Yet one more Epoxy-coat garage

bajones9181 · May 1, 2006

I see that there are a few of us that are currently in the process of putting down epoxy-coat in our garages. Since I had a rainy weekend I thought I could get going on prepping the floor. I have completed all of the crack filling and grinding. I plan on degreasing and etching tonight and giving two days to dry before laying down epoxy.

Floor condition:

15 years old
Cracks from expansion (no cut expansion joints)
A few oil spots thanks to a leaky rear main seal

Floor Preparation:

Spot Degrease oil contaminated areas (Simple Green)
Remove old expansion caulk from cracks in floor
Grind floor with Edco floor grinder/diamond inserts to knock down high spots and create better profile
Fill in cracks and other imperfections with Rustoleum EpoxyShield Crack Filler
Grind again to smooth over any patches
Degrease entire floor (Simple Green)
Acid etch entire floor

Pics of my progress:

snorvet · May 1, 2006

Bajones,

How well did simple green get the oil spots off? or did the grinder take the spots off?

bajones9181 · May 1, 2006

Simple green didn't do much for the spots. The grinder took most of them off but there are still two spots that are still pretty dark. I will be working on those more tonight. I'm going to try some citrus cleaner and a wire brush on a 4" angle grinder.

voiddweller · May 1, 2006

Looks like a fun project and it's looking good. I wish I had that grinder

red vette mike · May 3, 2006

I am framing up my garage addition (it is attached to the house with a breeze-way). It will be 1770'. The concrete was poured on 4/27 and the roof will go on on 5/5. How long should I wait before do the epoxy floor? Can you rent the floor sander? What brand of epoxy are you using?
Thanks,
Mike

bmwpower · May 3, 2006

red vette mike said:
I am framing up my garage addition (it is attached to the house with a breeze-way). It will be 1770'. The concrete was poured on 4/27 and the roof will go on on 5/5. How long should I wait before do the epoxy floor? Can you rent the floor sander? What brand of epoxy are you using?
Thanks,
Mike

All the brands I've seen or read about will recommend to wait at least 1 month before coating. Moisture has to be out of the floor. At 1 month a majority of the water is gone, but I would still double check the floor for moisture....tape a plastic bag down for a couple of days.

bajones9181 · May 3, 2006

Heys guys. I'm just finished doing one last degrease on the floor using TSP (scrubbed by hand and i'm beat). I have 2 small spots that are darker but I don't know that they are from oil. They can possibly be spots from an antifreeze leak I had a while back. Would it be worth my while to rent a floor buffer/scrubber to do another degrease and then use the scrubber for the acid etch? i just want to make sure this floor is perfect before I put down the epoxy.

bmwpower · May 3, 2006

bajones9181 said:
Heys guys. I'm just finished doing one last degrease on the floor using TSP (scrubbed by hand and i'm beat). I have 2 small spots that are darker but I don't know that they are from oil. They can possibly be spots from an antifreeze leak I had a while back. Would it be worth my while to rent a floor buffer/scrubber to do another degrease and then use the scrubber for the acid etch? i just want to make sure this floor is perfect before I put down the epoxy.

I wouldn't degrease any other way. Those scrubbers/polishers will do 100x the work of me on my knees scrubbing away. Worked great for me. I didn't use it for the acid because the fear of it getting away from me, splattering, etc. Used a stiff bristle broom instead with moderate scrubbing, nothing too crazy. I'd pour the acid, spread it out evenly as possible and let it do it's work, then scrubbed.

bajones9181 · May 4, 2006

bmwpower said:
I wouldn't degrease any other way. Those scrubbers/polishers will do 100x the work of me on my knees scrubbing away. Worked great for me. I didn't use it for the acid because the fear of it getting away from me, splattering, etc. Used a stiff bristle broom instead with moderate scrubbing, nothing too crazy. I'd pour the acid, spread it out evenly as possible and let it do it's work, then scrubbed.

Which kind of scrubber do I want? They have an orbital buffer that has a pad that has stiff bristles and a pad that is like scotch-brite. They didn't want to give me that pad with bristles for concrete for some reason. Will the scotch-brite type pad work or should I still try to get the bristle pad?

snorvet · May 4, 2006

I'd go for the stiff bristles. I've been trying for a week to get my spot out with a wire brush by hand - first simple green, then with a solvent base cleaner. It's not coming out. I think some of these spots require a serious industrial solution.

oldgoat · May 5, 2006

On my floor we used TSP and a stiff bristle shop broom and then mopped with clean water a few times. When I put the sealer down I used a buffer with the scotch brite pad. You should be able to get the pad from the rental place, at least a rental place that has industrial equipment instead of the grocery store.

bajones9181 · May 23, 2006

]
I finally had a chance to get back to the floor today. After days of floor prep and waiting out the weather for the past week I started to put down the epoxy tonight. I noticed immediately after I rolled or brushed the epoxy onto the floor tiny pinholes were appearing all over the place. After I noticed this I taped off the area and only completed a 10x10 section. I will wait until tomorow for the epoxy to cure before I figure out what to do.

i did some research and it looks like these pinholes are fairly common when applying epoxy (especialy in the first coat due to the epoxy filling voids and forcing air out of the floor). Hopefully I can just apply a second coat after this cures without sanding. Anyone else experience this? Besides the pinholes I see that it is not covering evenly. When I first apply it looks nice but after 15 minutes the epoxy starts to seperate. I'm not talking about fish-eyes because I do have a few spots I have noticed those but the overall look of the floor appears blotchy after drying for about 15 minutes.

snorvet · May 23, 2006

Bajones- I had a few of what your bottom pic looks like. But very few pin holes like in your other pics. My pinholes were mainly in the area where I spread it on thick - where I brushed in the edges. But I had several hundred raised clumps that could have been small bubbles. I rented a sander and scuffed the 1st coat and leveled the clumps. The second coat was a breeze - it looked as smooth as glass. Your second coat and flakes should turn out fine. It seems to me that once you seal the concrete with the first coat, the second coat wont bubble because the second coat has no contact with the concrete.The second coat also fills in the pinholes and evens out the areas where it doesnt look even in the first coat. Good Luck!

bmwpower · May 23, 2006

I don't know.... those picts with the "black" areas showing through don't look right to me. Looks almost like the floor wasn't cleaned enough or something. Granted I have no experience with putting down Epoxy Coat, so their first coat may look different than the others I'm used to seeing.

bajones9181 · May 23, 2006

The bottom picture is a spot where I previously had an oil spill that evidently needed more cleaning. The middle picture is what I was talking about when I said it looked blotchy. Once this dries today I will put on another coat to see how it turns out. If all goes well I will proceed with the rest of the garage.

DynoDave · May 23, 2006

I don't know what it means, but the stairs in our office building are epoxy coated, and look like that middle picture in several places to. Seems to holding up to foot traffic OK.

bajones9181 · May 26, 2006

I sanded the first coat of epoxy down today with 80 grit to knock down the spots where I had bubbles and the rough up the surface for a better bite with my 2nd coat. I have three questions:

1. I also have a 36 grit pad. I went with the 80 because I thought the 36 might be to aggressive. Should I try the 36 or just stick with the 80?

2. I put my first coat on very thin to avoid a lot of bubbles. Is one more coat all I need since the floor is now 'primed' or should I put on two more coats? I have enough epoxy to do two more coats if necessary.

3. The temp is in the 80's here during the day and down to the low 70's at night but the humidity is in the 70's - 80's. I know I'm fine with the temp but do I have anything to worry about with humidity being so high (besides longer cure time)?

snorvet · May 28, 2006

bajones9181 said:
I sanded the first coat of epoxy down today with 80 grit to knock down the spots where I had bubbles and the rough up the surface for a better bite with my 2nd coat. I have three questions:

1. I also have a 36 grit pad. I went with the 80 because I thought the 36 might be to aggressive. Should I try the 36 or just stick with the 80?

2. I put my first coat on very thin to avoid a lot of bubbles. Is one more coat all I need since the floor is now 'primed' or should I put on two more coats? I have enough epoxy to do two more coats if necessary.

3. The temp is in the 80's here during the day and down to the low 70's at night but the humidity is in the 70's - 80's. I know I'm fine with the temp but do I have anything to worry about with humidity being so high (besides longer cure time)?

bajones

1. I would try the 36 grit pad. When I did mine, I tried several different sheets and the 20 grit did the best.

2. It seemed like my second coat covered a lot better than my first, but I think 3 coats would be better than 2

3. The humidity was high when I put down my second coat and it took at least 2 days just to walk to walk on it

Yet one more Epoxy-coat garage

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