Doing a Polyaspartic Floor, How Much Anti-Slip Agent?

[dstn2bdoa]

Hi,

I have a new 1,600sft garage/shop that's getting a Versatile Polyaspartic floor in charcoal gray. My brother who does concrete polishing/epoxy flooring for a living, is kind enough to drive all the way up the mountain (300+ miles) do my floors for me. Our question relates to how much of the non-skid agent to add to the floor. My brother lives/works at the beach and has never had a client ask for it, so therefore has no experience with it. Since it snows where i live, I'd like some non slip attributes, but I don't want 80grit either. I mess around with cars a lot and don't want grit holding dirt and oil. Nor do want it hurting my knees etc. I'm not doing flakes, because I like the look of a shinny perfect floor and would like to retain as much of the shine as possible. Not to mention, if drop a nut, I'd like at least a chance of finding it.

So... do you guys have experience with products like aluminum oxide? Do you have any ideas on what percentage of the recommended amount to use to not have an ice skating rink, but still retain as much of my above stated desires as possible. For example, if the product states "add 1-3lbs to every gallon of topcoat" could i get away with the lower amount? Also, can I assume the grits are like sandpaper, the higher the number the finer the particle? I see grits in the 30's, 60's and 320 for one brand. That's quite the jump, can anyone describe the relative differences? Would a direct comparison with sandpaper be appropriate?

Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

First pic is the color I'm doing.
Second and third and my garage the day it was finished. Lights, electrical and 2 post lift will be done prior to floor.

 

[brnctt]

In my home garage, we have full flake and also anti slip (sand, basically). I still slip sometimes if my shoes are wet. Epoxy flooring is very slick by nature. However I don't think I'd want it grittier as I clean by squeegeeing. Sorry, not sure how to quantify it for you, it was just a line item included by the contractor. I would think you could use as little as you want, up till the max allowable.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Aluminum oxide is normally broadcasted onto the topcoat and backrolled in so you should lightly broadcast it, see if it seems ok and then apply more if needed. Mandatory to have spiked shoes on hand to do this. Be careful to not have it clump when applying.

Our Armorgrip nonskid gets mixed into the topcoat and rolled out which avoids this issue.

 

[FJ4FUN]

Like everything else in life there are pro's and con's to Aluminum Oxide. For anti-slip it's tough to beat but it can also result in a very abrasive surface that will snag mops, brooms, and... your skin. It will also tend to break down/wear out in high traffic areas over time.

Our SpheriTex is made up of spherical glass beads of differing sizes and is added to the topcoat and then rolled out. Because it is glass it virtually disappears when looking down at your feet but when you look across the floor it creates a soft matte finish (which is great for camouflaging dust ). Now, for the cons. It is non-abrasive so it will not add the same level of added traction that Aluminum Oxide will. It is very dense so you need to pay attention when applying it, making sure to agitate the roller pan when loading the roller AND applying the topcoat correctly.

With / Without

 

[dstn2bdoa]

Thanks for the replies. Especially the photo.

I was assuming with the aluminum oxide being used, it looks like my brother uses Versatile products and their texture additive is called Rhino Tooth. I don't see what it is actually made from. Is it safe to assume that each company's product is proprietary and we just have to guess.

It looks like it's mixed into the final coat and rolled on also.

Does anyone have experience with Versatile? Where on the quality spectrum would they reside?

Thanks

 

[Armorpoxy]

We carry about 15 different nonskid products in different sizes and colors. It's always a tradeoff between 'grittiness' and comfort and cleanability. The more texture obviously gives more traction, but makes the floor harder to clean and less comfortable to walk on if in bare feet which in a garage may occur. All suppliers buy their nonskids from various suppliers, to our knoweldge no one has the capability to manufacture their own in house, so many nonskids are similar possibly, especially the aluminum oxides.

Anything like sand or AO that's heavy needs to be hand broadcast as it will quicly fall out of suspension and create roller lines/marks.

It's our company policy to not comment on competitor products other than assisting with comparisons regarding published technical data.

 

[dstn2bdoa]

Hey Guys

Here is an update, and the results if anyone has the same question in the future.

The floors are done. The conditons were less than ideal. Outside temps went from low to mid 40's during the day, mid teens at night. Running propane heaters full blast we were able to keep inside temps in the 60's during the day and high 40's at night. An unexpected result was finding condensation on the floors in the morning. This messed with the finish a bit, but I pushed the project, instead of waiting until spring, so I get what I get.

Versatile's Rhino Tooth recommended 4-8oz per 2-3 gallons of Polyspartic finish. Our batches were about 2.25 gallons each. We blended 4oz of 60grit in each batch. The material was squeegeed then backtrolled. On a 0-10 scale, if 0 is smooth as a baby's but, and 10 is 80grit sand paper. I'd give our finish a 4.

There will be no difficulty cleaning, no roughness on the knees. Time will tell if we made the correct choice, or if we should have gone with 8oz per batch.

Overall I'm happy with the results and can't wait to get to work.

 

[dstn2bdoa]

Finished floors.

 

[rixtrix1]

Looks real good, but a little dark for my taste. My new shop floor is extremely smooth as troweled out and I'd like to just do it in clear, as I like the light gray color variation of new concrete. I'm debating on whether to just use sealer of some sort( it's just over 1 year old and never been driven on) or a high solids clear finish.