Can I Epoxy In Winter?

[jw3571]

I have a flooring contractor that i've used before telling me that there is no problem to epoxy in the cold. Where I live it's in the low 40's for a high and low 20's for a low. I have a heated garage that's heated by a ceiling mounted unit but that probably doesn't help heat the floor. I was told it's two part epoxy that's 88% sold with a sealer that's 92% solid. Is this true, can I really do it now? The price seemed pretty good to me, it's little over $2/psf and has a two year warranty.

 

[shaun oriold1]

Yeah.... You know the saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..."

At $2 a square foot done by a professional... First Red Flag!
Coating at an average of 30 degrees for an epoxy... Second red flag!
A contractor you've used before, and our questioning.... Third red flag!

Saying all that, you could coat in these temps if you absolutely had to. Heck, I coated my own floor in 10F temps. Its not enjoyable to work in, so I'd be skeptical of the quality of prep ( the tools are all metal, and they get cold. Even with gloves) I was lasting 30-40 minutes at a time before having to go warm up inside. I also had a rocket heater blasting the whole time.

The epoxy will thicken right up instantly as it touches the slab, making it a pain in the *** to squeegee, and roll out. He will have like a 5-10 minute working time.

I'd pass unless you absolutely need to!

 

[mnavillus]

I would ask for a copy of his PDS...Product Data Sheet! It will tell you the allowable application temperatures,recoat times and etc...

However at $2 per (HMMMM) clarify what he is putting down? clarify his surface preparation process!

Remember the surface preparation is the critical part of the flooring installation process!

good luck1

 

[jw3571]

Original poster here, in doing a little more research I think the product may be an polyaspartic product. Have any people used a product like this? What are the drawbacks?

 

[Shea]

A quality polyaspartic garage floor installation usually starts around $5 a square foot and goes up in price from there. $2 a square foot barely covers the cost of grinding and preparing the concrete let alone purchasing of the material. I would be suspect of the both the prep and quality of product for that price.

You can learn more about the benefits of polyaspartic coatings here.

 

[shaun oriold1]

The Polyaspartics will have a broader range of working temps for sure. Its totally doable... Its just the price of it which is still suspect.

What does his warranty cover exactly. And how responsive will he be if repair work is needed- and to what extent will the repair work be. Most coating which fail from poor prep happen within the first year.

Either way, I'd stay away if it were me.

 

[Excelerater]

too cold,I would not do any coatings of any sort till it warms up
your contractor is dead slow and needs work,he will say anything to stay busy

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have a flooring contractor that i've used before telling me that there is no problem to epoxy in the cold. Where I live it's in the low 40's for a high and low 20's for a low. I have a heated garage that's heated by a ceiling mounted unit but that probably doesn't help heat the floor. I was told it's two part epoxy that's 88% sold with a sealer that's 92% solid. Is this true, can I really do it now? The price seemed pretty good to me, it's little over $2/psf and has a two year warranty.

There are two things to consider here. First, there is cure temp. There are several epoxy products that will, in theory, cure at the temperatures you are looking at. BUT

What we found is just because a coating will cure, does not mean it is effective. Unless the epoxy has a specific cold weather wetting agent to increase adhesion, cold weather installs were more likely to fail.

GBC has some products designed for winter install, but I still would not go that low.

 

[jw3571]

Alright, I talked to the contractor. The product is actually Aquapon 35 Polyamide-Epoxy Gloss. Has anyone heard this product before? I'm going to make a separate post about it. Thanks.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Alright, I talked to the contractor. The product is actually Aquapon 35 Polyamide-Epoxy Gloss. Has anyone heard this product before? I'm going to make a separate post about it. Thanks.

"For Professional Use Only; Not Intended for
Household Use.
Apply only when air temperature is 60ºF
(15.6ºC) or higher and when surface temperature is at least
5ºF(3ºC) above the dew point. The solvents contained in
AQUAPON
®
35 Gloss Finishes can lift some alkyd, oil based and
other coatings that are not resistant to strong solvents. A test
patch application is recommended. Application on wood is limited
to incidental or interior application"



http://www.ppghighperformancecoatin...dc-b707eaeee777/TDS_95-1000.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf

 

[K13]

According to the data sheets the air temp has to be over 60F and the surface 5F above the dew point.

 

[Garage Flooring]

"VOLUME SOLIDS*:
54.8% +/- 2%
WEIGHT SOLIDS*:
68.3% +/- 2%"


Same link as above