.Once the floor dries hard...  7.Once the floor dries hard enough to walk on (about 45 minutes) a special cut stencil can be used to create any logo or design. A thin coat of clear is applied to the stencil, accenting chips are applied, and once cured another coat of clear is used to seal the chips permanently to the surface. | |
The Final WordOnce the floor is complete, in 24 hours you can park a truck on it. The floor looks great, and because the Granitex system is baked-on the finish will stay nice for a very long time. If insulating the floor is a concern to keep cold out and heat in, a coat of Vortex spray liner can be applied before the Granitex. The heat will be locked in the garage instead of it being sucked into the floor.