Another Polyaspartic Floor Odor Thread

[garage_gang]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to document my current polyaspartic floor issues as it may be helpful to others with the same issue in the future. Any feedback and advice would be great. I want to open this with that I have lived in multiple houses that had coated garages prior with no issues. Although I was not around when they were initally coated, I loved these coated floors as I frequent the garage and do a ton of work with lubricants and other stuff that is far more difficult to clean when it touches bare concrete. I figured it was a no brainer to invest in coating the floor before we moved in.

Based on all the research I have completed (spent way too much time on this), it sounds like a full regrind and recoat is might be only solution to fix my continued out gassing and odor issues. The only threads where people actually followed up they noted a regrind and recoat was required to ultimately fix the issue of continued trapped solvent out gassing after many months. I think there where maybe two or three other instances that noted other solutions such as a 100% solids top coat, ozone generator, and charcoal filtering.

(solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-rid-of-fumes-help.356925/page-2#post-8867286 (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/polyaspartic-floor-gone-wrong.533726/ (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-rid-of-fumes-help.356925/page-2#post-7703860 (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-polyaspartic-odor-issue.479075/#post-9054954 (solution - 100% solids top coat)

I live in a harsh climate and it was probably 90+ degree day when my floor was done 10 weeks or so ago. We have had a very hot last couple months and if it was going to cure and finish out gassing I feel like it would have already been done.

The fumes were incredibly strong the first couple days. You could smell it from the end of the driveway. Luckily the new house is very sealed from the garage as you couldn't notice it inside. Had the garage cracked for 3-4 days and then slowly started moving in stuff followed by the car (was told this was fine by the contractor). When the odor persisted I started opening the garage every day completely and ran a fan to push air out. I have done this roughly the last 13 days in a row (10 hour + fully open windows). By morning, the odor is strong again until the garage is opened up.

I had the contractor come back to take a look. I had the garage closed up night before and brought him in without opening the garage to get the full effect. He said the odor was not normal and agreed something wasn't right. He decided to cut out all the joints and believed this was the primary problem and potential solution (the material cut out smelled very very strong). He told me it would out gas a bit stronger for a few days before it starts to get better. He stated they would seal it back up two weeks from the time they cut the joints out (at 8 weeks or so).

I tested the joint theory by taking a decent VOC and air quality measurement device and taping it to the surface floor (not on a joint) and it spiked from 30-40 (normal/good) on the etvoc index to 229 peak (high). So this means the entire floor is still off gassing and not just the joints. Also, I noticed a couple of small defect areas, two gummy like small spots, and one with small very circular holes that look like they are from where solvent escaped that are quite deep. I can also make small indents with hand pressure and a fingernail in certain areas, but the manufacturer of the coating confirmed this is OK (elasticity and it rebounds, somewhat understandable). The contractor used an 85% solids product.

Anyways, I just wanted to record my research, testing, and final outcome here. It will be interesting to see what happens but I will keep everyone here looped in. The contractor offers a "lifetime warranty" on their coatings and they have been receptive so far. I have tons of garage projects that need to get started and I don't want to wait months for something that may never resolve. This has been quite stressful and moving all my stuff including the water softener is going to **** and I feel like I should ask the contractor to reimburse me for that work and having to store my stuff.

 

[Shea]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to document my current polyaspartic floor issues as it may be helpful to others with the same issue in the future. Any feedback and advice would be great. I want to open this with that I have lived in multiple houses that had coated garages prior with no issues. Although I was not around when they were initally coated, I loved these coated floors as I frequent the garage and do a ton of work with lubricants and other stuff that is far more difficult to clean when it touches bare concrete. I figured it was a no brainer to invest in coating the floor before we moved in.

Based on all the research I have completed (spent way too much time on this), it sounds like a full regrind and recoat is might be only solution to fix my continued out gassing and odor issues. The only threads where people actually followed up they noted a regrind and recoat was required to ultimately fix the issue of continued trapped solvent out gassing after many months. I think there where maybe two or three other instances that noted other solutions such as a 100% solids top coat, ozone generator, and charcoal filtering.

(solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-rid-of-fumes-help.356925/page-2#post-8867286 (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/polyaspartic-floor-gone-wrong.533726/ (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-rid-of-fumes-help.356925/page-2#post-7703860 (solution - regrind and recoat)
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...-polyaspartic-odor-issue.479075/#post-9054954 (solution - 100% solids top coat)

I live in a harsh climate and it was probably 90+ degree day when my floor was done 10 weeks or so ago. We have had a very hot last couple months and if it was going to cure and finish out gassing I feel like it would have already been done.

The fumes were incredibly strong the first couple days. You could smell it from the end of the driveway. Luckily the new house is very sealed from the garage as you couldn't notice it inside. Had the garage cracked for 3-4 days and then slowly started moving in stuff followed by the car (was told this was fine by the contractor). When the odor persisted I started opening the garage every day completely and ran a fan to push air out. I have done this roughly the last 13 days in a row (10 hour + fully open windows). By morning, the odor is strong again until the garage is opened up.

I had the contractor come back to take a look. I had the garage closed up night before and brought him in without opening the garage to get the full effect. He said the odor was not normal and agreed something wasn't right. He decided to cut out all the joints and believed this was the primary problem and potential solution (the material cut out smelled very very strong). He told me it would out gas a bit stronger for a few days before it starts to get better. He stated they would seal it back up two weeks from the time they cut the joints out (at 8 weeks or so).

I tested the joint theory by taking a decent VOC and air quality measurement device and taping it to the surface floor (not on a joint) and it spiked from 30-40 (normal/good) on the etvoc index to 229 peak (high). So this means the entire floor is still off gassing and not just the joints. Also, I noticed a couple of small defect areas, two gummy-ish small spots, and one with small very circular holes that look like they are from where solvent escaped that are quite deep. I can also make small indents with hand pressure and a fingernail in certain areas, but the manufacter of the coating confirmed this is OK (elasticity and it rebounds, somewhat understandable). The contractor used an 85% solids product.

Anyways, I just wanted to record my research, testing, and final outcome here. It will be interesting to see what happens but I will keep everyone here looped in. The contractor offers a "lifetime warranty" on their coatings and they have been receptive so far. I have tons of garage projects that need to get started and I don't want to wait months for something that may never resolve. This has been quite stressful and moving all my stuff including the water softener is going to **** and I feel like I should ask the contracter to reimburse me for that work and having to store my stuff.

Yikes... I hate hearing stories like this. I feel for your problem.

This is one of two primary reasons why we have always felt that polyaspartic is not the best for a base coat. The first is that the fast cure rate does not allow for the best penetration into the concrete pores to achieve the strongest bond. The second is that most installers who promote and prefer an all polyaspartic system do so because it drastically reduces time on the job. The problem is that there are some installers who use less than a 100% solids content polyaspartic who are not careful and do not consider the weather and other factors, and rush the job to get it done. This doesn't allow the base coat enough time to properly off-gas the solvents, which get trapped by the clear coat.

If you had 90+° weather, an 85% polyaspartic would cure in 10 minutes and flash-cure on the roller. I'm guessing they used a slow-set formula due to the heat, so that it could be applied properly. They most likely did not wait long enough for the slower-setting base coat to cure and off-gas before they applied the clear coat. The fact that time wasn't taken to properly scrape the flakes and that they didn't apply enough clear coat indicates to me that they were in a hurry. The other thing they could have done, if they didn't have a slow-set formula, was to add Xylene. This reduces the solids content and extends the working time on warmer days. That only exacerbates the problem with trapped gases and results in a thinner base coat.

Installers in Arizona learned this lesson with polyaspartic and heat, which is why most prefer epoxy as a base coat and use polyurea or polyaspartic as the clear topcoat.

I think you have already come to the correct solution. The only way to fix your issue is to completely remove the coating via grinding and start over. This really falls on the installer, who should take responsibility.

 

[garage_gang]

Yikes... I hate hearing stories like this. I feel for your problem.

This is one of two primary reasons why we have always felt that polyaspartic is not the best for a base coat. The first is that the fast cure rate does not allow for the best penetration into the concrete pores to achieve the strongest bond. The second is that most installers who promote and prefer an all polyaspartic system do so because it drastically reduces time on the job. The problem is that there are some installers who use less than a 100% solids content polyaspartic who are not careful and do not consider the weather and other factors, and rush the job to get it done. This doesn't allow the base coat enough time to properly off-gas the solvents, which get trapped by the clear coat.

Installers in Arizona learned this lesson with polyaspartic and heat, which is why most prefer epoxy as a base coat and use polyurea or polyaspartic as the clear topcoat.

If you had 90+° weather, an 85% polyaspartic would cure in 10 minutes and flash-cure on the roller. I'm guessing they used a slow-set formula due to the heat, so that it could be applied properly. They most likely did not wait long enough for the slower-setting base coat to cure and off-gas before they applied the clear coat. The fact that time wasn't taken to properly scrape the flakes and that they didn't apply enough clear coat indicates to me that they were in a hurry. The other thing they could have done, if they didn't have a slow-set formula, was to add Xylene. This reduces the solids content and extends the working time on warmer days. That only exacerbates the problem with trapped gases and results in a thinner base coat.

I think you have already come to the correct solution. The only way to fix your issue is to completely remove the coating via grinding and start over. This really falls on the installer, who should take responsibility.

Thank you for the reply here!

The contractor has been pretty receptive so far which is good. They are bringing a rep who distributes the product they used out to look at the floor this week.