KPack
Well-known member
The garage portion of my shop will be a working/hobby garage. General vehicle maintenance, restoration, woodworking, and some welding. I wanted a floor that looked nice, but most of all was strong and functional. I dislike the dustiness of unprotected concrete, but didn't want the hassle of epoxy and flake. The look of concrete itself does not bother me.
After looking at all the options I decided to give Ballistix a shot to see what it would do. From the claims, I liked the 1.) ease of install, 2.) impervious to automotive fluids, 3.) long life, 4.) gloss look. I ordered from Armorpoxy, which was an easy process. I spoke to them on the phone several times before and after the order to make sure I had everything. Shipping was quick and all the materials arrived about a week or so later.
Prep work was the worst part of the job. The area to be coated was ~1300 sq ft. The drywallers and painters had left a heavy layer of drywall dust and overspray all over the concrete. I had previously pressure washed the slab (about 2 weeks ago) and was able to remove a good amount of it, but there was still quite a bit left over. The pressure washer had a hard time getting it off.
Armorpoxy advised that I use a black pad on a floor buffer to clean off the remainder. One of the techs on the phone said to use it dry, so I did. It was brutal trying get that stuff off. Easily 2-3 hours of trying to keep the buffing machine under control. Crazy dusty. I had to blow the garage out multiple times, then a very light mopping with plain water, then a couple hours of dry time, then an overall cleaning with 99% iso. Much improved, but tons of work. Took up most of Saturday.
Next was the acrylic sealer (ARM 8400X from Armorpoxy's Ballistix kit). It was easy to apply....just roll it on with the supplied rollers. They had sent 3 jugs of the sealer, and I only ended up using one to coat the whole floor. I wasn't skimping on it either. It dried in about an hour or so. You can see the rear portions starting to dry as I work through the garage.
Once it dried it had darkened the concrete only slightly. It left a very light satin sheen
Here's where there was some confusion. One of the videos on Armorpoxy's website says to apply the Ballistix 2-4 hours after the 8400X. But in the instructions (which weren't as easy to find as I thought) said to let it sit overnight. In the end I left it overnight (actually let it cure all day Sunday and then did Ballistix on Monday morning). Mixing the Ballistix is pretty straightforward, but when the first two parts are mixed, the solution is supposed to reach 135 degrees Fahrenheit. I followed the directions to the letter, and checked on the bottle every few minutes. Even after shaking it again as instructed, the temp never really got to 135. Maybe for a brief minute, but definitely not above it. Ambient temp was 60 degrees.
It took a while to cool back down before I could add the final part. In the meantime I cleaned the whole floor again with 99% iso and the supplied microfiber mop. Plenty of time to dry afterward. Once the Ballistix was done I put it in the sprayer and my wife and I went to work. We basically followed the few videos I found and mopping it out went pretty quick. One thing I noticed in the videos is that no one ever wore a respirator. We didn't, though we probably should have. The lingering smell of the 99% iso was pretty strong, and the Ballistix added to it. Windows were open, fan was going, and heater was on. It wasn't bad while we were applying, but after we were done the smell got much stronger, I'm assuming because it's curing. I also noted that it was hard to gauge how much Ballistix we were going to need. It doesn't seem like much in the sprayer when you start, but it turns out it goes a long ways.
This photo shows the difference between the concrete with and without Ballistix.
Once it was all down the floor looked pretty good I think.
I closed everything up and have been checking on it throughout the day. The TDS says dry time (to the touch) is about 2 hours at 70 degrees and 50% humidity. The shop is set to 65 degrees and I'm not sure what the humidity is in there right now. Outside humidity is 50%, not sure about inside the shop. It's been 5 hours and it's still very tacky to the touch. I'm also noticing some spots that are appearing more dull.
In addition, there are some areas where the Ballistix appears to have some "beading". These are areas where I'm 100% confident that there was never any oil on the concrete. I'm not really sure if this is to be expected or not.
Full cure time is 7 days, so I'm going to let it sit and keep anything from getting onto the surface as it sets. We'll see how it turns out. I'm not really sure what to expect at this point. This is my first time doing this, so I don't expect perfection, but I'm a little concerned that the finish is not looking even so far. I followed what directions I could find precisely, so I'm not sure if I could have/should have done anything different. I'll update over the next couple of days as things continue to cure.
After looking at all the options I decided to give Ballistix a shot to see what it would do. From the claims, I liked the 1.) ease of install, 2.) impervious to automotive fluids, 3.) long life, 4.) gloss look. I ordered from Armorpoxy, which was an easy process. I spoke to them on the phone several times before and after the order to make sure I had everything. Shipping was quick and all the materials arrived about a week or so later.
Prep work was the worst part of the job. The area to be coated was ~1300 sq ft. The drywallers and painters had left a heavy layer of drywall dust and overspray all over the concrete. I had previously pressure washed the slab (about 2 weeks ago) and was able to remove a good amount of it, but there was still quite a bit left over. The pressure washer had a hard time getting it off.
Armorpoxy advised that I use a black pad on a floor buffer to clean off the remainder. One of the techs on the phone said to use it dry, so I did. It was brutal trying get that stuff off. Easily 2-3 hours of trying to keep the buffing machine under control. Crazy dusty. I had to blow the garage out multiple times, then a very light mopping with plain water, then a couple hours of dry time, then an overall cleaning with 99% iso. Much improved, but tons of work. Took up most of Saturday.
Next was the acrylic sealer (ARM 8400X from Armorpoxy's Ballistix kit). It was easy to apply....just roll it on with the supplied rollers. They had sent 3 jugs of the sealer, and I only ended up using one to coat the whole floor. I wasn't skimping on it either. It dried in about an hour or so. You can see the rear portions starting to dry as I work through the garage.
Once it dried it had darkened the concrete only slightly. It left a very light satin sheen
Here's where there was some confusion. One of the videos on Armorpoxy's website says to apply the Ballistix 2-4 hours after the 8400X. But in the instructions (which weren't as easy to find as I thought) said to let it sit overnight. In the end I left it overnight (actually let it cure all day Sunday and then did Ballistix on Monday morning). Mixing the Ballistix is pretty straightforward, but when the first two parts are mixed, the solution is supposed to reach 135 degrees Fahrenheit. I followed the directions to the letter, and checked on the bottle every few minutes. Even after shaking it again as instructed, the temp never really got to 135. Maybe for a brief minute, but definitely not above it. Ambient temp was 60 degrees.
It took a while to cool back down before I could add the final part. In the meantime I cleaned the whole floor again with 99% iso and the supplied microfiber mop. Plenty of time to dry afterward. Once the Ballistix was done I put it in the sprayer and my wife and I went to work. We basically followed the few videos I found and mopping it out went pretty quick. One thing I noticed in the videos is that no one ever wore a respirator. We didn't, though we probably should have. The lingering smell of the 99% iso was pretty strong, and the Ballistix added to it. Windows were open, fan was going, and heater was on. It wasn't bad while we were applying, but after we were done the smell got much stronger, I'm assuming because it's curing. I also noted that it was hard to gauge how much Ballistix we were going to need. It doesn't seem like much in the sprayer when you start, but it turns out it goes a long ways.
This photo shows the difference between the concrete with and without Ballistix.
Once it was all down the floor looked pretty good I think.
I closed everything up and have been checking on it throughout the day. The TDS says dry time (to the touch) is about 2 hours at 70 degrees and 50% humidity. The shop is set to 65 degrees and I'm not sure what the humidity is in there right now. Outside humidity is 50%, not sure about inside the shop. It's been 5 hours and it's still very tacky to the touch. I'm also noticing some spots that are appearing more dull.
In addition, there are some areas where the Ballistix appears to have some "beading". These are areas where I'm 100% confident that there was never any oil on the concrete. I'm not really sure if this is to be expected or not.
Full cure time is 7 days, so I'm going to let it sit and keep anything from getting onto the surface as it sets. We'll see how it turns out. I'm not really sure what to expect at this point. This is my first time doing this, so I don't expect perfection, but I'm a little concerned that the finish is not looking even so far. I followed what directions I could find precisely, so I'm not sure if I could have/should have done anything different. I'll update over the next couple of days as things continue to cure.
