Explore Expert Insights for Surface Solutions


Stay ahead of wear, weather, and facility maintenance challenges with Simon Surfaces’ resource center. From in-depth articles on epoxy coatings and concrete repair to best practices for fuel island restorations, our blog is built for property managers, facility engineers, and commercial operators who need reliable, long-term solutions.

Whether you’re managing a high-traffic convenience store, a distribution center, or a manufacturing plant, you’ll find actionable advice to improve safety, durability, and aesthetics—all backed by decades of hands-on expertise.

Benefits of Using Epoxies in Concrete Repairs

Question: When should epoxies be used on repair or resurfacing jobs? Answer: It makes sense in the fact that it’s a quicker process with less downtime. With concrete, when you repair something, you need to tear out sections of it. Where Simon Surfaces comes into play, we can do anything from a foot wide to 1,000…

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Restoring Concrete Fuel Islands with Epoxies

Question: How is epoxy used in fuel island restorations? Answer: Our product is basically made out of 100 percent solid epoxy. For a gas island, it’s a three-step build-up process. First, we would take off and remove the metal, and then we would form the island up. We would then mix our epoxy with a special…

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Gas Island After
18 Gas Island Before

Why Metal Should be Removed from Fuel Pump Islands

Question: Why doesn’t Simon Surfaces use metal bands in its fuel island restorations? Answer: There are some notable disadvantages to using metal bands. Obviously over time, they’re going to deteriorate due to rust. Once they starts rusting, there’s nothing you can do about it. If a car would strike it, it’s going to make a sharp…

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Examining Concretes Most Common Issues

Question: What are the most common concrete issues you see? Answer: The most common issue we see is cracking. Concrete is designed to crack. You try to make it crack where you would like it to, but it doesn’t always work that way. That’s our biggest customer issue because it usually develops into a trip hazard,…

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Examining Concretes Most Common Issues

Repairing Sidewalks with Concrete-Alternatives

Questions: I have a few cracks and splits in my concrete sidewalk. How can they easily and cost-effectively resolve? Answer: When there are splits and cracks in sidewalks, there are normally one or two procedures. The first is a basic concrete repair so if there are isolated areas in the concrete causing trip hazards, we saw-cut…

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The Most Effective Way to Restore Fuel Islands

Question: My fuel islands are rusted and chipped. Can they be restored without shutting down my station for days on end? Answer: Restoring fuel islands is a newer process in the industry. Most convenience stores and gas stations are used to removing the pumps, tearing out the entire island and starting from scratch. Now with…

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Restore vs Replace: What to do with damaged concrete

Questions: When is restoring concrete an option? Answer: The trigger point when trying to determine whether to restore or replace a sidewalk or a piece of concrete is the existing concrete damage. If the concrete is too damaged meaning the substrate is severely cracked or deteriorating, it’s not a candidate for restoration. That’s where a lot…

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Can I Restore My Concrete Versus Tearing Up and Replacing

What are the advantages of restoring concrete? Answer: Restoring concrete has a lot of advantages over replacements. One of the problems with replacing concrete is the disruption that it causes – dust, heavy machinery, extended down time, etc. A restoration’s normal length of a project is much shorter because there is no heavy equipment causing a…

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