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In new construction garages, garage floor coverings are all the rave. Although one might think of paint as the most obvious solution, there are many garage floor covering options available for consideration. When you are making the decision about the look and feel you want for your floor, pause to reflect on the reasons paint may be out shined by a garage floor covering. In this article we will discuss a variety of garage floor coverings available to you outside the standard painted floor.

Garage Floor Coverings Means Simple Installation

There are mats available in sizes for both the entire garage or for smaller contained areas. The mats that are used in specific areas of the garage are called garage compartment mats since they do only cover one actual compartment. The garage floor mats, rather they cover the entire floor or just one or a few compartments, are easy to install compared to tile or paint. For the entire garage floor one would simply cut the mats down to the proper size. Although compartment mats cannot usually be cut, they come in a variety of sizes and can be snapped together to form a liquid proof seal or even stacked upon each other. If one had the inclination to cover the entire garage floor with the compartment mats it could be done, but at a cost considerably higher than the approximately $100 for a paint kit. Keep in mind also that the compartment mats move easily, regardless of many manufacturers claims to the contrary, and car tires cause them to bunch and bend.

Garage Floor Coverings Means Simple Replacements

Coverings are also a lot easier to replace. A damaged or stained epoxy garage floor coating means either living with it, or replacing it, which may include sanding down to the concrete. A garage floor mat can just be tossed in the garbage, or recycled. Convenient but, again, expensive. Both paint kits and mats claim that they cannot be stained and are not easily damaged, but what is advertised and what actually happens may or may not be the same. Tile are also easily replaced, provided you can get replacements that match and that your old ones are not too faded.

Garage Floor Coverings Can Provide Comfort

In comparison to a bare concrete garage floor, epoxy paint is probably a lot nicer to walk around on, which is what they advertise. However, compared to garage floor coverings that are made of thick rubber, epoxy will probably feel like concrete. This also applies if you are laying or sitting down to work on a car. The ideal solution would be a comfy mat on top of a painted floor but, again, money is often the limiting factor.

Garage Floor Coverings Might Be Cheaper

Epoxy paint is dirt cheap, there’s no doubt about that. If you need to cover your whole floor tomorrow, and you have no problem doing the work yourself, then epoxy away. However, if you have to pay someone to apply the epoxy, a big garage floor mat suddenly starts looking very attractive.

Check out Gabriel’s garage floor coverings site for more garage floor information.

So you just completed putting that first coat of paint on that car that you’ve been mending and it looks pretty. You didnt realize that you had to the talent to spray paint a car. The only one problem is you’ve run out of time and can’t get the second coat on. Well that is genuinely not going to be a problem, the cars in a protected area so you could get back at it next week. You simply stick the caps on the spray cans and stick them on the shelf for the time being.

A week goes by and you are ready to go ahead and spray paint the car, or at least get the second coat on. You are all set up you’ve pulled the cans of spray paint off the shelf, and popped the lid on one of them. Then it doesnt seem to matter how hard you press the nozzle of the spray can nothing comes out. You know that you didn’t use it and it’s almost full. And then you realise it must be clogged. No problem you merely get a thin piece of wire and try to clean it out.

After several tries you realise it just isnt going to clear, so you end up throwing an almost full can of rather expensive spray paint away. Then you remember what a buddy told you about spray paints. When you are finished using them you must turn the can upside down and spray the paint for a couple of seconds. This can be done on a piece of cardboard. It would clear all the excess spray out of the nozzle so next time you go to use it, it would not be blocked. A good lesson learned.

You didn’t realise the problems that can occur when you went to spray paint a car, but thankfully you’ve few cans of paint left so you can get on with it. You give the cans few shakes and finally out comes the paint. Theres one big trouble though, the color does not look rather idnetical. The label says it’s the similar color but what in the world is the problem here? Actually you most likely didn’t shake well so the color wasn’t correctly mixed. You must shake the can quickly you’ll hear the mixer ball inside the can rattle. Carry on shaking for at the least 3-4 minutes. Likewise at regular intervals while you’re spraying give the can a hard shake as well. This would ensure that your paint remains well mixed and will evenly distribute the color when you apply it. Bear in mind you must be as methodical when you go to spray paint a car, as you would a fine piece of furniture.

Another very important point to bear in mind is that to spray paint a car is a large job, and most likely you will be abit tired afterward. Clean up is really fundamental and that means making sure that you cleaned the nozzle of the spray as we talked about. Other really essential thing to bear in mind is to keep your paints safely. Do not leave them in areas where they can dry up or freeze up.

For most car owners, the thought of restoring a car after a collison is daunting. It can be very pricey if the car has been severely damaged. However, these can be easily fixed without the expensive paint jobs and bodywork repair involved

Most minor bodywork issues can be repaired in a matter of minutes, when done by a well-trained, skilled professional. Understanding the process will help you to know what to look for in these unfortunate circumstances.

Usually, collision shops don’t do these smaller repairs themselves they outsource them to a smaller mobile service or they will offer paintless dent removal as an additional service. Dents from the size of a dime to 2 to 3 inches in diameter and larger can be handled by a qualified professional in anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.

In many cases the dent is so completely gone it will look like nothing was ever there, and in some other instances, all you would see to know that work had been done is a small black plug in the door end. Paintless dent removal is often the best way to retain the integrity of a custom paint job. In the hands of a qualified professional, 10 to 15 vehicles a day can be done with amazing results.

Not Always the Answer The main concern in paintless dent removal is how much the metal was stressed (stretched) by the accident. The reason for this concern is that if the metal is stretched too much, then pushing it as it?s done in paintless dent removal can distort the metal and ruin the paint. The other consideration in paintless dent removal is the nature of the coating. Its age can make the coating brittle, or simply its condition as it left the factory. The reason that this is a concern for paintless dent removal is that a heat gun needs to be applied, and the above conditions can be very susceptible to heat ruining the coating.

Light is also used to determine all of the intricacies of the dented surface, so that there are no flaws showing when the job is complete.

Training, Techniques, and Tools It takes more time than you might think to train as a paintless dent removal technician, it takes about 12 months to train to be a good one, and that?s because you need to know all about access to the dent. Paintless dent removal technicians need to spend around $3,000 on tools because specialized tools are needed to access difficult areas in different makes and models.

So the next time you have a dent, ding, or crease, think about the paintless dent removal system, and ask if it can be done, if it can your pocketbook will thank you.

Torque spec comes into play after a fastener has been chosen. Bolt torquing is very important. When you thread and tighten a bolt the melt stretches a little, but the metal doesn?t want to be stretched so it resists the stretches and this is where you get the holding power from. This is why when you over tighten it can?t hold the load because it can?t return to its normal shape. Further to this in time the bolt continues to stretch and will end up snapping.

Torque-to-Yield Bolts

A torque to yield fastener is a one-time use that is based on this torque principal we just talked about. The torque spec usually have a 25% safety feature giving you a 25 per cent over tightening leniency. The torque to yield bolts don?t have this safety buffer. They are not meant to stretch the metal. This may sound like a disadvantage but it?s not really. They are extremely strong as they afford the whole 100% of their strength whereas the basic bolt only gives you about 75%.The one disadvantage they do have though is they can only be used once. So if you remove them you have to replace them with a TTY (torque to yield) bold. You are going to end up with 25% less strength with the basic fastener.

The TTY are used in many cases so it?s important for the technician to be aware of this during the estimation process of the procedure.

Tightening Sequence A tightening sequence can also be specified in conjunction with torque specs. A crises cross pattern is use to install wheels and now some installation patterns are being suggested for body panel fasteners. There is a certain amount of expanding and contracting during temperature fluctuations with composite panels. This means the fasteners have to adjust to these changes and must be designed to allow for this.

Shop Tips Whenever possible replace the fastener with the same type as the one your remove. Check the manual however to ensure it is the correct part and you are doing the proper procedure. Every part is specific because there is a reason for it.

Keeping track of what you are removing is important and time saving so tossing them in a pile is not the answer. Just use some small plastic bags, put them in and then mark what they are on the outside of the bag.

If you do not have a manual, you can ask a dealership to show you their service manual.

Use all the parts that come with your replacement parts.

If you are not sure about the label, compare height, thread pitch and diameter to the new piece and this will help you choose the right replacement fastener.

Make sure to use coated materials to prevent corrosion. A classic example of making this mistake is using a non-coated steel boat with an aluminum panel. If the coated items you require are not available then use a plastic or fiber gasket, a washer or even a layer of paint to produce a barrier between the materials.

Anyone who owns a collision shop can tell you that the most costly item to the shop is the comeback repair. Re-do?s can be the difference between being successful and losing, and they reflect poorly on the quality standards, not to mention the inconvenience to the customer.

All it takes is one dissatisfied customer and that can translate into bad word of mouth, which means bad reputation. Collision shop managers have to be very alert when it comes to quality assurance so that they have happy customers and as few negative comebacks as possible. Negative comebacks happen when there are such things as shoddy repair work, poor paint finish, (dull topcoat), grind marks showing, paint cracks or runs or paint over spray on any part of the car, but the worst problem of all is the mismatching of color.

Technicians and management usually share the responsibility, and, in some shops, the liability, so that it?s a combination of the actual repair work and maintaining proper quality assurance levels. When a mistake happens, it is also a proper analysis of what went wrong, rather than who went wrong, and taking the appropriate steps to keep the problem from re-occurring.

The Characteristics of A Painter Paint technicians can be a tricky type of personality, if they aren?t treated right, the works suffers, and that is why some shops are now making them share the responsibilities for their work.

Technicians, on the other hand, are the wind beneath the wings, so that it?s a partnership between technicians and paint technicians, so that there is no one more important than the other. It is also true that while the painter is worth their weight in gold, they can?t work their magic if there isn?t a good quality of prep work.

Improper paint preparation is a disaster if it isn?t done properly, and if the paint technician isn?t as good as required, they won?t spot the problem until it?s too late. The proper quality standards must be put in place and properly adhered to, or those costly mistakes and comebacks will look like money disappearing out the door.

Anyone who owns a collision shop that has a good reputation knows that while the paint preparation and the topcoat are the end result, it is also the surface preparation that has equal importance. Like when you paint a house, the prep work, sanding, filling, and proper masking all have to be done properly; in fact, many paint companies suggest collision shops must stress proper training with attention to strict guidelines.

The time and attention to quality work that is invested in the beginning will result in less money driving out the door in costly comebacks later. If a shop is to be competitive, it must stress quality. “It is a poor worker who blames his tools”, is the old adage, so if collision shop owners keep hearing those types of excuses, then they should really need to do some proper damage control before it?s too late