My floor project is done...get going on yours :)

RTcat · Feb 19, 2012

Just want to put this post out there for anyone who may be on the fence about doing something with there floor...do it!

I went back and forth on what to do with my new shop (32x50). It's a working shop and I know I'm going to drop stuff, drag things and have gas hit the floor at times so I didn't want a museum look (even though colored epoxy looks great). I'd heard so many horror stories and not enough "no problem" stories that I was hesitant to put down a covering of anything. Finally, the thought of having to put down muratic acid on my nice new floor just didn't seem right. On the other hand I knew I'd kick myself down the road if I didn't do anything.

After talking with the two most customer friendly sales people here (Christine and Scotty), I decided to go with two coats of Legacy Industrial HD-015 Epoxy sealer and one coat of their HD-356VOC Urethane Sealer. I got the exact results I was looking for...the look of natural concrete with protection over it. So glad I decided to bite the bullet and do this.

Again, if your on the fence about coating your floor...here's a positive story to help you decide :beer:

Some pictures of what we did:

Floor was full of drywall dust from the drywall install job I did. Then add the dust from the mud and tape guy that fell off the rosin paper when I picked it up and you have this.

RTcat · Feb 19, 2012

So, I decided to rent a floor scrubber. Local rental place gives you the one day rate if you pick up after 3 Friday and drop off Monday by 7:30. This did a great job of sucking up all that dust. Just used plain water as I didn't want to introduce any cleaner that might cause adhesion problems later (remember I was kind of skeptical going into this :headscrat

) Kept scrubbing until the waste water was coming out pretty clear.

RTcat · Feb 19, 2012

Next it was time to prep the floor. Found some pure muratic acid at Farm & Fleet. Used an all plastic sprayer to spray it on. At this point I decided to get my wife involved in this project...smartest thing I did :thumbup:

we did one square at a time (expansion cuts created sections about 125 square feet). Sprayed on the acid, let soak for 5 minutes. Even though I'd turned off the radiant heat, you could see the acid wanting to dry, so I'd spray a couple times to keep it wet. Then we rinsed with a couple mops and sucked up the water with the shop vac. No action shot, just the products.

RTcat · Feb 19, 2012

Finally it was time to apply the epoxy. I got two 5 gallon kits. With only an hour of pot life and no prior experience I didn't waste time taking pictures. Tip #1, use a Jiffy Mixer. I didn't know what one was until this project. Hooked it up to the DeWalt 18 XRP and mixed until no streaks. Tip #2, go to Menards and get the little red screw-on pour spout that works on the cap of the lid of the 5 gallon pail. We (wife and I) each worked out of our own paint tray. We used 3/8 nap, 9" wide frame on an extension. We each worked on our own square. The HD015 is somewhat milky-white when it goes on, and then clears over time. We had the windows cracked and the radiant heat off so it didn't try and dry too fast. Tech data (and Scotty) says when you can't see your fingerprint you can do the next coat. So the following morning we repeated the above for the 2nd coat.

The next day we put down the clear top coat. This stuff has a much stronger smell than the HD015... definitely want some air moving around. Scotty suggested cross rolling the top coat as it's very clear and hard to tell where you've been. So my wife and I each used a 9" roller and we worked one square together, each rolling 90* to each other.

So, after all that was done here's how it looks. Flash makes it hard to see the actual concrete. Might have to open the garage doors on a sunny day to get some natural light. It's got some depth, not slippery and sweeps up great.

RTcat · Feb 19, 2012

Finally, a thanks to Scotty for his patience with my PM's and phone calls. His product was shipped fast with no damage. We probably error-ed on the side of caution with regards to how much product I ordered. But, better to be safe than sorry when doing something like this.

Last and by no means least, thank to my Wife for all her help. Working with her made the time fly by...

Scotty, here's photo for your web site :bounce:

AP_photo · Feb 19, 2012

Floors look great.

LegacyIndustrial · Feb 19, 2012

Wow, floor looks great. Congratulations on a job well done.
Please PM me you and your wife's shirt size and we'll have (2) Legacy Industrial pro-installer shirts sent up to you this week.

Also...
HD-015 is now our "Standard Clear Sealer".

45 ACP · Feb 20, 2012

Floor looks awesome!!!!

Ive talked to Scotty, told him my wants/needs, and if Im not mistaken this is the exact coating he recommended that I do. I think your pics just made my decision....

Nice job. :thumbup:

RTcat · Feb 20, 2012

45 ACP said:
Floor looks awesome!!!!

Ive talked to Scotty, told him my wants/needs, and if Im not mistaken this is the exact coating he recommended that I do. I think your pics just made my decision....

Nice job.

You'll be so happy you did this when your done!

Irondrive · Feb 20, 2012

Great job!

Slick111 · Feb 20, 2012

Wow now thats a nice gloss did a nice job there looks real pro.

LegacyIndustrial · Feb 20, 2012

You've got front row billing on our new web-site (coming out in March).

allwezcats · Feb 20, 2012

That floor turned out awesome!! Nice job..I can't wait to see it in person!

Zogman · Feb 20, 2012

Floor lools great. Wondering why you would put the Urethane coating over the Epoxy? I thought you put the urethane over epoxy only if you put flecks on top of the epoxy.

MustangTyler02 · Feb 20, 2012

Floor looks awesome!!! Thats exactly what I was looking for! Do you mind if I ask how much it cost you total including rental and equipment prices? If you don't feel comfortable no problem or if you feel better PM'ing thats no problem also! I would be looking to do aroun 900 square feet.

Thanks!

Tyler

thegarageguy · Feb 20, 2012

I would of recommended diamond grinding, then auto scrub....not a big fan of acid prep...very inconsistent....with that being said, looks great, good luck. Let us know how it holds up in a month or few.

LegacyIndustrial · Feb 21, 2012

Zogman said:
Floor lools great. Wondering why you would put the Urethane coating over the Epoxy? I thought you put the urethane over epoxy only if you put flecks on top of the epoxy.

Good morning Zogman.
Urethane is a common topcoat to pigmented epoxy coating systems as well as clear sealers.

Urethane is more scratch and chemical resistant than epoxy.
We think of it as an Armor Glaze.

RTcat · Feb 21, 2012

allwezcats said:
That floor turned out awesome!! Nice job..I can't wait to see it in person!

Stop by any time...it's Viper approved

Zogman said:
Floor lools great. Wondering why you would put the Urethane coating over the Epoxy? I thought you put the urethane over epoxy only if you put flecks on top of the epoxy.

EDIT: I didn't notice that Scotty had already anwsered your question.

You'd have to ask Scotty. I'm guessing because I mentioned I wanted something that swept up easy, that maybe the urethane top coat would help with that. This from the tech data sheet
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
HD356VOC is a one component moisture cured polyurethane (HDI based) floor coating/sealer that exhibits superior characteristics for
abrasion resistance and chemical resistance. This product has good UV stability.
RECOMMENDED FOR:
Recommended for showrooms, garages, warehouses, laboratories, cafeterias, and most chemical exposure areas with regard to concrete
or cement. Excellent topcoat for epoxy floors, stained floors and related indoor surfaces.[/QUOTE]

MustangTyler02 said:
Floor looks awesome!!! Thats exactly what I was looking for! Do you mind if I ask how much it cost you total including rental and equipment prices? If you don't feel comfortable no problem or if you feel better PM'ing thats no problem also! I would be looking to do aroun 900 square feet.

Thanks!

Tyler

The floor scrubber was $116 a day and they make you rent the actual scrub brush also. I think that was ~$25 for the concrete scrub brush. I rented for one day. The prices and application rates for Legacy products I used can be found here http://legacyindustrial.net/cart/concrete-sealers-c-42.html?zenid=a429a433b16f77f3aa2f77172096aa3b Explain your needs to Scotty, that's your best bet to getting exactly what you want at the best price.

Cruzin90 · Feb 21, 2012

Did you neutralize the acid before you put down the epoxy? I hope you did.

RTcat · Feb 21, 2012

Cruzin90 said:
Did you neutralize the acid before you put down the epoxy? I hope you did.

If by neutralize you mean throwing down some baking soda, no. After rinsing off the acid and the floor dried, I rinsed/scrubbed the floor two more times.

Cruzin90 · Feb 22, 2012

RTcat said:
If by neutralize you mean throwing down some baking soda, no. After rinsing off the acid and the floor dried, I rinsed/scrubbed the floor two more times.

OK, hopefully that did the trick.

LegacyIndustrial · Feb 23, 2012

Shirts went out the door today.

RTcat · Feb 23, 2012

LegacyIndustrial said:
Shirts went out the door today.

I'll be on the lookout for them :beer:

RTcat · Feb 28, 2012

Scotty,

The long sleeve Tee's showed up. Thank you very much! Neighbor across the way stopped over to have me sharpen his chain saw blade. Was so impressed with the floor he almost forgot leave the chain :lol:

bams50 · Feb 28, 2012

Thanks for this great thread! I'm trying to decide exactly this issue for mine.

I went to the site but was a little confused on how to determine what the cost was; so many products. Scotty, my build hasn't even started yet, so I don't want to bug you for an estimate at this point. Just trying to assemble a preliminary budget. I loved the Epoxy Coat floor shown in nathank's thread (one year later) but a quick look at their site it looks like about $1/sq. ft., which means $2500 for mine, Yikes! If I have to spent THAT much, I'm not sure what to do...

LegacyIndustrial · Mar 4, 2012

Bams:

We just launched our new site which includes a calculator embedded in most of the product descriptions, making it easier to figure out your costs. Also, we are running 7% off special through March.

Dave:
Thanks again for the kind words. The work looks good because of you with a little help from us.

kyles974 · Mar 4, 2012

LegacyIndustrial said:
Bams:

We just launched our new site which includes a calculator embedded in most of the product descriptions, making it easier to figure out your costs. Also, we are running 7% off special through March.

Dave:
Thanks again for the kind words. The work looks good because of you with a little help from us.

I just glanced at Legacy's New Site. :thumbup:

OKCMoparGuy · Mar 21, 2012

RTcat's floor looks great. My shop is similar in size but I occasionally mig weld. Curious how the product stands up to this abuse and if damaged can it be spot repaired? I read the Tech Data for the HD015 product and it didn't mention this. Thanks in advance.

LegacyIndustrial · Mar 21, 2012

Yes, can easily be repaired. Coatings, in general, don't do well with weld splatter if very close to the floor. Raise your work or get some welding blankets and you will be fine.

T_Raven · Feb 4, 2013

Looking at floor threads. Just wondering what you think of this after a year of having it down. Thanks

socapots · Feb 4, 2013

I second the question about how you like it now.
Any problems since the install? Flaking, lifting, dis-coloring?

laserman35 · Feb 4, 2013

Wow that Floor rocks.

I wish i had done something like that when i first built my house.

After cleaning several time i could not remove stains and decided to go with VCT tiles.

I will recomend your floor to others now.

VCT tiles are kicking my desk sitting lazy ***.

EMC2 · Feb 4, 2013

That looks really good. Great idea.

RTcat · Feb 6, 2013

T_Raven said:
Looking at floor threads. Just wondering what you think of this after a year of having it down. Thanks

I think I'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat! The floor is still outstanding and functions/looks the same as it did right after we laid it down. :beer:

I'd lost track of how many oil changes I had in my waste oil container once and when dropping the oil out my folks's Buick, I looked down to an Exon Valdez quality oil spill...About 4 quarts all over the floor. Some oil dry and a couple shop towels and there were no signs of any oil spill. Easiest oil spill I've ever cleaned up.

While fixing a carb issue on one of my sleds some gas made it to the floor and sat there for an hour before I noticed it. Wiped it up with a shop rag like you would spilled milk on a counter top...no marking left behind.

One year later the floor still functions exactly like I had hoped. Don't listen to the naysayers who say DIY's can't lay down floor products...do your research and follow instructions and Scotty's product will work as advertised.

I'll see if I get time to snap a picture...it's snowmobiling season 'ya know :willy_nil

T_Raven · Feb 6, 2013

Thanks man, good to hear.

Air_Cooled_Nut · Feb 7, 2013

My first look into this particular forum and your thread is the first I read.

Damn you!

RTcat · Feb 7, 2013

Here's a couple pictures from about 3 weeks ago I'd posted on a sledding forum. I'd just finished up putting new brakes on my pickup and decided to clean up one of the sleds quick. I'd not swept up from the brake job yet so you see the floor is a little dirty with some rust flakes from the brake job on the floor.

I'll try and get some better floor shots soon...

BTC · Feb 7, 2013

This looks nice. Is it slick at all? I would like to do something to my two year old garage floor, but I don't know what. Is there an approximate cost per square foot for something like this? Is the clear epoxy cheaper than the colored counterparts? I should probably do some searching and some reading.

RTcat · Feb 7, 2013

BTC said:
This looks nice. Is it slick at all? I would like to do something to my two year old garage floor, but I don't know what. Is there an approximate cost per square foot for something like this? Is the clear epoxy cheaper than the colored counterparts? I should probably do some searching and some reading.

I've not experineced any "slickness". I have a little throw rug inside the door to wipe/dry my shoes off on the winter time. Couple swipes and I walk on the floor with no issues.

SpecOp1 · Feb 11, 2013

RT cat...not trying to bumb your post...your post has completely changed my mind on future project. Can you tell me about your lighting ...thanks Bill

My floor project is done...get going on yours :)

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