Amorclad Users - How did you prep?

[ERabbit]

Hey All!

In the process of doing my garage with the Armor Clad kit, wanted to get some feedback on how others have prepped.

So far I have acid etched the floor in order to do an initial cleaning and fix a crack down the center that I had. I was wondering if I should also grind the floor in addition to the first acid etch.

I am also going to use the Acid Etch that comes with the Armor Clad kit as a secondary method of prep because my garage was pretty stained. I did get the primer as an option so that should help as well.

If anyone wants to share their experience, I would appreciate it!

 

[ERabbit]

258 views and no replies haha. Anyone? Trying to decide if I should also use a grinder as well as the acid etch that came with the kit. Just finished repairing the crack down the middle which I am now sure needs to be grinded.

Also, made a mistake and repaired the crack in the garage floor past the garage door, I will take a pic but I will have a random grey patch of repair going past where the garage door closes, not sure what to do in this case.

 

[argulator]

I ground for my epoxy floor.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of threads on this board that address grinding vs. etching. I've never seen one where anyone claims that etching is better than grinding. Here's one where the Armorpoxy rep states that grinding is the better method-http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322506

If you want to prep the better way, you should grind. That doesn't mean you won't get good results with just an etch-plenty of people only etch and it comes out fine, but it does increase your odds.

 

[krouchchocolate]

I grinded my floor with a diamabrush and acid etched it afterwards. My garage was new though. You can see my pics below of my install.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=332927

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
If you grind the floor there really isn't any reason to etch, so that won't be necessary. Thanks!

 

[Firering]

Hi,

I'm just a few steps ahead of you and I rented an EDCO 10" and did my entire floor and used a handheld grinder for the edges, corners and spots that my EDCO/Me didn't grind enough. I also filled my control joint on the apron of my floor outside of the garage door and will likely coat the outside with something other than my ArmorPoxy.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I was happy with Rust Bullet, see my other posts about it. Floor was less than a year old, but had been sealed by the concrete guy. Diamabrushing and clean up from that was the most work. I bought a Diamabrush wheel for my angle grinder but gave up on it after about three feet (too much work). Got the big grinder as close to the concrete wall as I could. Floor at the wall turned out fine.

Fill any saw cuts, Rust Bullet will not fill them.

I didn't add any anti-skid and am very, very happy with the surface dry or wet. For whatever reason RB is pretty smooth and not slippery when wet.

 

[Firering]

I highly recommend using a DeWalt DW4774 Double Row Diamond Cup Grinding Wheel. Picked i up on Amazon for $30.

 

[rblahetka]

If you need to repair cracks and pop marks in the floor, do you acid etch first, then repair, or repair then etch?

 

[ERabbit]

If you need to repair cracks and pop marks in the floor, do you acid etch first, then repair, or repair then etch?

I did an acid etch first, and then grinded. Now I am thinking of also using the Amrorclad Acid Etch that came with the kit additionally, but it is sounding like I will not need to since I grinded the floors Friday night.

 

[ERabbit]

I ground for my epoxy floor.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of threads on this board that address grinding vs. etching. I've never seen one where anyone claims that etching is better than grinding. Here's one where the Armorpoxy rep states that grinding is the better method-http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322506

If you want to prep the better way, you should grind. That doesn't mean you won't get good results with just an etch-plenty of people only etch and it comes out fine, but it does increase your odds.

Thanks, I always try searching first but could not find a definitive answer on wether to Grind, Etch, Both, etc. I ended up etching and then grinding, most likely priming tomorrow.

 

[ERabbit]

I grinded my floor with a diamabrush and acid etched it afterwards. My garage was new though. You can see my pics below of my install.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=332927

I got the exact same kit you purchased, your floor looks great! Did you just use the supplied flakes? I was almost thinking I might need more, but I am looking for the same coverage you got flake wise.

 

[ERabbit]

Hi
If you grind the floor there really isn't any reason to etch, so that won't be necessary. Thanks!

Thanks! I will make a "build" thread once I am done, your customer service has been excellent. I ended up etching and grinding so hopefully it helps even more (my floor was original from the 1970's)

 

[ERabbit]

Hi,

I'm just a few steps ahead of you and I rented an EDCO 10" and did my entire floor and used a handheld grinder for the edges, corners and spots that my EDCO/Me didn't grind enough. I also filled my control joint on the apron of my floor outside of the garage door and will likely coat the outside with something other than my ArmorPoxy.

Thanks for the input, what did you use to fill your control joint? That is the seam at the end of the garage/driveway correct?

 

[ERabbit]

I was happy with Rust Bullet, see my other posts about it. Floor was less than a year old, but had been sealed by the concrete guy. Diamabrushing and clean up from that was the most work. I bought a Diamabrush wheel for my angle grinder but gave up on it after about three feet (too much work). Got the big grinder as close to the concrete wall as I could. Floor at the wall turned out fine.

Fill any saw cuts, Rust Bullet will not fill them.

I didn't add any anti-skid and am very, very happy with the surface dry or wet. For whatever reason RB is pretty smooth and not slippery when wet.

I realized after looking at the options that I would have destroyed my back trying to grind it by hand. The grinder I rented ended up working pretty well and had a water hookup so a lot less mess, I power washed the garage after.

 

[ERabbit]

I highly recommend using a DeWalt DW4774 Double Row Diamond Cup Grinding Wheel. Picked i up on Amazon for $30.

That looks great for corners and edges, still might invest in one for some other projects. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Firering]

Thanks for the input, what did you use to fill your control joint? That is the seam at the end of the garage/driveway correct?

The seam that you're referring to is a expansion joint. Most folks on the site seem to use Silka (sp)?

 

[ERabbit]

The seam that you're referring to is a expansion joint. Most folks on the site seem to use Silka (sp)?

Gotcha, that makes sense and I was thinking of filling it!

 

[ERabbit]

For those using the "Up To 600sqft" Master Kit. Was 1 coat enough or did you find you had enough material to do another?

 

[Remythepug]

For those using the "Up To 600sqft" Master Kit. Was 1 coat enough or did you find you had enough material to do another?

I just installed the armorclad this past weekend. I had about 800 sq ft to cover and used a master kit plus an add-on. I put down primer first which helped with coverage of the epoxy. I had plenty left over to lay down a second coat on several areas. I struggled with the second coat as I had to walk around on the spiked shoes and found myself slipping on several places and thus needed to reapply to those areas. It's tricky to apply the fleck again to smaller areas and making it match though.

 

[ERabbit]

I just installed the armorclad this past weekend. I had about 800 sq ft to cover and used a master kit plus an add-on. I put down primer first which helped with coverage of the epoxy. I had plenty left over to lay down a second coat on several areas. I struggled with the second coat as I had to walk around on the spiked shoes and found myself slipping on several places and thus needed to reapply to those areas. It's tricky to apply the fleck again to smaller areas and making it match though.

I did the primer first as well and just did the epoxy last night, ended up having to run to HD at 9pm and get 5lbs more of flakes because we did a really heavy coat of flakes everywhere. Luckily the flakes from HD were really close to the ones that came with the kit and we covered the entire floor with them again to make it congruent.

Those damn spike shoes! Almost rolled my ankle twice in them. I also ended up with some extra material but didn't really need it.

I will be posting an entire "build" thread soon with all of the pictures after I finish the top coat, still need to paint the concrete trim, walls, tear out built in shelving, etc but at least now the floor will be done and I can put everything back in it while I do the rest of the repairs and changes!

 

[ERabbit]

Question for everyone -

Epoxied the floor with flakes friday night with the help of two buddies, did the clear coat this morning(ish) and it's already pretty much dry everywhere.

With everything done I ran my hand across the floor (without stepping on it) and you can definitely feel the texture from the flakes, it isn't smooth like a normal concrete floor would be. Is this normal? Or is it supposed to be entirely smooth?

 

[texas123]

Question for everyone -

Epoxied the floor with flakes friday night with the help of two buddies, did the clear coat this morning(ish) and it's already pretty much dry everywhere.

With everything done I ran my hand across the floor (without stepping on it) and you can definitely feel the texture from the flakes, it isn't smooth like a normal concrete floor would be. Is this normal? Or is it supposed to be entirely smooth?

Not smooth, especially if you use extra flake. You can actually see the texture in mine. Pics???

 

[Armorpoxy]

It is completely normal for the texture of the flecks to show through and be 'felt' after topcoating. This texture adds anti-slip to the floor.

For those that want to 'encapsulate' the flecks and feel them much less, an additional (and not inexpensive) coat of 100% solids clear non-yellowing epoxy is needed prior to the topcoat.

Also a very light sanding of the flecks with a pole sander, and then vacuuming well can help to knock off any corners from the flecks as they often go in crooked in the epoxy.