Torchy
Member
Hey Guys,
I made a thread inquiring about this a month or two ago and pretty much knew nothing about it. Well did my homework and now here I am half way through. Andy@Pure Metallic Epoxy Coatings has been a huge help. I bought everything I needed from him from acid-to-epoxy-to-spikeshoes and everything in between. He knew exactly what to prescribe me based on me having a working garage.
http://puremetallic.com/
This will be a write up for all those guys that aren't sure about doing it. It's not that hard. I'll start with a basic overview of the steps I took. Please note that these steps are unique to what I am doing to my garage floor. We are doing 4 coats total with urethane as a top coat. The coats are in this order
Day 1: Primer 54% Solids (I like that it has water content to go deeper into concrete)
Day 2: Metallic Basecoat 100% Solids
Day 2: Metallic Basecoat Effects dripped on 100% Solids
Day 3: Clear Epoxy Coat 100% Solids
Day 4: Urethane Top Coat (South facing garage, Great for blocking UV Rays)
1. Clear out your whole garage (this could be the hardest part if you have a lot of stuff
)
2. Sweep the floor like crazy (sand areas that are stained or where tires go)
3. I mixed up some Tide Laundry Detergent in a bucket with water and made it strong. Pour it all over the floor (like an acid-etch) and scrub it in the whole floor with a large push broom.
4. While still wet break out your 2700 psi or greater power washer and go to town. No need to skimp on the washing off of the soap.
5. Let dry then mix up your acid-water mixture and pour your acid all over the floor. Spread your acid around the floor with the push broom. Let sit for 15 mins but dont let it dry.
6. Tarp off your whole driveway and wash acid out of garage with gentle stream of water (just a open hose works) Or use a wet vac and vac out acid.
7. Let dry and then you are now ready to put your first coat on. Before applying the first coat do a detailed sweep again just to make sure you get all the dust/dirt off the floor.
8. Fill Contraction joints with Ardex Feather Finish. (read directions on mixing. I screwed this up and added to much water and it never got hard. Had to redo the whole garage and buy another bag)
9. Tape off wall with red stucco tape (it works better on a concrete boarder unless you have dry wall touching your floor then use blue painters tape)
10. Apply primer. I cut half then rolled half then cut other half then rolled other half.
11. Apply Base coat and roll out. Whie still wet drip effects onto base coat in a pattern that allows you to exit the garage when finished. No need to use torch, leaf blower or anything crazy. Just drip on and move on.
12. Apply clear epoxy just like primer
13. Apply urethane just like primer
14. Finished!
Now on to the pics!
All my stuff came on a pallet lol
What the garage looked like completely untouched. Yes it will be more organized once put back together
Now shes empty but still dirty
This is after my Tide cleaning concoction/powerwashing
This is after the acid-etch (such a scary name for something not very technical
)
So now I am ready to fill those stupid joints. Yes I know some of you are thinking I am crazy for filling but the slab is now 2 years old and it has done its cracking in those joints. I use a floor jack on a weekly basis. I don't care if my slab cracks. The pain of the joints is worse.
I don't have any pictures of the full finished joints but I made a mistake. Added too much water to the Ardex when I was mixing it and had to redo the whole joint fill job.
Doh
Notice you can see some of the finished Ardex at the bottom of the pic. That is what it should look like. (pro tip: sand the transition between your slab and the ardex for a smooth look/texture)
Got the primer all laid down
Basecoat and effects were done last night. This is as far as I am so far.
I will be laying down the clear epoxy tonight and the Urethan on Sunday. Stay tuned. I'll update the OP and make a post when I update.
EDIT NEW PICS ADDED 4/7/14
This is after I laid down the 100% solids clear epoxy on top of effects. It slightly took away from the sharpness/intensity of the design but added depth.
And this is the final. Urethane top coat added here. Geez this floor is super thick now.
I made a thread inquiring about this a month or two ago and pretty much knew nothing about it. Well did my homework and now here I am half way through. Andy@Pure Metallic Epoxy Coatings has been a huge help. I bought everything I needed from him from acid-to-epoxy-to-spikeshoes and everything in between. He knew exactly what to prescribe me based on me having a working garage.
http://puremetallic.com/
This will be a write up for all those guys that aren't sure about doing it. It's not that hard. I'll start with a basic overview of the steps I took. Please note that these steps are unique to what I am doing to my garage floor. We are doing 4 coats total with urethane as a top coat. The coats are in this order
Day 1: Primer 54% Solids (I like that it has water content to go deeper into concrete)
Day 2: Metallic Basecoat 100% Solids
Day 2: Metallic Basecoat Effects dripped on 100% Solids
Day 3: Clear Epoxy Coat 100% Solids
Day 4: Urethane Top Coat (South facing garage, Great for blocking UV Rays)
1. Clear out your whole garage (this could be the hardest part if you have a lot of stuff
) 2. Sweep the floor like crazy (sand areas that are stained or where tires go)
3. I mixed up some Tide Laundry Detergent in a bucket with water and made it strong. Pour it all over the floor (like an acid-etch) and scrub it in the whole floor with a large push broom.
4. While still wet break out your 2700 psi or greater power washer and go to town. No need to skimp on the washing off of the soap.
5. Let dry then mix up your acid-water mixture and pour your acid all over the floor. Spread your acid around the floor with the push broom. Let sit for 15 mins but dont let it dry.
6. Tarp off your whole driveway and wash acid out of garage with gentle stream of water (just a open hose works) Or use a wet vac and vac out acid.
7. Let dry and then you are now ready to put your first coat on. Before applying the first coat do a detailed sweep again just to make sure you get all the dust/dirt off the floor.
8. Fill Contraction joints with Ardex Feather Finish. (read directions on mixing. I screwed this up and added to much water and it never got hard. Had to redo the whole garage and buy another bag)
9. Tape off wall with red stucco tape (it works better on a concrete boarder unless you have dry wall touching your floor then use blue painters tape)
10. Apply primer. I cut half then rolled half then cut other half then rolled other half.
11. Apply Base coat and roll out. Whie still wet drip effects onto base coat in a pattern that allows you to exit the garage when finished. No need to use torch, leaf blower or anything crazy. Just drip on and move on.
12. Apply clear epoxy just like primer
13. Apply urethane just like primer
14. Finished!
Now on to the pics!
All my stuff came on a pallet lol
What the garage looked like completely untouched. Yes it will be more organized once put back together
Now shes empty but still dirty
This is after my Tide cleaning concoction/powerwashing
This is after the acid-etch (such a scary name for something not very technical
)
So now I am ready to fill those stupid joints. Yes I know some of you are thinking I am crazy for filling but the slab is now 2 years old and it has done its cracking in those joints. I use a floor jack on a weekly basis. I don't care if my slab cracks. The pain of the joints is worse.
I don't have any pictures of the full finished joints but I made a mistake. Added too much water to the Ardex when I was mixing it and had to redo the whole joint fill job.
Doh
Notice you can see some of the finished Ardex at the bottom of the pic. That is what it should look like. (pro tip: sand the transition between your slab and the ardex for a smooth look/texture)
Got the primer all laid down
Basecoat and effects were done last night. This is as far as I am so far.
I will be laying down the clear epoxy tonight and the Urethan on Sunday. Stay tuned. I'll update the OP and make a post when I update.
EDIT NEW PICS ADDED 4/7/14
This is after I laid down the 100% solids clear epoxy on top of effects. It slightly took away from the sharpness/intensity of the design but added depth.
And this is the final. Urethane top coat added here. Geez this floor is super thick now.
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