My Epoxy-Coat experience (LONG - with PICS and lots of detail)

After what seemed to me like endless amounts of reading on this board, and narrowing my choices down to Wolverine and Epoxy-Coat, I decided to go with Epoxy-Coat based mostly on cost and ease of application. I didn't think that spending double would get me a floor that would be twice as good, so that's what I decided. I have a fresh 40-50 day old slab, no expansion joints, minor hairline cracks, never been touched by tires or any chemicals. Total of about 600 square feet.

This is the story of my journey from prep to finish and what I learned along the way. My floor didn't turn out as perfect as I had expected, but perhaps that's my fault for being an amateur or possibly for wanting a double thickness. I'll explain below with photos.

Last week I ordered my Epoxy-Coat - two and a half kits (so that I could do a double thick application of 20 mils) and on Friday night I began my prep process. Here are the steps I followed in general:

• Remove contents (I didn't have much in there, since I knew I'd be doing this before "moving in" so to speak). This includes removal of the sink.
• Blow floor clean, sweep for good measure:
  
  
• Etch per Epoxy-Coat instructions. This process took around from 5-6 hours:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After being fully satisfied with the etch job across the entire floor, I rinsed twice, pressure washed once, and let it dry thoroughly. Next up was using a paintable (non silicone) caulk to fill the hairline cracks and any holes or imperfections I found. This process probably took around 3 hours or so:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The following day, after the caulk had dried but before application of the epoxy itself, I sanded all caulked areas with 120 grit sandpaper to remove any excess and keep the surface rough and ready. Then I did a final sweep and clean. This took around 1 hour.
• Lay out all materials for the job and check temp before starting. Divide entire area into 5 roughly equal sized sections and apply a "double batch" of epoxy to each section (roughly 120 square feet per section, the double batch was to cover 20 mils of thickness):
  
  
  
  
  
• Apply epoxy, flakes, and non-slip additive following Epoxy-coat instructions. This took about 6 hours total.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Finished job.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Here are things I found out or learned the hard way:

• Their prep solution spread too quickly using a sprinkling can I bought at Home Depot - the sprayer shown in their video might be better, but even at a higher dosage per square foot, it didn't etch enough in many areas. I had to supplement with over 2 more gallons of 31% muriatic acid mixed about 50:50 with hot water to finish the etching properly.
• Dividing up the job into sections is helpful, but their 10 minutes between sections suggestion is a little optimistic for someone who's never done this before. I had a helper and we worked as fast as we could and after trying to do 2 sections together as shown in the video, we realized it cured too quickly to get the second backroll completed properly and we began doing a section at a time.
• You can see roller marks and areas where sections meet. Part of this is probably due to my extra thick coating, but I figured it would settle out a bit better than it did. Also, trying to flake most of the section you just backrolled can be challenging - we weren't sure where to stop flaking and how long the "old" section would sit and cure before we would be able to get around to the new section that would border it, and therefore we flaked the entire section and ended up going back over the border areas with a new coat of epoxy and flakes again later. This caused some imperfections in how those border areas turned out.
• You can see some bubbling, but I'm not sure from what. It says if you have this to blow dry, but we didn't try that because it seemed as if they were closing themselves up. Only after it cured the next day did I notice that many of the bubbles "exploded" overnight and looked much worse than initially. They are not bad, mind you, but they make the floor "not smooth" in some areas.
• The non-slip additive is very, very sharp. Be careful with it. I sliced a finger open simply rubbing my hand over the newly cured surface the day after it was done. If you have young children, make sure they wear shoes and be careful of falling - you can probably get scratched up pretty good! It does definitely work as a non-slip though.
• This stuff is THICK. I want to do my other (primary) garage with it but will probably drop back to the standard 10 mil thickness in that area instead. I love how it feels and looks, but wish I didn't have the bubbles, overlapping areas, and one section that looks like it rolled out differently than the rest.

The bottom line is that I love it despite my installation errors with section overlap. The product seems to live up to its reputation, but the installation is not quite as easy as the video seems to imply, at least it wasn't for me. I spent a lot of time reading instructions, watching their video, and asking questions before I got started so I'd know what to do, and I felt like I had a good handle on the required steps, but the end result is not quite as good as I had hoped for. On the flip side, for the money I spent, the results are quite good and I feel confident that it will protect my floor for many years. For next time, I'll ask more questions to find out how I can avoid seeing the roller edges and overlap between sections and hopefully I can do a more perfect job next time.

I hope you find this helpful. Please ask any questions - I'm by no means an expert, but I know more now than I did last Friday!

Brian

Nice write up ... thanks. From my vantage point, your floor looks great. I'm still trying to decide between Epoxy-Coat and a polyurea product.

I have 10 coats. My brother has a single coat and clearcoat. I like the way mine feels much better, but I don't have any sharp edges. If I had to do it again I would do it without the flakes. However, its still amazing how much brighter the garage feels.

Its now a bedroom for my babies, not a garage.

Great write up. I'm getting ready to do my epoxy-coat floor in a couple of weeks so this is really helpful. I think I have the same water can as you do and it does flow a LOT. I think one gallon covers about 10' x 10'. Their instructions say one gallon should cover 500 square feet. After reading their instructions and this post, I'm going to use a pump sprayer.

So whats the best way to deal with the edge? Keep it wet? I've read in numerous posts that this is a problem area.

I know when I do DIY projects, I'm really critical about the results. But in reality, those little imperfections are never noticed by anyone else. It's because we've been "intimate" with these projects for days and we know about ever little glitch. Your floor looks great in the pictures.

BL50 said:

From my vantage point, your floor looks great.

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It looks great to most people who see it, but I'm picky. I wanted a perfect, even, flat surface and that's not what I got. Again, it's likely my fault as the installer and not the product's fault. I will research it more before I buy more of it to do my other garage, which I have planned for the near future.

evilcheese said:

After reading their instructions and this post, I'm going to use a pump sprayer.

So whats the best way to deal with the edge? Keep it wet? I've read in numerous posts that this is a problem area.

I know when I do DIY projects, I'm really critical about the results. But in reality, those little imperfections are never noticed by anyone else. It's because we've been "intimate" with these projects for days and we know about ever little glitch. Your floor looks great in the pictures.

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The pump sprayer will help, but you really may want to have some muriatic on hand for difficult areas. I may have been too critical and careful, but everyone always says the prep is the most important part, so if anything I wanted to over-do the prep for a good, long-lasting result.

I really don't know how to properly deal with the edge, but suspect Christine from Epoxy-Coat will chime in with some suggestions.

I agree about DIY projects. Only someone "in the know" will see the imperfections, but would that person even have been able to avoid them him or herself? Who knows. I'm no expert, but I feel I know how to follow instructions pretty well and do a good job on projects I tackle myself. This one came out okay - not killer/awesome but not bad either. But yes, I'm very critical about myself and the work I do and usually expect perfection, especially from myself.

I usually don't have problems with customers keeping a wet edge. I usually tell them not to flake all the way to the edge of the first section, so when rolling the second section you can overlap a bit without messing up the flake.
As far as the acid, some concrete is more dense than others. You are looking for a profile on the concrete of about 100 -120 grit sandpaper. Most of the time this can be achieved by 1 application of the acid. Sometimes certain concrete will need a double application.
Redshift, I think your floor looks really good from what I can see in the pics. Sometimes we are our own worst critics. You did ask alot of questions and I think you did a really good job.

Looks awesome.....I think sometimes our expectations may be a little to high.

rugerlady said:

I usually don't have problems with customers keeping a wet edge. I usually tell them not to flake all the way to the edge of the first section, so when rolling the second section you can overlap a bit without messing up the flake.
As far as the acid, some concrete is more dense than others. You are looking for a profile on the concrete of about 100 -120 grit sandpaper. Most of the time this can be achieved by 1 application of the acid. Sometimes certain concrete will need a double application.
Redshift, I think your floor looks really good from what I can see in the pics. Sometimes we are our own worst critics. You did ask alot of questions and I think you did a really good job.

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I really can't say enough good things about you in particular. Excellent customer service well before I decided to buy Epoxy-Coat to after I purchased and even during installation. Folks, she is available by cell phone to help even on weekends. That's dedication!

Christine, you might be right about the concrete - my concrete is 5000psi and very sturdy. Perhaps standard 3000psi would have etched just fine with your solution as instructed. I didn't even think about that until now.

I am going to do this again in my old garage of the same size, but this time probably only 10 mils. Can you suggest a good way to avoid the banding at the places where the sections meet? I can understand not flaking the edge until both sections have met, but I can see roller marks even in the middle of sections where there is no "gap" - how do we prevent that?

Last, my old garage is about 9 years old and has some oil, etc. on it. I have cleaned it up, but my main question is, would a physical surface grind be sufficient to avoid a full degrease and acid etch as a prep step? The concrete company has a machine I can rent which may make the job a lot faster and less back- and knee-breaking on my part. Would this type of prep (grinding) be sufficient?

Looks good to me. But like you said, we are very critical of our work. Glad it went well for ya.

haugy said:

Looks good to me. But like you said, we are very critical of our work. Glad it went well for ya.

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Thanks, haugy. Been following your thread - really sorry you're going through that. Regardless of what the cause is, the bottom line is you have a major hassle on your hands and we can all feel badly for you. Your thread made me extra nervous doing my own!

Everytime I am 99% sure I want to put down a RaceDeck floor a thread pops up with a beautiful epoxy floor...and then I'm second guessing again. Now add in a polished floor option and I'm back at square one.

ViperJon said:

Everytime I am 99% sure I want to put down a RaceDeck floor a thread pops up with a beautiful epoxy floor...and then I'm second guessing again. Now add in a polished floor option and I'm back at square one.

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Pretty funny ... I think a lot of us are having the same problem. I signed on in February thinking that I would have my floor done by summer ... I'm still scratching my head!

BL50 said:

Pretty funny ... I think a lot of us are having the same problem. I signed on in February thinking that I would have my floor done by summer ... I'm still scratching my head!

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We all suffer from analysis paralysis...that's why I finally said "screw it" and made a decision and did the work. Now I can finally move on an get busy working on the electrical, compressor lines, insulation, walls, trim, lights, and lift and not let the floor hold me up any longer.

nice post, I recently did my epoxy-coat floor and you pretty much took the words out of my mouth. I too have a few roller marks but the flake hides them pretty much.. I have 2 areas that had a few out gas bubbles the next day, only maybe 6 spots that popped, not noticeable at all, I actually took a razor blade and cut the edge around the pin hole down flush with the floor and you can't even tell they are there anymore.

Overall I'm happy with my floor, I just wish it were new concrete, I diamond ground forever to get the nasty junk sealer off my floor. My house garage has the same nasty sealer on it, I would love to have epoxy on it...I may try some kind of paint stripper on it rather than trying to grind it off, I think this might be a better approach if i get the energy to do it. The sealer just gummed up on the grinder so it took forever to get it off.

Redshift said:

I really can't say enough good things about you in particular. Excellent customer service well before I decided to buy Epoxy-Coat to after I purchased and even during installation. Folks, she is available by cell phone to help even on weekends. That's dedication!

Christine, you might be right about the concrete - my concrete is 5000psi and very sturdy. Perhaps standard 3000psi would have etched just fine with your solution as instructed. I didn't even think about that until now.

I am going to do this again in my old garage of the same size, but this time probably only 10 mils. Can you suggest a good way to avoid the banding at the places where the sections meet? I can understand not flaking the edge until both sections have met, but I can see roller marks even in the middle of sections where there is no "gap" - how do we prevent that?

Last, my old garage is about 9 years old and has some oil, etc. on it. I have cleaned it up, but my main question is, would a physical surface grind be sufficient to avoid a full degrease and acid etch as a prep step? The concrete company has a machine I can rent which may make the job a lot faster and less back- and knee-breaking on my part. Would this type of prep (grinding) be sufficient?

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Christine, do you have any reply for my questions above? I'm about ready to order but I need to know how to prevent the same problems when I do my other garage.

Nice floor Red, the roller marks got me too. I think with spikes you could maybe lightly (very lightly) trowel over where the wet edge area prior to drying - but then again, I'm not sure that would work either.

T

innate123 said:

Nice floor Red, the roller marks got me too. I think with spikes you could maybe lightly (very lightly) trowel over where the wet edge area prior to drying - but then again, I'm not sure that would work either.

T

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Thanks, T. Overall I'm happy and it will definitely be very functional. I just hoped it would be prettier

I'll call Christine before ordering the next batch - thinking of doing it in 3 sections (a bit more than usual as far as square footage goes, but since I have 3 equally sized sections separated by an expansion joint, maybe that's the best way to do it) this time instead of 5.