Epoxy floor with polyaspartic high gloss cover scratch question?

[sol]

Hi all

I just had my 3000 square foot shop floor redone (past was polished concrete) I went with white base epoxy with partial flake black and grey and top coated with high gloss finish polyaspartic. It was done by professional company.

My areas of concern is I’m kind of surprised how easy the top coat shows fine hair line scratch. Just like a clear coat on a car. Being **** and thinking these coats are promoted as high resist to scratch’s is this normal ? Was the job not done right. Can you use a floor polisher over time to buff it smooth again ?

Also in some areas it seems the white base pulled apart. It looks ok due to color flake and blends in ok but kind of bugs me. I’m in talks with company to maybe redo things but I’m sort of wondering how this stuff holds up long. Will a matte finish show the fine scratches less ? Any advice input would be great. I’m kind of stressed what to do.

 

[benwah]

A matte finish *can* show less scratches, but it will still scratch nonetheless. Keep in mind the chemistry behind polyurea/polyaspartic makes it a softer coating overall compared to say, an aliphatic polyurethane or a 100% solids polyamine epoxy, in my experience.

Your best bet it to let it cure as long as you can before putting it to use.

 

[sol]

Is this paint separation due to slab being cold ? We had sub zero temperatures here during install but had Heater turned to 70 the whole time. I’m reading that will not help the cold slab much, or is this paint separation due to bad product?

The company understands my concerns and willing to work with me to redo the floor. I’m just worried I didn’t want to deal with this 3 day install experience again. The mess dust and smell. And worried if it happens again. Also I’m really questioning the durability of the fine surface scratches. Meaning over time they will add up and that will drive me nuts. The shop use is light duty storage mostly but worried over time sliding clean light weight boxes over it will scratch it.

 

[SalesmanTony]

All coatings have a “window” of proper application temperature. The air temp due to the use of a heater was likely much more than the slab. A cold slab will at a minimum slow the curing process. How long has this application been in place?
The polyaspartic will harden over a period of several days, and another poster is correct in that it will show scratches. It resists scratching better than epoxy alone, but is still susceptible. The hardest coating is polyurethane, but even that will scratch if abused by a heavy object being dragged across it.

I suggest checking out the manufacturer’s specifications for product application requirements and compare that to what was done. The applying company may or may not have followed proper prep procedures and knowing the truth will help you in negotiating with them going forward.

 

[sol]

Salesman Tony. The application has been in place for 2 weeks. Do you see the photo with the paint spots missing. Does it look really bad to you ? Also I understand anything can scratch but I’m sort of surprised how easy. The scratch’s ain’t visible unless you get close to floor. But light finger nail movement over the top is leaving little ones, so with more use I just can’t imagine it not looking bad over time. Like seems everything will scratch it.

If I redo would I be better to use polyurethane as top coat ? That was offered but I said I wanted polyaspartic because I thought it was better.

What’s the advantages and disadvantage of polyurethane over polyaspartic? Does it yellow ?

 

[benwah]

Salesman Tony. The application has been in place for 2 weeks. Do you see the photo with the paint spots missing. Does it look really bad to you ? Also I understand anything can scratch but I’m sort of surprised how easy. The scratch’s ain’t visible unless you get close to floor. But light finger nail movement over the top is leaving little ones, so with more use I just can’t imagine it not looking bad over time. Like seems everything will scratch it.

If I redo would I be better to use polyurethane as top coat ? That was offered but I said I wanted polyaspartic because I thought it was better.

What’s the advantages and disadvantage of polyurethane over polyaspartic? Does it yellow ?

Every coating is different. There are different types of polyurethane's, epoxies, and polyurea/aspartics. Can you offer any insight into what has been used? Actual specific products?

Polyurethanes generally offer a lot of chemical, UV, and abrasion resistance. Polyurea/aspartics are know for their unmatched UV resistance. Epoxies are known for impact and chemical resistance and offer little to no UV resistance. That is just a general description. Each coating has many sub categories. You need to compare performance criteria between products and manufacturers to really know what you are getting.

Once you actually start using your floor I think you'll get over the defects. Except the pigment separation maybe. Hard for me to see on mobile. Not knowing what products were used and not knowing the applicators practices it is a lot of speculation.

 

[sol]

Benwah this is what I was told was used at the top coat https://www.tennantcoatings.com/am-en/products/urethanes/eco+tcp

First coat of epoxy was tinted white. 2nd coat epoxy white. I don’t know which brand of epoxy was used. But the above was the polyaspartic top coat

 

[benwah]

Gotcha. I can't really comment on the epoxy or pigment separation (if that is the case) at all. I wasn't there for the application. If the product was mixed properly and applied on a slab that was over 55 degrees F you shouldn't have had issues. There are many factors (temp, mixing procedure, moisture, etc) that could have caused issues.

But for shits and giggles, compare the Abrasion Resistance between the Tennant ECO-TCP and the Tennant ECO-HPS100 (which I have used many times in the past). You'll see the aliphatic polyurethane has over 50% less loss for the same ASTM D4060 test method.

If abrasion resistance is your main concern, you may want to negotiate with your installer for a different top coat. But to be fair, every single coating will scratch and leave marks...

I explain to all of my customers the pros and cons of each coating. I also let them know that in six months to a year it's really not going to make that much of a difference in the long run.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Agree with Benwah that often these projects initally get viewed like they are dining room tables and not garage surfaces and usually in a few months from normal use, minor imperfections don't get noticed. Remember you are 'manufacturing' in a difficult environment that is hard to control.

As for the pigment separation that is of some concern as that should not have happened. Lastly were temps taken of the floor with an infra red thermometer as air temp and slab temp can vary widely so possible temperature installation issues?

 

[sol]

Armorpoxy I agree the paint separation is driving me nuts. I feel it will have to be redone. They didn’t do any infra red.

As for the fine scratches I guess coming from polished I was expecting a bit better. It honest seems super delicate and anything even light movement dragged across it creates scratches.

I feel for the cost to do it the best option would been full blown porcelain tile. Might have cost a bit more but would be a better durable finish.

If the company is going to redo the floor is anymore caution prep needed to take off the old polyaspartic top coat. Flakes and expoxy ? Like will more work be needed or just the same straight forward full grind again ?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
There really is no way to remove just topcoat. When we run into problems like this we always advise to start with a clean slate. Bring it down to concrete and redo it. Use of a few different color flecks visually hides a lot of imperfections which all floors have. We have an excellent fleck floor visualizer on our website that offers millions of base/ color combos or full broadcast combos even displayed on your own floor photo!

 

[benstorey]

This way doesn't always work. Sometimes scratches remain.