jeff's classics
Member
Just wrapped up the Epoxy-Coat floor coating installation on my new garage. The building is 24X36, slab was poured in September (just a few days after Ike hit Houston!). I had parked my old cars ('71 Javelin and '74 Corvette) inside for the last couple of months, with a couple drips that missed the drip pans but no serious stains.
I moved everything out about three weeks ago and cleaned/etched the floor with muriatic acid, a stiff brush, and a pressure washer. Then I ordered the Epoxy-Coat kit in beige (standard color for them) to match the exterior of my building. I went out of town for a couple weeks, and I was worried the floor wasn't clean enough, so I cleaned it again on Monday with the stuff that came in the kit, following their directions.
This morning it was rainy but a front blew in and the temps were in the low '70s and humidity was relatively low this afternoon. I took the afternoon off to get the floor done, so it can sit for a few days before I move in.
All I can say is this was pretty easy, the directions were straight forward, it looks great so far (still wet) and I look forward to enjoying this floor for years to come. I like that Epoxy-Coat is a single coat, and I've read enough on this forum to think that EC is as good, if not better, than the comparable products out there, especially for the price and ease of installation.
One thing that I'd do different, in hindsight, is that I'd have primed the short vertical sections around the perimeter, either with a pre-coat of EC, or possibly with Kilz, as the color is a little lighter on the rough vertical parts. Not too worried about it, though, as this garage will be for working and not for show.
A few other comments...I bought spike shoes (1/2 off) today, but wound up not needing them, since I didn't do flakes, and I planned the order that I coated each "quadrant" of the garage so I could back-roll without stepping on any other wet sections. There are a few bugs, but I figure I'll clean them up after it hardens.
The EC material is great, but their supplies are not ideal in my opinion. I bought an 18" squeegee, theirs just looked to small and weak. Their roller shed immediately upon use, I recommend either springing for a higher quality one or somehow combing or otherwise cleaning their roller before use. Their mixer is great, the measuring stick makes it easy, and although I needed two kits for my large area I used one 6-gellon bucket for all the mixing, one roller for all the rolling, and one brush to cut in the edges.
A recommendation...use the squeegee to distribute the product as fully as possible before you start rolling, it seems to make for a more consistent thickness without as much rolling. You can hear and feel when the roller is a bit dry, and you'll have to move some material around to get it right when that happens.
Once I got setup and figured it all out it took me about 3 hours to actually apply and roll out the coating, which I did in 8 sections.
I'll post some more pictures when it has cured/hardened.
Thanks to the GJ Forums, as this is where I did all my research!
Later
Jeff
I moved everything out about three weeks ago and cleaned/etched the floor with muriatic acid, a stiff brush, and a pressure washer. Then I ordered the Epoxy-Coat kit in beige (standard color for them) to match the exterior of my building. I went out of town for a couple weeks, and I was worried the floor wasn't clean enough, so I cleaned it again on Monday with the stuff that came in the kit, following their directions.
This morning it was rainy but a front blew in and the temps were in the low '70s and humidity was relatively low this afternoon. I took the afternoon off to get the floor done, so it can sit for a few days before I move in.
All I can say is this was pretty easy, the directions were straight forward, it looks great so far (still wet) and I look forward to enjoying this floor for years to come. I like that Epoxy-Coat is a single coat, and I've read enough on this forum to think that EC is as good, if not better, than the comparable products out there, especially for the price and ease of installation.
One thing that I'd do different, in hindsight, is that I'd have primed the short vertical sections around the perimeter, either with a pre-coat of EC, or possibly with Kilz, as the color is a little lighter on the rough vertical parts. Not too worried about it, though, as this garage will be for working and not for show.
A few other comments...I bought spike shoes (1/2 off) today, but wound up not needing them, since I didn't do flakes, and I planned the order that I coated each "quadrant" of the garage so I could back-roll without stepping on any other wet sections. There are a few bugs, but I figure I'll clean them up after it hardens.
The EC material is great, but their supplies are not ideal in my opinion. I bought an 18" squeegee, theirs just looked to small and weak. Their roller shed immediately upon use, I recommend either springing for a higher quality one or somehow combing or otherwise cleaning their roller before use. Their mixer is great, the measuring stick makes it easy, and although I needed two kits for my large area I used one 6-gellon bucket for all the mixing, one roller for all the rolling, and one brush to cut in the edges.
A recommendation...use the squeegee to distribute the product as fully as possible before you start rolling, it seems to make for a more consistent thickness without as much rolling. You can hear and feel when the roller is a bit dry, and you'll have to move some material around to get it right when that happens.
Once I got setup and figured it all out it took me about 3 hours to actually apply and roll out the coating, which I did in 8 sections.
I'll post some more pictures when it has cured/hardened.
Thanks to the GJ Forums, as this is where I did all my research!
Later
Jeff
