We've all seen the garage floor that peels after being coated with traditional store bought floor paints. Car tires have pulled up the paint and bare spots of concrete or the previous coating is showing like a bad sunburn. The problem with paints that are being sold as "concrete paints" is that they soften and reactivate themselves once a hot tire is rolled onto them. This reactivation causes the paint to stick to the rubber and lift, most times right down to the bare concrete.

If the floors happen to be in an automotive shop, machine shop, industrial or manufacturing environment, deterioration may be occurring if the surface remains uncoated. Concrete can be very porous, so oils and chemicals can penetrate the pores and attack the integrity of the slab. The surface of concrete can also be worn down by physical impact and abrasion. Water can sometimes penetrate concrete, freeze and expand inside it when the temperature drops, and ultimately weaken the concrete from within. In addition, if the concrete has reinforcing steel bar (rebar) to impart additional strength and other properties, the rebar can corrode contributing to the deterioration of the concrete.

We coat concrete to protect it from chemical and physical attack. We also coat it to protect products stored or processed in direct contact with the concrete from contamination caused by dust from the substrate. And we coat concrete to improve its appearance, ease of maintenance, and light reflectance. As long as coatings are properly applied to an adequately prepared concrete surface, they can prolong the life of the structure.