Epocy-Coat completed

[firemn]

Well, I tool the plunge.
I had a full kit of grey, Company would not exchange for Bright Red, so I bought another kit.

GARAGE IS 440 SQUARE FEET
TEMP 50

New slab, (older than 90 days). degreased and scrubbed with simple green. Scraped floor with razor blade, washed again. Let dry for a day. swept, shop vacuumed several times and blew it with leaf blower several times. Prepared the etch solution.
In the end all was satisfactory.

Issues:
* Etch solution wasnt enough.
* Activator had trash in it. black bits of who knows what.
* Squeegee was a joke
* Cut in brush was broken
* Coverage was thin.

As it was the decreased temp. gave me additional working time. I hadnt inteneded on using the flakes, but because the coverage was insufficient it left me no choice. The flakes really do hide alot of imperfections.

I had to scrammble to try and get some type of coverage on entire garage. I didnt even cover the apron or an area of 10 sgare feet where the steps were. I had to make it very thin to get full coverage. So, thin that it was transparent in spots. The only saving grace was that I had time to work it back and forth to try and even it out. If it had been a little warmer and set up time a bit faster it would have been a disaster.

Floor endded up looking great! I had a few small spots where it wouldnt adhere. Dont know why, I am a nut for proper prep. Total time for Prep was in eccess of 10 hours. I am sure that it is something with the concrete and not the Epoxy. I made my own epoxy shoes and they worked great!

Suggestions to DIYers;
* Buy a real 18" squeegee that you can screw in an extension handle.
* Buy 2 rollers made for Epoxy.
* Plan on spending more than the prescribed 3 hours.
* Make sure to scrape floor with good putty knife or razor blade. I did both and found that the razor was quick and more effective.

Suggestions for EPOXY-COAT:
* Dont waste money on the squeegee
* Dont waste money on the cheapest brushes ever made.
* provide a bit more acid crystals to make 6 quarts of solution, not 5.
*** ADD MORE PRODUCT, OR ADVERTISE COVERAGE CORRECTLY!!

All in all, I am please with results.

But, it does get old when suppliers overstate their product specifications or add useless FREEBIES.

This is a considerable cost to anyone to cover a floor. The only things that save me was;
* That I expected the squeegee to be inadequate and bought 2 others. One of wich was notched. However because of coverage it was useless.
* It was cold enough that I had time to spead it out to cover.
* Flakes hide a multitude of flaws.

Hope this helps.

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

Happy to see you are pleased with the results. Our kits are advertised as coverage UP TO 500 sq ft. The coverage depends on how porous your concrete is, how thick the coating is applied, and the condition of your concrete. If you had only certain spots that were transparent, I would say you have a porous concrete. Also, the bright red requires 2 coats for proper coverage. I apologize about the confusion and inconvenience, but I am happy to hear that you are pleased with your results.

 

[firemn]

I dont remember reading or in conversation hearing that it required 2 coats.

 

[firemn]

Kayla,
I appreciate you taking the time to address my concern.
Given that it takes 2 coats, could you help me out with a second application or a clear coat?
I just installed a 4 post lift, and the insufficient thickness of coating will now become an issue. If I was advised of this before hand, I would have used the Grey that you wouldnt swap out for a base coat. I have called your company several times and was never instructed about needing a second coat!
I did hours of research from ceramic tile, race deck, and other competitors of yours to be comfortable to make the dive. Now only to be informed a bit late, that my surface is insufficient not through anything on my part.

I am satisfied with the end product, only because it is the best that I could do with what I had.

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

firemn,
If you contact me at the office, I can give you a discounted price.

 

[amberjack1234]

Legacy looking better all the time. Glad I've waited so long.

 

[shaun oriold1]

Legacy looking better all the time. Glad I've waited so long.

Hiring a pro too! Sometimes saving a buck really isnt a savings at all.

 

[amberjack1234]

Hiring a pro too! Sometimes saving a buck really isnt a savings at all.

I can't argue with that either. If the problem was with the concrete being extra porous an expert should/would have known that.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Was a primer used?

 

[Shea]

Was a primer used?

Always the gold star question

 

[amberjack1234]

You can bet your hinnie that I will use a primer it should be "SOP". I am not an expert like these other guys (I've never even coated a floor yet) but have read about 300 hours about this epoxy thing and watched at least 25 hours of videos as well as asking the pros for advice in PM's. I have read every single post made here on flooring and not just the epoxy coated one's either. I am still reading and will read until this spring when I will finally commit and do my floor.

 

[OGJordan]

I just opened my 2 full kits of epoxy-coat yesterday. Ordered 3 weeks ago. Paid for the spike shoes. Brand new floor, never had anything in it so didn't need a lot of scraping and problems fixed. The kits came in individual boxes with labels, one marked "-1 full kit" the other marked "-1 full kit -1 set spiked shoes." Guess what was missing?

Yes the set of shoes. But also, in BOTH kits, there is no measuring stick. And this will be the last weekend to do this this year due to cold temps. It's been warm for the last few days and will turn back cold next week. I call and ask for the measurements to make my own stick. I get told, "You should have opened it earlier. Because I CAN'T mail it to you." WHAT?!?! Soon that turned into let me see if I can get it approved to overnight it to you. Are you f*****g serious? Let me see? Let me see? She "gets the approval" but that doesn't help. I have to get this done TODAY so what if UPS doesn't show up until 3 oclock? She finally emails me the measurements. But not before saying at least 5 times, "you should have already opened it."

I paid for 3 items. 2 full kits and 1 set of shoes. You forgot 33% of my order and arguable one of the most important things in the kit TWICE. When I ordered I gave them 3 chip colors with numbers; ie Black 22. She would repeat my color without the number like I was annoying her by giving the number. My confirmation email has Charcoal instead of Chocolate. I email, she gets it fixed. No big deal (at the time). Now I've got this mess on top of that small mistake. Yes, I should have opened the buckets earlier. But we just moved into this house and the ENTIRE reason I went with Epoxy-coat was their record of customer service on here; and I ordered a large kit for a chemical room at work last year and all went perfect. They seemed to go above and beyond to help out.

So now we
-could've been wrong color flakes if I didn't read the confirmation email thoroughly (and honestly, how many of us don't read that type of stuff)
-have 2 kits missing the measuring stick
-missing my spiked shoes
-an attitude about their mistake being my fault

The last one tells me I'll NEVER use them again and will tell ANYONE that will listen to not use them. Just a terrible experience.

 

[benwah]

What is this measuring stick you mention? I've never even heard of that...

 

[OGJordan]

Just a simple way of measuring batches to mix the products. If you've ever seen anything regarding epoxy-coat the stick is mentioned. I simply called to get what the measurements were so I could make my own and turned into the reason they didn't send them

 

[Shea]

What is this measuring stick you mention? I've never even heard of that...

I believe Epoxy-Coat uses a paint stick with 2 lines on it to measure parts A and B in the bucket as you are preparing the mix.

 

[benwah]

Ah lol. Well don't get too discouraged, If you can't mix the full kit it's a 2:1 ratio for their epoxy. Any type of measuring cup will do, I use the hell out of these.

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

OG Jordan,

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you incurred with items missing from your kits, and any misconception you think you may have received from our customer service representative.

First, let me address the flake situation. To provide good customer service to everyone we strive for excellence. Never are we annoyed that a customer provides us with the flake item number while placing orders, in fact it is very helpful in most cases. The customer service Representative didn't repeat the item number because we are more concerned about getting the color right, not the item number. Chocolate and Charcoal are very close on our item list, not making an excuse, just stating a fact that can result in an error.

I have read the email's that you exchanged with my co-worker, and I have discussed the situation with her. She sent you the measurements for the measuring sticks after your first request. Please note in our instructional book, we provide instructions on how to measure with ounces. When you first called the office, she mentioned 1 time that she wishes you would have opened the kits sooner, so that we could have sent you the items that you were missing from your kits immediately. We have a company policy that an approval is needed in order to overnight any products to customers. Once your rep obtained the approval she was prompt in getting our shipping department to ship you the missing items. You requested to receive these items in the morning. Our rep was unable to give you an exact time that UPS would deliver your items. All that we are provided with, when making a shipment, is an estimated time. Once the package leaves our building, we do not have any control of when the items will be delivered. You called and canceled the shipment. Again, we sincerely apologize as at times mistakes happen. We welcome our customers to point out how we can make it easier for consumers to order our products or call for assistance.

I understand your frustration and I apologize that you were missing items. We did everything that we could at the time to help your situation. I feel bad you felt that you had to post such a bad review on the Garage Journal.

If we can be of further assistance to you please feel free to contact us as we will be happy to assist you in your needs.

 

[Tunajoe]

Interesting.....

I attempted to purchase a coating kit today from Epoxy-Coat.
Honestly, I felt like they could have cared less about the sale and I was inconveniencing them with my questions regarding the product.
I reviewed their website for approximately 45 minutes and decided to attempt to get clarification on a few things.

Any question I asked was met with long periods of uncomfortable silence.
I truly felt like I was a bother and annoying her.
I offered to call back if it was a bad time for her.
This simple comment usually will make a person aware of how their attitude is coming across. But not Kayla.
She continued with the long periods of silence and then when finally answering, replied with short, curt, bare minimum answers.
I actually apologized for what must be mundane, repetitive questions for her.


I just can't bring myself to spend my hard earned money when I feel like the salesperson could care less.
I can see by the OP's thread that possibly this attitude exists thru out the company.

 

[Shea]

That's too bad. Christine, aka RugerLady on the GJ forum, was a great ambassador for Epoxy-Coat and was always very helpful answering customer service related questions. Maybe they are still experiencing some upheaval from her leaving.