Ballistix coating review

[Jim N]

This is a short review of my experience using Ballistix protective floor sealer. It is a bit of a spin off of this thread https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/another-ballistix-install-thread.501959/#post-9850941 since I found it to be very helpful before I went ahead. Here are my comments:

• I bought the 1000 sq ft kit from Armorproxy. My space was 780 sq ft.
• The floor I had was newly poured in July 2022. It had been cleaned very well before I closed on the loan. That said, I did rent a hard floor cleaner from Home Depot. I did not even use the water part of the cleaner. It was basically a heavy duty vacuuming of the floor. I don't know if it made a lot of difference but it gave me a positive feeling in a bit of a worrisome endeavor. So, it was worth the $60. The machine was manageable to load and unload for one person.
• The next day, I used the 8400 sealer included in the kit, which was very easy to apply. It's a bit odd rolling on something with such a low viscosity but you get used to it. I had quite a bit left over.
• The following day (28 hours), my wife and I applied the Ballistix. Although this was a point I raised in the above thread, I did not clean the newly applied 8400 with isopropyl alcohol before applying the Ballistix. It was not a required step and as much as I wanted to do everything to insure a good result, I chose not to do it. I was concerned with the fumes and nothing could have gotten on the floor since I had put down the sealer.
• Putting down the Ballistix went well. The mixing went as described and within 90 minutes we were ready to go. It's a bit tricky at first trying to work in unison. My wife managed the mop while I sprayed. I kept needing to remind myself (or my wife Dee would) to keep the sprayer up off the floor a couple of feet. It was difficult to see how well things were going as the color/shine change is not always clear. We forged ahead, overlapping each path. We did wear shoe covers which I think helped. The spray can be wider than the mop and I'm sure I sprayed our feet and the mop some as we went.
• It was tricky finishing as we needed to back our way out the door. It was at this point where I could see how you can't really go back over newly covered areas. It was not a problem for the final result, but as we backed out I took the mop to go over a spot and it dragged a lot. I could tell that area was already curing. It might have only been 5 minutes since we were just there.

I have included three pictures. Nothing on the floor after cleaning. The 8400 sealer. And the final after Ballistix. Overall I am very pleased with the result. It does have a glossy finish as I had hoped. But it does have a bit of an orange peel and spray droplet look to it. That's fine with me. I can't say where or how it got that way but that's the look I got. Maybe a year from now I'll post a review as to how it holds up. I'm just now moving in. Just like Schoney (original thread poster from the link), I was looking to protect the floor and make it easier to clean, etc. No showroom asperations. It will be a working shop. Armorproxy was helpful, although I did not talk to them more than a couple time. The posts on this forum, and Armoproxy's replies to those posts, led the way. And some YouTube video's to boot. I spent 10 times the effort researching this as I did doing the job.

Although the pics don't look all that different, it was more glossy/finished looking in the end. There are several new tenants moving in and I am sure looking to do different stuff with their floors. Maybe there'll be more Ballistix floors. Here is a link to the facility. https://www.eagancondogarages.com/

Jim

Cleaned

8400 sealer

Ballistix

 

[KPack]

Looks great! I've had mine down for about 6 months now and I'm loving it. Any liquid I've had on it wipes right up. I left some oil drips for a week or so to see how it did and a paper towel took care of it with nothing left behind. I haven't tried gas or brake fluid yet. ATF, power steering, etc doesn't seem to be a problem.

It's also super-easy to keep clean. The high gloss surface keeps the dust to a minimum. All I've had to do is sweep occasionally and the floor looks like the day I finished applying Ballistix. Long term is still up in the air, but so far so good.

-Kevin

 

[ricklbyrum]

This is helping me to decide on how to forge ahead with the 40x60 shop I just had built.
Will the ballistix go on good in cold weather or is it better to put down in warmer weather?

 

[KPack]

This is helping me to decide on how to forge ahead with the 40x60 shop I just had built.
Will the ballistix go on good in cold weather or is it better to put down in warmer weather?

If I remember right the floor should be around 70 degrees or so. I'm not sure if cold weather will affect the atomization and flow.

 

[ducatithunder]

TDS iirc was above 50 Degs and no rain for 12 hrs around application time.

 

[Jim N]

I can't say much about the temperature tolerance. When I did it, we backed our way out into 30 degrees outside. The shop was at 65 and with in-floor heat, I bet the floor surface temp was the same. I might have checked it with an infra red thermometer, but I don't specifically recall doing it.

I am liking it so far. I have slipped on it with slush on my shoes but then when I try to test it, it seems grippy even when wet. Maybe I should have used the additive. Maybe I might have slipped on any surface given the slush on my shoes. I don't know. I live in Minnesota so we're full on winter now.

Jim

 

[qcarm]

Looks great. I live in MN as well so id like something non slippery.
I like the look of concrete and dont want to cover it all up with epoxy.
Did you use the gloss(squire) or the semi gloss(NCO) ?

Also, Is it resonable to do 1/2 or 2/3rds of the floor at a time, in order to move floor sitting items out of the way instead of completely out of the garage?

 

[Schoeny]

Looks great @Jim N

 

[Jim N]

qcarm, I used the gloss (Squire). I think you could do 1/2 at a time. I would mask off the floor a bit where I was going to stop. The spray is wide and if there is a half done transition area I'm not sure how well that would work. It is said to have a 7 day shelf life after mixing. You can walk on it after a day. So, I think it'd work. I'd see what Armorpoxy says.

Jim

 

[Jim N]

Oh...And I'd probably go for the non slip additive, I think. Just to be safe I suppose.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Looks great!

 

[Basketcase]

Great review... I'm curious if its possible to do it 1/2 at a time as well. It is also winter here in Canada, and I don't want to move all my stuff outside. If it's not recommended, I'll wait until spring. The shop is 48x56, so I could do mix it up in a couple sessions to not worry about shelf life.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
We have new one-part no-mix formulations now so there is no need to mix or waste so you can do as much as as little at a time as you need to. The new one parts apply with just a sprayer, and not using the microfiber mop, just spray a nice, even, thin coat over the sealer.

 

[Basketcase]

Hi,
We have new one-part no-mix formulations now so there is no need to mix or waste so you can do as much as as little at a time as you need to. The new one parts apply with just a sprayer, and not using the microfiber mop, just spray a nice, even, thin coat over the sealer.

Awesome thanks for the info!

I will most likely reach out to place the order first week of the new year (unless you have a Boxing Day sale coming?)

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
While some year end specials are planned, unfortunatley we are not able to discount Ballistix due to the limited margin since it's one of the few products we don't manufacture ourselves.

 

[Basketcase]

Hi,
While some year end specials are planned, unfortunatley we are not able to discount Ballistix due to the limited margin since it's one of the few products we don't manufacture ourselves.

Sounds good! Thanks

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Hi,
We have new one-part no-mix formulations now so there is no need to mix or waste so you can do as much as as little at a time as you need to. The new one parts apply with just a sprayer, and not using the microfiber mop, just spray a nice, even, thin coat over the sealer.

Are there tradeoffs between 1-part vs. 2-part?
Small cost increment doesn't concern much because my are is small.

 

[NotaVegetarian]

Looks great

 

[drmarkr]

Are there tradeoffs between 1-part vs. 2-part?
Small cost increment doesn't concern much because my are is small.

Interested to see the answer to this as well...

 

[ixlr8]

Are there tradeoffs between 1-part vs. 2-part?
Small cost increment doesn't concern much because my are is small.

A bump as I am interested in the answer to this question as well.

 

[dcg9381]

Curious as to how this compares to polyurea (which has been my go-to for the last 4 years).

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
Ballistix is more resistant than any urethane or polyurea/polyaspartic (both of which we sell) and is being frequently used as an additional protection layer to prevent performance tires from staining.

There are no big differences between the 1 and multi part formulations, other than the cost is somewhat higher for the 1 part. The 1 part can be sprayed only without mopping if done in a nice, even spray with a GOOD quality new sprayer which we can provide.