Coating Garage Floors in Charlotte

I just came back from a great trip to Charlotte, NC. I was there training a new customer. The old customer had sold his business to the new guy and retired. The new guy wanted my perspective on coating a garage floor. Well, coating garage floors is something I know, I like the Carolina’s, have family there, and the fishing is good. This all make for a great destination.

I arrived at my rental car agency at 10:30 PM at night expecting to pick up a car and drive the hour and a half out to Greensboro to a roach infested motel for the evening. We were to start the job the next morning. The agency had closed at 10, a half hour before I got there… No other cars at the airport… Guess I wasn’t going to Greensboro that night after all. I called the customer at 11 PM and told him that the man he’d put his faith in couldn’t even get to the job. So, much for a great start.

The next morning, I arrived at 10:30 sharp, got into my coating’s pants and found a great crew with a floor that was ground and miles of crack repair to do. We repaired the cracks with SF Epoxy Crack Repair. Then laid out 2,600 square feet of SF Waterchip and chipped it with Daytona Blue Paint chips and finished up by 4 PM.

That afternoon the owner came by for a chat and a look see. He was a character. Showed up in a Yankee’s jersey and a Washington National’s hat. I brought the dichotomy to his attention and got a laugh for it.

The next day we scraped the chips on the cured epoxy and top coated it with a coat of SF Polyaspartics 70. The floor came out wonderful and we were done in time for lunch. Even Mr. Baseball loved it!
The next day it was back to Charlotte where we had an 850 square foot floor with about 150 square feet of stub wall. It was a lovely home and the couple who owned it were about 8 ½ months pregnant. We got to hang out with her father most of the day who was just staying out of the fray. We were completely done with a fantastic Indianapolis chip floor by 4 in the afternoon.

Next it was time for a field trip. We were lucky enough to visit Loenbro Motorsports. They build dirt race track cars. Wow, was this ever a first-rate shop. And, the cars were amazing!! This isn’t demolition derby racers! Oh no, it’s a shop where they build race cars for teams that might win a million dollars at a race. Boy, this was cool stuff!

That was the work for the trip and now it was time to go fishing! My cousin and web developer (same person) lives in Wilmington, NC. Todd, Yondershore, owner, my cousin, web developer, host and fishing companion was waiting and ready. Saturday morning, we headed out the marsh with Muddy Fly Guide Service. Hey, these guys know how to catch a Red Fish. It was a blast, we had a great day and even little, old me caught fish on my fly rod. What a blast! Note to the wise: Anglers are into preparation, discipline and attention to detail. Whereas Golfer’s cheat. So, if you want a coatings rep who will help you thru the painstaking worries of preparation, discipline and attention to detail, find an angler and not a golfer.

Notes from the trip: The new owner of LKN Garage Floors came from the race business. He explained to me that he was from a performance-based business. That means if he didn’t win, he didn’t have a job. He is bringing that same passion for winning and success to LKN. Attention to detail is very important to him. His crew is very hard working and soaked up new information like a sponge. We have a mantra at South Fork Concrete Coatings. PLANNING, DISCIPLINE, ATTENTION TO DETAIL! This crew got it, did it and made us proud.

Overall, it was a great trip! Had some travel mishaps, got to see NC, met and worked with some great people, coated some garage floors and caught some fish!