Since the inception of my new garages, I have been pondering what kind of treatment I was going to put on the floor. Researching all the possibilities from sealant’s to tiles to mats, plus past experiences, I decided that a high VOC solvent epoxy (not water based) would meet my needs and wants best. I determined that Sherwin William’s Armor Seal.1000 HS was the finest product available today with the greatest resistance to chemicals, high temperatures, impact, abrasion, and moisture.
I had the Sherwin William’s IM Rep (Industrial Marine) inspect the conditions of my three new garage floors (totaling 3500 square feet) and give his recommendations. His inspections confirmed that the concrete floors had no oil or paint spills; but felt that they were too smooth and had signs of curing agent on the surface for good adhesion. He sent me a written proposal including the type of coating system, data sheets, application techniques, preparation requirements, and pricing.
His recommendation was to shot blasting the floor and was the approved method of preparing the floor for their epoxy coating over acid etching. The equipment rental was $250.00 per day at Jordans. They allowed me to pick it up on Friday morning and return it on Monday at that price though. Knowing that I could return any unused shot beads I picked up 500 pounds at $.60 per pound. I ended up using only 200 pounds as the machine was extremely efficient at recycling the media. Jordans suggested that I rent a big body grinder with a diamond wheel to dress off the areas where the shot blasting machine couldn’t reach. Jordan Power Equipment
It was a slow and tedious process and took 20 hours to shot blast the 3 garages. The vacuum setup made it almost dustless. Included in the rental charge is a large magnet to pick up the steel beads left behind. Unfortunately Jordans forgot to load it in my truck. And rather than drive 50 miles to get it, I decided to triple sweep and blow the garage out with my backpack leaf blower. Not a good idea, it is impossible to see them on the blasted floor and their density prevents them from being swept or blown away. And merely stand out once coated with epoxy.
The IM Rep recommended that I put a primer coat of their Armorseal 33 first. It is supposed to penetrate the concrete better to give improved adhesion of the topcoat. Three gallons of part A that comes in a 5 gallon bucket that you mix well before adding 2 gallons of mixed part B hardener. It has only a 30 minute pot life! And let me tell you, once the 30 minutes are up it becomes very stiff. I wasn’t working fast enough and the bottom 2 gallons became unusable and hard as a rock in 45 minutes! Lesson learned. Each of the next four 5-gallon batches were put down within the 30 minutes. The first coat consumed 25 gallons of Armorseal 33 primer. Or about 150 square foot per gallon coverage. That fell within Sherwin William’s guidelines.
When the primer is first applied it shows every roller mark. But this product is self-leveling. For once it is dry, it looked GREAT,,, smooth as a calm lake! I only wished the topcoat looked nearly as nice.
The minimum primer recoat time is 6 hours and maximum 24 hours. It was dry to the touch and you could even walk on it the next morning. Within 20 hours I applied the topcoat of Armorseal 1000HS. It came in 1-gallon cans and I thoroughly mixed 2 gallons part A’s in a 5 gallon bucket and then slowly mixed 2 gallons of stirred part B. Let steep (sweat-in-time) for 30 minutes, mix again, before applying. More time can be taken to apply the 1000 as it has a 4 hour pot life. This product is NOT self-leveling and when it dries it shows roller lines and has an orange peel look to it. The topcoat consumed 16 gallons of Armorseal 1000HS. Or about 220 square foot per gallon coverage. Also falling within Sherwin William’s guidelines.
The outside temperature was never below 60 degrees. I heated all the garages to 75 degrees for at least a week so that the floor temperature would reach room temperature. The problem that came about didn’t show up until the next day. Bubbles, small as a pinhead became as big as a quarter over the next week. The first 1,000’ garage looked the best and had no problems. A 10’ square area of the second 1,000’ garage was the most undesirable. While a 3x4’ area in the 1,500’ garage was infested. All these circles acted as if the primer never hardened, even though it was dry enough to walk on before I put on the topcoat. No one has any answers. The IM Rep sent off samples of the plagued coating over a month ago with no reply from Sherwin William’s lab.
The 1,500’ garage bubbles hardened after 2 weeks. I roughed up the entire section between the saw lines with a black 3M pad on a 20” floor polisher. Then put on another heavy coat of 1000HS. It looks pretty good except for some telltale depressions.
The 1’000’ garage bubbles never hardened. I scrapped off all the unhardened primer with a putty knife. Heating it with a torch made it easier to remove. Roughed up with the 3M pad, then put on a heavy coat of 1000HS. Again looks fairly good except for telltale signs where I removed the primer.
After recoating:
I believe that the 1000HS was not compatible with the 33 primer and caused a reaction in these two areas. I do not recommend the use Sherwin William’s 33 primer! And in the future I will use 2 coats of 1000HS. In fact with what was left from the two batches of 1000HS I applied one coat to a section of the floor of the pole barn and painted 2 sets of stairs. They look fantastic!
I had the Sherwin William’s IM Rep (Industrial Marine) inspect the conditions of my three new garage floors (totaling 3500 square feet) and give his recommendations. His inspections confirmed that the concrete floors had no oil or paint spills; but felt that they were too smooth and had signs of curing agent on the surface for good adhesion. He sent me a written proposal including the type of coating system, data sheets, application techniques, preparation requirements, and pricing.
His recommendation was to shot blasting the floor and was the approved method of preparing the floor for their epoxy coating over acid etching. The equipment rental was $250.00 per day at Jordans. They allowed me to pick it up on Friday morning and return it on Monday at that price though. Knowing that I could return any unused shot beads I picked up 500 pounds at $.60 per pound. I ended up using only 200 pounds as the machine was extremely efficient at recycling the media. Jordans suggested that I rent a big body grinder with a diamond wheel to dress off the areas where the shot blasting machine couldn’t reach. Jordan Power Equipment
It was a slow and tedious process and took 20 hours to shot blast the 3 garages. The vacuum setup made it almost dustless. Included in the rental charge is a large magnet to pick up the steel beads left behind. Unfortunately Jordans forgot to load it in my truck. And rather than drive 50 miles to get it, I decided to triple sweep and blow the garage out with my backpack leaf blower. Not a good idea, it is impossible to see them on the blasted floor and their density prevents them from being swept or blown away. And merely stand out once coated with epoxy.
The IM Rep recommended that I put a primer coat of their Armorseal 33 first. It is supposed to penetrate the concrete better to give improved adhesion of the topcoat. Three gallons of part A that comes in a 5 gallon bucket that you mix well before adding 2 gallons of mixed part B hardener. It has only a 30 minute pot life! And let me tell you, once the 30 minutes are up it becomes very stiff. I wasn’t working fast enough and the bottom 2 gallons became unusable and hard as a rock in 45 minutes! Lesson learned. Each of the next four 5-gallon batches were put down within the 30 minutes. The first coat consumed 25 gallons of Armorseal 33 primer. Or about 150 square foot per gallon coverage. That fell within Sherwin William’s guidelines.
When the primer is first applied it shows every roller mark. But this product is self-leveling. For once it is dry, it looked GREAT,,, smooth as a calm lake! I only wished the topcoat looked nearly as nice.
The minimum primer recoat time is 6 hours and maximum 24 hours. It was dry to the touch and you could even walk on it the next morning. Within 20 hours I applied the topcoat of Armorseal 1000HS. It came in 1-gallon cans and I thoroughly mixed 2 gallons part A’s in a 5 gallon bucket and then slowly mixed 2 gallons of stirred part B. Let steep (sweat-in-time) for 30 minutes, mix again, before applying. More time can be taken to apply the 1000 as it has a 4 hour pot life. This product is NOT self-leveling and when it dries it shows roller lines and has an orange peel look to it. The topcoat consumed 16 gallons of Armorseal 1000HS. Or about 220 square foot per gallon coverage. Also falling within Sherwin William’s guidelines.
The outside temperature was never below 60 degrees. I heated all the garages to 75 degrees for at least a week so that the floor temperature would reach room temperature. The problem that came about didn’t show up until the next day. Bubbles, small as a pinhead became as big as a quarter over the next week. The first 1,000’ garage looked the best and had no problems. A 10’ square area of the second 1,000’ garage was the most undesirable. While a 3x4’ area in the 1,500’ garage was infested. All these circles acted as if the primer never hardened, even though it was dry enough to walk on before I put on the topcoat. No one has any answers. The IM Rep sent off samples of the plagued coating over a month ago with no reply from Sherwin William’s lab.
The 1,500’ garage bubbles hardened after 2 weeks. I roughed up the entire section between the saw lines with a black 3M pad on a 20” floor polisher. Then put on another heavy coat of 1000HS. It looks pretty good except for some telltale depressions.
The 1’000’ garage bubbles never hardened. I scrapped off all the unhardened primer with a putty knife. Heating it with a torch made it easier to remove. Roughed up with the 3M pad, then put on a heavy coat of 1000HS. Again looks fairly good except for telltale signs where I removed the primer.
After recoating:
I believe that the 1000HS was not compatible with the 33 primer and caused a reaction in these two areas. I do not recommend the use Sherwin William’s 33 primer! And in the future I will use 2 coats of 1000HS. In fact with what was left from the two batches of 1000HS I applied one coat to a section of the floor of the pole barn and painted 2 sets of stairs. They look fantastic!
i know i would be!
happens, and you learn to just step over it. 