Hot Tire Pickup Explained
If you have ever seen a garage floor with four distinct, peeling patches right where the car tires park, you have witnessed "hot tire pickup." It is the most common failure point for cheap garage floor paints and DIY epoxy kits. Here is the science behind why it happens and how we prevent it.
The Physics of the Problem
When you drive your vehicle, the friction between the tires and the road generates significant heat. In the summer, your tires can easily exceed 120°F. When you pull into your garage and park, that intense heat is transferred directly into the floor coating underneath the tires.
Standard floor paints and water-based epoxies are thermoplastic. This means they soften when exposed to heat. As the hot tire sits on the coating, the epoxy softens and literally melts into the microscopic pores of the rubber tire.
As the tire cools overnight, the rubber contracts and grips the softened epoxy. When you back out of the garage the next morning, the rotational force of the tire simply rips the weakened coating right off the concrete.
The Polyaspartic Solution
Preventing hot tire pickup requires two things: a thermosetting material and a mechanical bond.
1. Mechanical Bonding
We use heavy diamond grinders to open the pores of the concrete. Our 100% solids epoxy primer wicks deep into these pores before curing, creating a root-like attachment that physically anchors the coating to the slab.
2. Thermosetting Topcoats
Unlike cheap paint, our polyaspartic topcoats are thermosetting polymers. Once they cure via a chemical reaction, they become highly heat-resistant and will not soften under the heat of your tires, making hot tire pickup impossible.
Stop Painting Your Garage
Get a coating that stays on the floor, not on your tires.
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