Do I need to grind or is acid etching sufficient?

[AmpedUp]

New member here and I'm planning a garage floor project. The house is 7 years old. I have a 2.5 car garage - 600sf. The floor does not have any cracks or paint/prior coatings. There are very few oil stains no larger than a nickel in one spot. I'd like to coat the floor in beige with flakes.

Here are my questions:
Would acid etching be sufficient?
I'm thinking about using the Rustoleum professional kit? Should I put on one coat or two for better results?
Should I seal it after the epoxy dries?

Thanks in advance.

 

[retfr8flyr]

If you want am epoxy floor that will last I would recommend talking to Fred at Alpha Garage, Scott at Legacy Industrial or Justin at GarageFlooringLLC. They are all vendors here and offer great products, as well as very good advice. I would recommend not cutting corners and do a 3 step with good primer, 100% solids main coat with whatever quantity of flakes you like and a final clear coat with Polyurethane. You can probably get away with etching the floor but grinding assures a good result.

 

[mtmd11]

I have heard/read/been told that grinding is the gold standard for floor prep. If you really want that first application of epoxy to penetrate into the concrete.... grind it and power wash it. Also, if you have a dirty/stained slab... grind it.

I did neither. And I'm glad I didn't. However, I was finishing a newly poured (but cured) slab so it was pristine. I did an aggressive acid etch and just hosed it off.

From a previous post of mine:

"I did a ''UCoat It'' epoxy and have been very happy with it (6 months).

I placed it in new construction, so didn't need to contend with oil stains or cracks, etc.

I did the acid etch, layer of epoxy on wet floor, second epoxy c flakes, first clear gloss with more flakes, second clear gloss.

I found the gloss layer difficult to apply evenly due to its near invisibility when rolled on. I ended up with some spots having a thicker and smooth finish vs some area where I put it on thinner and so the flake is palpable almost in a 'non-skid' kind of way.

It isn't bullet proof, but stands up to daily wear and tear well. For cleaning I have vacuumed, swept, and squeegeed at different times, and clean up is easy. Oil and what not wipes right off."

 

[79mudbugg]

can people not search?????? i get on everyday an somebody has to ask the same ques.!!!! SEARCH i promise u will find for info than you want to read!!

oh and b4 the the next post u do search bout primer b4 epoxy!

 

[bdamico]

you've asked the question of ages -- been asked numerous times and always same result. have fun sorting it out -- i ran the search for you

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=12110915

 

[Shea]

Hello AmpedUp. As you can see, this is a topic that comes up a lot. Here is an article about grinding vs etching your garage floor that you may find useful.