Epoxy coat floor prep ?

[HalfGerman]

After preppping the surface with the acid solution, how to tell if it is etched enough?

I know they say if water absorbs quickly. I tried with a couple of drops, wet hand and was not happy. Did not seem to absorb quickly. Just wanted to make sure I was not testing while the floor was too damp ( it appeared dry). Will test again in the morning.

Searching I also noticed that the texture should be like 100 grit sandpaper? It doesn't feel like it to me.

Might try another round of etching to make sure tommorrow.

 

[Gotxqss]

Don't know details of what is needed but my slab i just prepped was a pretty smooth finish to start. I noticed the etch did kinda open the pours a bit but by no means seems like a broom gritty finish. There was a spot that got a puddle of pure acid by accident and after 10 minutes got pretty etched and was showing some rock vs the clean smooth slab. Ive done the hand swipe test and there is no residue anymore so i am hoping thats all i will need..

I thoughht the acid was going to do more then what it did. I ended up doing a concrete cleaner scrub n power wash. Then epoxycoat etch and powerwash. Seemed it was ok but for peace of mind i went and got more acid and made it alot stronger and then did another degrease n powerwash. Feels pretty good now. Just read so many horror stories of peeling and everything that the extra few hours of prep lets me sleep at night.

 

[srode]

I used about 5 gallons of muratic acid mixed at 50% in addition to the acid in the kit for a little over 900 square feet of garage floor to get something I felt was etched enough.

 

[Edger]

I do not know if there is a definite way to tell if the etching has worked well enough for the coating. Normally you would wet the floor after it has dried by throwing a cupful of water on it and make sure it is not beading up, but that it is soaking into the surface and spreading.

Another test is to bend down and look across the floor trying to catch the light to see if there are any shiny areas left. Do this all over the floor and if there is any shine it will not be good enough to coat.

Trouble is that some floors are finished well and harder than others. If you put acid at 10:1 on a soft floor it will instantly fizz and dry out quickly. If you have a hard slab it can take 2:1 strength to get some fizz and it will not dry out quickly while you are working.

If you use acid and water a good way to even out the etch is with a long handle on a thick nap roller. Dip into a plastic paint tray, lightly roll out over a strip and back again. Dip in again and keep going, pressing a bit harder at the end of the roller run to squeeze fresh acid out so the end of the run is similar to the beginning in the amount of etch.

 

[HalfGerman]

Quick update: I did the second etch after buying more acid and was happy with the results, water was absorbed much quicker than before.

Installed the Epoxy with my dad on fathers day. I hope he enjoys his new floor.

Thanks to those that replied and offered insight.

 

[rugerlady]

Let us know how the floor turned out. Hope you had a good day with your dad!

 

[magnimus1]

Edger,
if I go with roller method......Won't the acid eat the roller? Any special roller to be used here?

 

[wajones]

I had the same issue as Gotxqss with a small area (about 2" x 4") that is deeper than the rest where you can actually see rock. Do I need to do anything to patch the area before putting down my epoxy-coat?

 

[Edger]

Edger,
if I go with roller method......Won't the acid eat the roller? Any special roller to be used here?

No, acid usually has no effect on the roller unless it is wool and very heavy nap is best so it can hold more acid. I am not a chemist so my comments are kinda practical rather than professional, but the acid affects metals, anything alkaline like concrete, and organic things like skin, leather, cloth and natural fiber. It does not seem to affect synthetic resins, plastics, rubbers or vinyl and most rollers are resin/plastic based.

It will eat at the roller metal frame over time, however an hour or two is not enough to notice any difference except it rusts like crazy afterwards. So as long as you use plastics it should be fine. The most care should be taken with mixing, carrying and flicking onto metal walls while etching. Even if you spill it on yourself, you have plenty of time to wash it off and it washes off easily unlike say caustic soda which eats skin/fat/protein real quick.

 

[magnimus1]

No, acid usually has no effect on the roller unless it is wool and very heavy nap is best so it can hold more acid. I am not a chemist so my comments are kinda practical rather than professional, but the acid affects metals, anything alkaline like concrete, and organic things like skin, leather, cloth and natural fiber. It does not seem to affect synthetic resins, plastics, rubbers or vinyl and most rollers are resin/plastic based.

It will eat at the roller metal frame over time, however an hour or two is not enough to notice any difference except it rusts like crazy afterwards. So as long as you use plastics it should be fine. The most care should be taken with mixing, carrying and flicking onto metal walls while etching. Even if you spill it on yourself, you have plenty of time to wash it off and it washes off easily unlike say caustic soda which eats skin/fat/protein real quick.

Wonderful!
Thank you!!

I'm going to try it out tonight as two coats of BOND-LOK didn't etch my concrete to 120 grit roughness so I'm going to try some muriatic acid using the roller method. Thing is I have a metal water heater and a washer and dryer that I unfortunately must paint around so this roller method seems like it would give the best control from splashes

 

[HalfGerman]

Finally got around to taking a couple of pics of the install.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v488/silbergti/Garage Floor/

With my parents being 69 and 72, I definaltly added the anti-skid, hey we are in NH afterall.

One or two fish eyes / bubbles and a spot or two I should have rolled better ( for coverage), did not fill in expansion joints / cracks. House was built over the winter.

 

[the power]

Nice work !!!!!

Wow that shine is amazing

 

[PontiacFan]

Looks good, ...