Mikaman
Member
I epoxy'ed my floor this past weekend, first time I've done this, a few tips from my experience might help others. I used the Epoxy-Coat product, for two reasons: wanted to get it done in 2 days, and cost. On the cost issue, if you can find a Lowe's near you that STOCKS this product, it's a good deal -- $194 for the full kit, which covers 500 SF at about 9 mils DFT. If your Lowe's doesn't stock it, their special order price is much higher and you'd be better off buying it direct from epoxy-coat.com.
The 4-step products may provide superior protection (etch/primer coat/epoxy/clear top coat) but I just didn't have time to make this a 4-day affair. It's a home workshop, I probably spend a couple hundred hours a year in there, one-man operation -- so I don't need the durability of a commercial shop floor (although I have no reason to suggest that Epoxy-Coat isn't durable). I figured I didn't need a clear on top, because I don't have much UV exposure (only two small windows and lots of shade trees outside).
Anyhow, on to the process ... followed the instructions to the letter, of course. A few tips, though, in no particular order:
1) The measuring stick supplied in the kit is inaccurate (there's another thread about this) -- it does NOT give you the 2:1 ratio, it's off. And seemd like it would be hard to read, waaaay down in the bottom of the black 6-gal bucket. So I used two small ice cream tubs as measuring cups. I used one for Part A and another for Part B. I marked lines on the tubs to give me the exact 2:1 ratio. This seemed a lot more foolproof than the hard-to-read, inaccurate measuring stick: fill up tub #1 to the line with Part A, fill tub #2 to the line with Part B, then dump them both in the bigger mixing bucket. (By the way, I carefully checked the total amount of Part A and Part B provided in the kit, and they were almost exactly 2 to 1).
2) The squeegee provided in the kit is useless, so I bought a 14" floor squeegee that threads onto an extension rod. This was a plain/straight squeegee, I couldn't find a notched squeegee locally and ran out of time to mail order one. The straight squeegee worked OK, but I can see how a notched squeegee would be better. With the straight squeegee, you have to develop a feel for how hard to press down when spreading the product (not hard! the weight of the squeegee itself is about enough to spread the epoxy to the right thickness). Also with the straight squeegee, if your floor has any dips or low points, the squeegee can bridge & skip over them -- a notched squeegee would probably spread the epoxy better into high & low points.
3) I didn't use the flakes. I'm not concerned about a "showcase" garage, I just want the protection & easy clean-up of epoxy. I didn't buy spiked shoes, and now that I've done the floor I'd say I really didn't need them. I worked in "single batches", i.e. about 1/2 gallon at a time, so I didn't have to reach too far with the squeegee or roller. I never needed to step in the epoxy. (If anybody wants to buy my flakes, let me know)
4) I did put down the anti-skid, near doors. There isn't enough anti-skid in the kit to cover the whole 500 SF in my opinion. I probably covered about 100 SF with anti-skid, admittedly heavy in spots, so it might do more -- but not the whole garage.
5) I had a really long extension pole for the roller -- 8 ft, telescoping to about 15 ft. I never needed to extend it, but I sure was glad I had 8 ft. If your pole is shorter, you'll need spiked shoes OR work in even smaller batches.
6) I stole a kitchen spatula from you-know-who. It was indispensible for scraping all the stuff out of the measuring buckets.
7) I didn't use the big 6-gal bucket supplied with the kit -- it's just too large. I bought a 2-gal cleaning bucket with a nice spout on one side of the rim. This was plenty big enough for mixing 1/2 gal batches, I mixed a full gallon batch at the end, no problem -- and the size & spout made it much easier to evenly pour the epoxy onto the floor.
8) The instructions say to pour a line of epoxy about 2 feet from the wall ... that's too far. You can't push the squeegee (at least not very well), you can only pull it. So I poured about 6 inches from the wall, used the chip brush to drag a bit of it back to cut in the edge, and then it was much easier to cover the entire area by pulling the squeegee toward you. I stil had to push a little bit of epoxy back to the wall, but not 2 feet's worth.
9) I made a "salt shaker" to distribute the anti-skid ... took an old plastic butter tub and poked a bunch of holes in the lid with an ice pick. This worked great for putting down the anti-skid! I tried the "throw a pinch in the air" method, and that spreads it out, but unless you are a pro horseshoe pitcher it's hard to toss it exactly where you want it to land. As long as you plan your sections and can reach the areas you want, the salt shaker works great. (just make sure the lid is really secure ... ). You could even tape the salt shaker to a pole if you had to reach further.
10) The roller will "bleed" a lot of epoxy when you set it down between batches. I didn't plan for this. It seemed pretty "dry" when I finished rolling a section -- not so. I rested the roller on the bare floor while I was mixing the next batch -- bad idea -- you end up with a big blob of epoxy that partially cures and is impossible to spread out. Ditto for the squeegee. I then started resting them on a piece of cardboard, bad idea, they stuck (warm day, the epoxy was curing pretty fast). It would be better to have some sort of tray or big bucket to set them in while you're mixing the next batch. I also tried propping them up with the roller up, off the floor -- didn't work, it just drips on the floor. It is amazing how much epoxy hides in the roller and slowly oozes out -- a lot!
11) Oh, back up to the prep (acid etch) ... the instruction video shows a liquid concentrate but my kit came with dry crystals ... no problem. The solution did NOT fizz when I applied it to the floor, and I am 100% certain that my floor had no sealer on it. So I just followed the instructions and didn't worry about the fizz. After rinsing and drying, honestly the floor didn't feel very different to the touch (I have another bay that I didn't etch or coat, and the surface texture felt pretty much the same). Maybe it was just my specific floor and they way they troweled it. It looked a little darker after etching, but there just wasn't a real dramatic change. I tested some water and it soaked right in, so I went ahead with the epoxy. A day later, it certainly appears to be really well adhered, but I guess I won't know for sure until I start using the floor and parking cars on it, etc.
12) A local paint store (not big box, a real paint store) sells Ben Moore products and rents a walk-behind diamond grinder, which they swear has a great dust collector and makes almost no dust ... if I were doing this again, I might try to rent the floor grinder. I like seeing visible results, I'd feel better if my floor prep resulted in a rougher texture. And I tend to trust mechanical means over chemical means. But since my floor was new virgin concrete, zero stains, zero coatings, etc I figured that the standard acid etch ought to work this time. Let's hope!
Maybe some of this stuff is just rookie mistakes, the pro's are probably chuckling if they're reading this, but it might help some other first-timers. Overall I have to say that it really isn't hard, you can get a little intimidated reading all the detailed posts on this forum, but in the end it's not a big deal - pretty much like painting a wall, except the prep is more specific.
Good luck on your project!
The 4-step products may provide superior protection (etch/primer coat/epoxy/clear top coat) but I just didn't have time to make this a 4-day affair. It's a home workshop, I probably spend a couple hundred hours a year in there, one-man operation -- so I don't need the durability of a commercial shop floor (although I have no reason to suggest that Epoxy-Coat isn't durable). I figured I didn't need a clear on top, because I don't have much UV exposure (only two small windows and lots of shade trees outside).
Anyhow, on to the process ... followed the instructions to the letter, of course. A few tips, though, in no particular order:
1) The measuring stick supplied in the kit is inaccurate (there's another thread about this) -- it does NOT give you the 2:1 ratio, it's off. And seemd like it would be hard to read, waaaay down in the bottom of the black 6-gal bucket. So I used two small ice cream tubs as measuring cups. I used one for Part A and another for Part B. I marked lines on the tubs to give me the exact 2:1 ratio. This seemed a lot more foolproof than the hard-to-read, inaccurate measuring stick: fill up tub #1 to the line with Part A, fill tub #2 to the line with Part B, then dump them both in the bigger mixing bucket. (By the way, I carefully checked the total amount of Part A and Part B provided in the kit, and they were almost exactly 2 to 1).
2) The squeegee provided in the kit is useless, so I bought a 14" floor squeegee that threads onto an extension rod. This was a plain/straight squeegee, I couldn't find a notched squeegee locally and ran out of time to mail order one. The straight squeegee worked OK, but I can see how a notched squeegee would be better. With the straight squeegee, you have to develop a feel for how hard to press down when spreading the product (not hard! the weight of the squeegee itself is about enough to spread the epoxy to the right thickness). Also with the straight squeegee, if your floor has any dips or low points, the squeegee can bridge & skip over them -- a notched squeegee would probably spread the epoxy better into high & low points.
3) I didn't use the flakes. I'm not concerned about a "showcase" garage, I just want the protection & easy clean-up of epoxy. I didn't buy spiked shoes, and now that I've done the floor I'd say I really didn't need them. I worked in "single batches", i.e. about 1/2 gallon at a time, so I didn't have to reach too far with the squeegee or roller. I never needed to step in the epoxy. (If anybody wants to buy my flakes, let me know)
4) I did put down the anti-skid, near doors. There isn't enough anti-skid in the kit to cover the whole 500 SF in my opinion. I probably covered about 100 SF with anti-skid, admittedly heavy in spots, so it might do more -- but not the whole garage.
5) I had a really long extension pole for the roller -- 8 ft, telescoping to about 15 ft. I never needed to extend it, but I sure was glad I had 8 ft. If your pole is shorter, you'll need spiked shoes OR work in even smaller batches.
6) I stole a kitchen spatula from you-know-who. It was indispensible for scraping all the stuff out of the measuring buckets.
7) I didn't use the big 6-gal bucket supplied with the kit -- it's just too large. I bought a 2-gal cleaning bucket with a nice spout on one side of the rim. This was plenty big enough for mixing 1/2 gal batches, I mixed a full gallon batch at the end, no problem -- and the size & spout made it much easier to evenly pour the epoxy onto the floor.
8) The instructions say to pour a line of epoxy about 2 feet from the wall ... that's too far. You can't push the squeegee (at least not very well), you can only pull it. So I poured about 6 inches from the wall, used the chip brush to drag a bit of it back to cut in the edge, and then it was much easier to cover the entire area by pulling the squeegee toward you. I stil had to push a little bit of epoxy back to the wall, but not 2 feet's worth.
9) I made a "salt shaker" to distribute the anti-skid ... took an old plastic butter tub and poked a bunch of holes in the lid with an ice pick. This worked great for putting down the anti-skid! I tried the "throw a pinch in the air" method, and that spreads it out, but unless you are a pro horseshoe pitcher it's hard to toss it exactly where you want it to land. As long as you plan your sections and can reach the areas you want, the salt shaker works great. (just make sure the lid is really secure ... ). You could even tape the salt shaker to a pole if you had to reach further.
10) The roller will "bleed" a lot of epoxy when you set it down between batches. I didn't plan for this. It seemed pretty "dry" when I finished rolling a section -- not so. I rested the roller on the bare floor while I was mixing the next batch -- bad idea -- you end up with a big blob of epoxy that partially cures and is impossible to spread out. Ditto for the squeegee. I then started resting them on a piece of cardboard, bad idea, they stuck (warm day, the epoxy was curing pretty fast). It would be better to have some sort of tray or big bucket to set them in while you're mixing the next batch. I also tried propping them up with the roller up, off the floor -- didn't work, it just drips on the floor. It is amazing how much epoxy hides in the roller and slowly oozes out -- a lot!
11) Oh, back up to the prep (acid etch) ... the instruction video shows a liquid concentrate but my kit came with dry crystals ... no problem. The solution did NOT fizz when I applied it to the floor, and I am 100% certain that my floor had no sealer on it. So I just followed the instructions and didn't worry about the fizz. After rinsing and drying, honestly the floor didn't feel very different to the touch (I have another bay that I didn't etch or coat, and the surface texture felt pretty much the same). Maybe it was just my specific floor and they way they troweled it. It looked a little darker after etching, but there just wasn't a real dramatic change. I tested some water and it soaked right in, so I went ahead with the epoxy. A day later, it certainly appears to be really well adhered, but I guess I won't know for sure until I start using the floor and parking cars on it, etc.
12) A local paint store (not big box, a real paint store) sells Ben Moore products and rents a walk-behind diamond grinder, which they swear has a great dust collector and makes almost no dust ... if I were doing this again, I might try to rent the floor grinder. I like seeing visible results, I'd feel better if my floor prep resulted in a rougher texture. And I tend to trust mechanical means over chemical means. But since my floor was new virgin concrete, zero stains, zero coatings, etc I figured that the standard acid etch ought to work this time. Let's hope!
Maybe some of this stuff is just rookie mistakes, the pro's are probably chuckling if they're reading this, but it might help some other first-timers. Overall I have to say that it really isn't hard, you can get a little intimidated reading all the detailed posts on this forum, but in the end it's not a big deal - pretty much like painting a wall, except the prep is more specific.
Good luck on your project!
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