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Bubbles in Metallic Epoxy Floor

dannyatlantic

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
9
Found your website and was very impressed. Have a situation regarding a refinish I had performed on my garage floor.
Here is history:

Live in Baltimore County, MD. Had garage floor coated in a 2 color metallic finish. 3 layer process (primer, base coat and then clearcoat) Job commenced on 7/25/17. Company has been around for 10+ years.

I did experience blistering later in the evening after clearcoat was installed. I was told nothing could be done about the blistering and it was part of the process. The blisters aren’t too terrible and I decided I could live w/ them. Now I’ve learned they should have and could have been dealt w/. My badddd.

On 8/15/17, the clearcoat was sanded a couple of wks after being installed due to a traction grit being used in clearcoat whereas none was supposed to be included. New clearcoat was then applied.

9/8/17, I noticed several areas which I’ll call bubble have appeared. They are not the earlier blistering I encountered. When I depress the bubble, it flattens but then immediately rises. When comparing the size of bubbles to coins, they range anywhere from the size of a dime to larger than a quarter.

I sent the pics to the company who installed and the response I rec’d was: “This looks like it is still outgassing and will go away. No need to puncture the blisters, this is not a defect like you had before.”

It appears to me the areas where the bubbles have appeared have simply not adhered properly to the concrete. Even if I’m wrong, I don’t for see the bubbles re-adhering to the concrete.

I did take pics of the floor after it had been diamond sanded and repairs to cracks/holes had been performed. However, now that I lok back upon these pics, it doesn’t appear the floor had been sanded in a uniform fashion and is evidenced by the different coloring in the floor. BTW, the floor is approx. 50 years old and a previous owner had applied some sort of clear coating sometime along the way. This was made aware to the flooring company. Now, Im beginning to wonder whether Im not going to have more problems down the road.

Ive attached the following pics :
Before
After sanding
Bubbles

Id greatly appreciate any input you might be able to offer, advice and your opinion to this situation.

Dan
 

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doolots

Active member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
31
That grind job is poor at best, should be uniform and not slick like that. It looks as it is out gassing and not adhering. I'm not an expert on epoxy but that is not a quality job, in automotive paint that looks the same as solvent pop.
 
OP
D

dannyatlantic

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
9
Yea, I feel the same way. This evening the Owner od the company told mer theses types of "bubbles" can occur and should "go away" in a couple of weeks. Obviously the areas in question aren't adhering or they wouldn't have popped.
 

Kaizen

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
6,948
Location
New England
Yea, I feel the same way. This evening the Owner od the company told mer theses types of "bubbles" can occur and should "go away" in a couple of weeks. Obviously the areas in question aren't adhering or they wouldn't have popped.

I can't explain the bubbles in the last coating of top coat but I can say its not from not adhering. you expect to see them on the primer or color coat but by the top coat the holes in the floor should have filled. This is what I would expect to see bubbles from. But them doing a top coat then later sanding it off and doing another that now has bubbles is strange. btw no way would I have a garage without slip granules. One little bit of water and it is like ice.

That said that grind job could have been better in some places. If you can see it actually lifting at this point you have problems. If I were paying for someone to do mine I would not accept bubbles after a day.

edit.....actually did they do all 3 of the original coats in one day? Possible those bubbles are from the first coat or 2nd if they rushed it and covered before cured. So it slowed the off gassing and now the top coat sealed them in like balloons.
 
Last edited:

LegacyIndustrial

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Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
7,994
Location
deerfield, IL
Bubbles near each other like that are likely moisture. Cut one open, see if wet or damp. Use a razor knife, small cut.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
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dannyatlantic

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
9
Thanks for response. they did not coat all in 1 day. 1st day, sand prep and prime coat; 2nd day, metallic coat and 3rd day clearcoat.
PS i do get your anti skid response. didnt do it due to preference for the finish without it and also, those cars never go out in water, snow and the garage never sees water init EVER.
 

katilicous

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2017
Messages
86
Location
Laguna Niguel
If you didn't want anit skid, was it bc you wanted the glossy smooth look? even if the bubbles go down, you will always see where there isnt material consistent under them. Ive made some mistakes and bubbles are one of them. If you paid for and want a smooth floor, I would request the contractor sand and clean the floor real well and topcoat again. You will possibly see the outlines of the bubble holes in that topcoat, but you can get a smooth finish.
 
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ard

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Feb 16, 2015
Messages
4,391
Location
Sierra Foothills... California
OP- not sure I would do ANYTHING to that floor (ie cut bubbles) until you have a written expert opinion in terms of cause and remediation.

If you cut open bubbles, the owner will likely tell you THAT is part of the problem.

You may have to spend a few $$ to get that done, but IMO this is going to end poorly.
 

LegacyIndustrial

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Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
7,994
Location
deerfield, IL
OP- not sure I would do ANYTHING to that floor (ie cut bubbles) until you have a written expert opinion in terms of cause and remediation.

If you cut open bubbles, the owner will likely tell you THAT is part of the problem.

You may have to spend a few $$ to get that done, but IMO this is going to end poorly.



Great point. Get that installer over and have him cut a few in front of you.

This will give you both a starting point on what happens next.


Moisture issues like this can be easily remediated with the proper product. It's not the end of the world.

Your best path is to try and work this out with the contractor. If he has a good Internet reputation he will not want it sullied.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

Kaizen

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Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
6,948
Location
New England
Great point. Get that installer over and have him cut a few in front of you.

This will give you both a starting point on what happens next.


Moisture issues like this can be easily remediated with the proper product. It's not the end of the world.

Your best path is to try and work this out with the contractor. If he has a good Internet reputation he will not want it sullied.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If it is moisture what is the remediation steps? in case I run into this on my floor
 

Armorpoxy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
3,735
Location
NJ
Always test for moisture first if you live in a damp area. If you encounter moisture we carry a few different moisture barrier coatings that can hold back up to low 20's of vapor pressure (up to about 4 lbs/1000 sq ft/24 hrs is fine without remediation).

Inexpensive moisture test kits are good for this.
 
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