Concrete finish for Armorpoxy SPGX Polyurea

[Superwilly]

Hi guys, I'm getting my slab poured in my shop next week, and my concrete contractor is asking for clarification on what type of finish I require.

My intent is to apply the Armorpoxy SPGX 1-part Polyurea coating to the floor after the appropriate curing time. Link to the product: https://armorpoxy.com/products/spgx-one-part-polyurea-coating/

I have read on this forum that I do not want a power-troweled finish, unless I intend to grind the floor. I definitely do not want to grind, hoping to clean and acid etch only.

My slab size is approx 2700 sq. ft., and when I told my concrete contractor this, he said that "you have to have a power-troweled floor, otherwise it will look terrible". He's basically telling me that's the only way he will be able to finish the floor to make it look decent...

I've called and emailed armorpoxy to try and get clarification on this, but the phone guy knew very little, and haven't received an email response from [email protected].

Question to you all: has anyone else had experience with this product on a new slab, and can clarify for me what type of finish I need to request from my contractor? Do I ask for power floating and then minimal power-troweling (to avoid a polished/burnished finish), or it is imperative that no power-troweling is done at all? Does that mean they would have to hand-trowel the entire thing?

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Cam

 

[ConCretin]

I'll let the epoxy experts respond regarding the final finish but I did want to comment on the use of a power trowel. You definitely want your contractor to use power trowels for a floor that size. The description you offered isn't a bad way to put it - floated but with minimal troweling.

There are three operations that the power trowel performs. 'Floating' with float blades, combination blades or a pan brings up the cream and flattens the floor. The next step is to 'knock down' the ridges left by floating. Without these steps, the floor will be wavy. The final step is with a steel blade to create a smooth finish and determine the level of polish..

I suspect the epoxy experts will tell you to stop before you get too far into the final polishing phase. We call it a 'sharkskin' finish and often apply it to slabs that will receive some kind of adhered floor covering. The floor is flat with no trowel marks but it has the consistency 100 grit sandpaper.

 

[Shea]

I suspect the epoxy experts will tell you to stop before you get too far into the final polishing phase. We call it a 'sharkskin' finish and often apply it to slabs that will receive some kind of adhered floor covering. The floor is flat with no trowel marks but it has the consistency 100 grit sandpaper.

Spot on

A floor with such a finish is fine for acid etching and applying SPGX or similar coatings.

 

[Superwilly]

I forwarded Willy's "sharkskin/100grit" finish description to my contractor, and he said "Oh, you want a broom finish."

Is pulling a broom over the floor the conventional way to get that gritty finish? Seems like a broom finish would be easy to do for a sidewalk, but really hard to get a massive square slab done without little chunks, weird ridges, etc., or am I wrong?

If you guys tell me that I have no worries if my contractor is going to give me a broom finish, then great, I'll rest easy...

 

[JoeMcGov]

I forwarded Willy's "sharkskin/100grit" finish description to my contractor, and he said "Oh, you want a broom finish."

Is pulling a broom over the floor the conventional way to get that gritty finish? Seems like a broom finish would be easy to do for a sidewalk, but really hard to get a massive square slab done without little chunks, weird ridges, etc., or am I wrong?

If you guys tell me that I have no worries if my contractor is going to give me a broom finish, then great, I'll rest easy...

No no no. Holy ****. Who is your contractor? May need to fire him if he doesn't understand this very simple and Concrete 101 finish that's been described for you in post #2.

 

[Superwilly]

He's one of the most reputable guys in my area (Manitoba, Canada), but never heard of this product, or it appears never prepared a floor for epoxy or similar coating...

 

[ConCretin]

Terminology can be tricky. Construction lingo varies from one region to another but you definitely don't want a broom finish. You just want to stop the steel trowel operation while there is still a slight grip to the surface. Think of it as a matt finish rather than glossy. The overall sequence is unchanged. It's stopping just short of hard toweling and well short of a burnished or polished finish.

Actually, this isn't the easiest thing to accomplish. Don't be overly surprised if you get an area or two that have a little shine to them that you might want to hit with a grinder. This would be better than stopping too soon and ending up with trowel marks that show through your epoxy.

In defense of your contractor, it is possible to create a very fine broom finish that isn't too far off from what we are talking about but it would still be more profile than you are looking for.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, we believe we responded already to this via emai so perhaps it got stuck in your spam. Unfortunately we don’t know your email address so we can’t check our systems.

Standard trowel finish is fine. Don’t power trowel as this burnishes and seals too much. Etch prior to coating. Thank you very much

 

[Superwilly]

Hi Armorpoxy, nope, nothing in my spam folder. My email is EDITED.

What is a "standard trowel" finish? Is that hand-troweling, or something different? I think as the other fellow said localized terminology makes this more difficult...

I thought there was only... "hand-troweling", and then "power-troweling"...

Thanks,
-Cam

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi standard trowel is a non-machine type trowel by hand or float trowels. Don’t machine burnish. Perhaps we responded to a similar request recently. Thank you.


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