Epoxy-coat horror story, PLEASE HELP!

[markdoddridge]

Epoxy-coat PLEASE HELP!

Last year i used a full kit of epoxy-coat to epoxy my garage. I spend a couple days prepping and felt i prepped well. I used a grinder on spots with oil and the acid etch on the rest. i ran into a few problems:

1. the kit didnt seem to measure correctly. I was supposed to mix part A with part B using a measuring stick, i did this 2 times per instructions, but by the 2nd time i mixed it there was not enough of part B left......

2. i wasnt able to get good coverage over 500 sqft. there are 4 10x10 squares and i used the same amount on all of them except the last one. On the last one i didnt have enough of part B.

3. when it dried there was horrible "Fish eyes" on the 3rd and 4th squares where i did not have enough of part B. there were also "Fish eyes on other parts.

4. The first couple sections i laid down really thick and they came out perfect, but like i said there wasnt enough product to spread an even application to the remaining squares.

5. I called epoxy coat and they said it was a prepping error and that if i just sand the whole thing down and epoxy over it will be fine.

6. now there are large parts of the floor peeling up and underneath is a white poweder. The coating in this area is very weak and you can peel it off with a fingernail like old paint.

I think i should just strip the whole floor and diamond grind everything but it would be expensive and time consuming. Does anyone think it would be ok to just sand it down and recoat like epoxy-coat said? i called them a year ago, i would hate to think that i would have applied a second coat last year just to find out now that the second coating is peeling up as well. I dont know if i trust what epoxy-coat says anymore. any advice? i would hate to have to do this a third time.

 

[need more tools]

that looks like water comming up through the floor to me

 

[GarageEnvy]

Did you do a moisture test like it says in the instructions?

 

[markdoddridge]

Did you do a moisture test like it says in the instructions?

Yes, i did a moisture test by taping a plastic bag just like it said. This was done prior to prep and the results were negative for moisture. I did pressure wash it several times during the prep but it was left to dry overnight. I should point out that i could see the start of the fish eyes within 30 minutes of laying the epoxy. it only appeared on the thin area where i did not have enough of the solution. I find it hard to believe that my concrete would only seep water through half of the garage

 

[thegarageguy]

You not only have moisture but some sort of contamination as well. Chalk it up as a learning experience and pony up for a pro to remedy your nightmare.

 

[MBfreak]

Hi
Sorry about the mess, probably moisture and also contamination.
If it was mine I would take a saturday night out. After having recovered, I would hire a diamond grinder, go down to raw concrete . Then I would put in a floor of ceramic floor tiles , suitable for heavy duty . They are usually quite cheap, in Sweden the first class glazed ceramic HD stuff comes at the equivalent of $9 for a square meter. Add another $3 for the fastener and jointing stuff.
And lots of work Best done with a friend, one mix up the grout and one does the laying.
I did this 10 years ago, never regretted a second. And individual tiles can be chiselled out and replaced if damaged.

Ola

 

[markdoddridge]

so whats the solution? do i grind it and do it again? doubt i would have a pro do it cuz it would cost at least twice as much

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You have a bad case of moisture
That fact will never go away.

The next epoxy system you put down will pop right off again.

I would grind it, put down one or two thin coats of waterbased epoxy and cross your fingers.

 

[rugerlady]

If there was no moisture problem, then a second coat should remedy your situation. In your case with the powdery residue, that sounds like a contaminant, dried acid under the epoxy, or a concrete issue.
Not sure why you are so convinced we are trying to mislead you. I have typically bent over backwards to help customers that are having issues.
If you care to, contact me and I will see what I can do to help.

 

[markdoddridge]

If there was no moisture problem, then a second coat should remedy your situation. In your case with the powdery residue, that sounds like a contaminant, dried acid under the epoxy, or a concrete issue.
Not sure why you are so convinced we are trying to mislead you. I have typically bent over backwards to help customers that are having issues.
If you care to, contact me and I will see what I can do to help.

Im sorry, i didnt mean to sound like i thought you were trying to mislead me. Let me make this perfectly clear: i think you guys have a great product and im sure the fault somehow lies with me. I plan on using your product again to fix the problem.

Customer service told me to sand it down and apply a second coat. Now a year later it looks like there is contaminate issues. If i had done what you suggested i would have wasted another $400 and a few days of my life, only to have to do it a third time. I want to get this right and NEVER have to do this again.

If i grind down to fresh concrete i think i should be ok.

 

[rugerlady]

I answered your PM, call me. I think we may want to take a couple of extra precautionary steps in your case. I need to get more details from you about the floor.

And damn, change the thread title...lol

 

[homerunderby]

What are your floor dimensions? If you can, I would go with Race Deck. Then you'll never have to worry about fish eyes or white powder.

 

[markdoddridge]

What are your floor dimensions? If you can, I would go with Race Deck. Then you'll never have to worry about fish eyes or white powder.

Floor dimensions are 20x20. Just started looking at racedeck actually, the only thing that concerns me is the price (looks to be about $1k for my garage) and epoxy just looks so much better in my opinion. How well does racedeck take abuse?

 

[markdoddridge]

Re: Epoxy-coat PLEASE HELP!

I answered your PM, call me. I think we may want to take a couple of extra precautionary steps in your case. I need to get more details from you about the floor.

And damn, change the thread title...lol

Lol, sorry about the title it is kind of needlessly alarming. Consider it changed. (how the hell do you change the title anyway, it let me edit the first post but the title you see from the forum is still the same)