thegarageguy
Well-known member
Hi everyone,
I just ran into this site and felt I had to join. Let me give you a bit of my background. Five years ago, I was looking to finish my garage. I went to the Home Depot and bought the floor epoxy kit and followed the directions to the T! Needless to say, it failed miserably. Within weeks it began peeling. Meanwhile I was looking to get a workbench and storage cabinets to complete my look. I failed to find anything good. All I could find was cheap plastic shelves and cabinets. I went to Grainger and found some stuff but I was still felt with an empty feeling. Nothing matched, it looked all pieced together. Awful!
Within this time period I came across an ad in a dirtbike magazine. It was the most amazine garage I had ever seen. Unbelievable! It was like my thoughts where translated into this ad. Custom cabinets, storage up on the walls and this incredible looking floor. At the bottom of the page It read, "Looking for Dealers". I jumped at the chance and now I've been in the garage transformation business ever since. I will not say which company I own because I do not want to look like I am fishing for buisness. Somehow, I feel any answers I may give to help might not feel genuine if you know who I am. But be that as it may. On the flooring side, everything I learned as far as epoxy flooring goes I threw out the window. I originally learned to acid etch to prep. I learned the hard way that acid etching is very inconsitant. It may of penetrated in one area but maybe not another. Being that there are various grades of concrete and even some with sealers, it was a huge **** shoot with acid. I also learned originally to patch with "bondo". Not a good idea, especially in cracks. Speaking of cracks, I learned that they have to be chased open then filled with a flexible epoxy. Depending on the severity of the crack, maybe more than one patch. Basically everything I learned about flooring in Caifornia is not longer being used in my company. Concrete in the north east has alot of movement compared to sunny Cali or Arizona so preeping has to be approched more carefully. Originally I only offered 4 solid color and 6 granite look colors. I know offer any color solid, over 40 granite color and combos along with a colored quartz system with over 30 color and and combos. Any of my floors can be color matched to any paint and I can even enbed hi res graphics in the epoxy. I also now not only do residential garages but also basements, warehouses, quick lubes, labs, commercial kitchens, baths and kennels. I have learned great techiniques and applications from another company in the north east. Even though they are a bit more expensive, they are a bit more local and provide me with uncomparable customer service and feed me leads regularly.
I also carry a cabinet line specifically designed for a garage and sell and install a slew of wall and overhead storage and accessories. I am constantly looking for new and innovative ideas to give me a competitive advantage over my competition. I may not know it all but I feel my experiences and my passion may help some people on here. Hopefully I can contribute to this forum in a positive way.
I just ran into this site and felt I had to join. Let me give you a bit of my background. Five years ago, I was looking to finish my garage. I went to the Home Depot and bought the floor epoxy kit and followed the directions to the T! Needless to say, it failed miserably. Within weeks it began peeling. Meanwhile I was looking to get a workbench and storage cabinets to complete my look. I failed to find anything good. All I could find was cheap plastic shelves and cabinets. I went to Grainger and found some stuff but I was still felt with an empty feeling. Nothing matched, it looked all pieced together. Awful!
Within this time period I came across an ad in a dirtbike magazine. It was the most amazine garage I had ever seen. Unbelievable! It was like my thoughts where translated into this ad. Custom cabinets, storage up on the walls and this incredible looking floor. At the bottom of the page It read, "Looking for Dealers". I jumped at the chance and now I've been in the garage transformation business ever since. I will not say which company I own because I do not want to look like I am fishing for buisness. Somehow, I feel any answers I may give to help might not feel genuine if you know who I am. But be that as it may. On the flooring side, everything I learned as far as epoxy flooring goes I threw out the window. I originally learned to acid etch to prep. I learned the hard way that acid etching is very inconsitant. It may of penetrated in one area but maybe not another. Being that there are various grades of concrete and even some with sealers, it was a huge **** shoot with acid. I also learned originally to patch with "bondo". Not a good idea, especially in cracks. Speaking of cracks, I learned that they have to be chased open then filled with a flexible epoxy. Depending on the severity of the crack, maybe more than one patch. Basically everything I learned about flooring in Caifornia is not longer being used in my company. Concrete in the north east has alot of movement compared to sunny Cali or Arizona so preeping has to be approched more carefully. Originally I only offered 4 solid color and 6 granite look colors. I know offer any color solid, over 40 granite color and combos along with a colored quartz system with over 30 color and and combos. Any of my floors can be color matched to any paint and I can even enbed hi res graphics in the epoxy. I also now not only do residential garages but also basements, warehouses, quick lubes, labs, commercial kitchens, baths and kennels. I have learned great techiniques and applications from another company in the north east. Even though they are a bit more expensive, they are a bit more local and provide me with uncomparable customer service and feed me leads regularly.
I also carry a cabinet line specifically designed for a garage and sell and install a slew of wall and overhead storage and accessories. I am constantly looking for new and innovative ideas to give me a competitive advantage over my competition. I may not know it all but I feel my experiences and my passion may help some people on here. Hopefully I can contribute to this forum in a positive way.
