The journey through hell looks to be near the end! Beginning in July 2004 we set about finishing the floor of our new garage. After hours of prep, checking for possible moisture isses and extensive consultation with the experts in self applied epoxy floor coatings we began the process of coating our floor. Despite following the directions and being assured we had done it right, I was not at all pleased and pressed the company to review the floor. Much to their credit they did come to the house and agreed that something was wrong. After some "negotiatng" they agreed to strip and reapply for the cost of the labor. The job was better than we had done, but still not as good as I had hoped. It had some fisheye's and rough spots where the flakes had lumped together, but the floor was finally coated just in time for Halloween 2004. The next summer we began to notice bubbles in the floor which went from bad to worse. Tires stained the floor and would not clean up. The coating seemed to scratch easily and the appearance was getting worse with use. We again called the manufacturer who wanted us to wait to see if the bubbling would get worse or improve. Needless to say, it got worse. They again came out in the summer of 2006 and observed the floor. The diagnosis was hydrostatic pressure. This however seemed a bit strange given the fact that I have a basement adjacent to the garage and a cement stair case going to the garage and we have never had the first hint of moisture. In fact, we don't even have a sump pump because of the grade behind the home.
It was agreed that a test would be conducted whereby a core would be cut from the floor and tested. The test was concluded and there was no hydrostatic pressure. In a gracoius move, the manufacturer agreed to refund all costs of the project.
At that point I set about looking at options for a now troubled epoxy finish. I stumbled upon a concrete finishing web site and contacted Kerry at Artisitic Surfaces in Indianapolis. Kerry came by the garage and explained the process of removing the epoxy and then polishing out the concrete. After seeing the great job he had done on a number of other floors including the service department of a major Chrysler/Jeep dealership near Indianapolis we were sold. Kerry began working on the garage Monday morning and has been going strong for 3 days with the help of his daughter. They have done a bang up job and the floor looks great. He tells me that it is at a 400 grit polish now and it will go up to 1600 to bring a true gloss finish. He has a treatment that is supposed to stand up to most chemicals for +/- 48 hours that he will apply. In that we use the garage to work on our formula 2000 it will see some messes, but probably nothing like the commercial sericve bays. For anyone considering flooring options, this to me is the way to go. Even at 400 grit the finish is much smoother than the epoxy was. I can't wait to see the final results at 1600! These are some pics of the floor in progress.
It was agreed that a test would be conducted whereby a core would be cut from the floor and tested. The test was concluded and there was no hydrostatic pressure. In a gracoius move, the manufacturer agreed to refund all costs of the project.
At that point I set about looking at options for a now troubled epoxy finish. I stumbled upon a concrete finishing web site and contacted Kerry at Artisitic Surfaces in Indianapolis. Kerry came by the garage and explained the process of removing the epoxy and then polishing out the concrete. After seeing the great job he had done on a number of other floors including the service department of a major Chrysler/Jeep dealership near Indianapolis we were sold. Kerry began working on the garage Monday morning and has been going strong for 3 days with the help of his daughter. They have done a bang up job and the floor looks great. He tells me that it is at a 400 grit polish now and it will go up to 1600 to bring a true gloss finish. He has a treatment that is supposed to stand up to most chemicals for +/- 48 hours that he will apply. In that we use the garage to work on our formula 2000 it will see some messes, but probably nothing like the commercial sericve bays. For anyone considering flooring options, this to me is the way to go. Even at 400 grit the finish is much smoother than the epoxy was. I can't wait to see the final results at 1600! These are some pics of the floor in progress.
