Epoxy-coat over sanded Euclid Super Diamond Clear?

[snowman910]

Hope some of you can help a newbie. I just completed construction of my dream garage, and I will be using half of it for woodworking and half for automotive/motorcycle mechanical work. I had the slab sealed with Euclid Super Diamond Clear because I couldn't wait the slab cure time and the epoxy cure time for application of epoxy before framing, because I had a good deal on the framing crew if the work could begin immediately. Guess I would have been better off waiting or not sealing at all, because I've realized that Euclid Super Diamond Clear is not resistant to gasoline, motor oil, brake fluid, and the solvents we all drip and spill, and I have ordered and received an Epoxy-coat kit. So, not having access to a shot blaster or a diamond floor machine, I've spent 12 hours aggressively sanding with 12 grit, and while I've got a very clean surface, if I hit it with a grinder, it still melts Super Diamond Clear on the surface. I've spent another 7 hours hand grinding an area using 24 grit on a 4 1/2" grinder, and that cleared about 15 (of 350) square feet, and used a dozen discs of 24 grit, and while there is bare concrete, there are still pores filled with Super Diamond Clear. Super Diamond Clear is amazingly tough stuff, though not chemical resistant. Nothing has ever been done inside this virgin garage except framing, insulating, drywall and trim, so there is no oil or grease to contend with. The questions are: 1) do I have to hand grind this entire 350 square feet, or can Epoxy-coat be applied over a freshly heavily sanded but still present coating of Super Diamond Clear, or do I need to keep grinding like a madman? 2) if I'm not going to grind to bare concrete (except in pores), is there any point in using the etching solution? I don't want to use a chemical stripper and I don't want to be hosing down a slab in a garage that has just been drywalled, if avoidable. I know that some will suggest I go after the contractor, but I own this error, he told me he wasn't sure it was the right stuff but it was all he had that could be applied to a fresh slab and the framers were coming the next day, and I made the decision, so no need to go into going after the contractor on this one. It is my bad decision.

 

[spammie]

I'm sorry I can't help with your question, but I wouldn't worry too much about hosing down a drywalled garage. I've done it with no problem; I was moderately careful & swept the water out with a deck brush. I also put out a bunch of fans to speed the drying process. A floor squeegee would have gotten more water off the floor, but I didn't have one & was too lazy to go get one.

 

[Shocker]

The epoxy will lift on the areas that the sealer is still present.

 

[noslo04]

As I recently finished removing sealer from my garage floor to prep for epoxy, I feel your pain man. I rented a walk-behind diamond grinder, but sealer still remained in the low spots/pores. If I were to do it again, I would shot-blast. What I ended up doing was tape plastic sheeting to protect the finished drywall (up to 4' above the floor) and then pressure wash the slab. The more psi, the better. Pressure wash, squeegee and repeat, repeat, repeat... A lot of work, but it finally lifted all of the sealer out of the pores. I could actually see when the pressurized water jet would catch the edge of a spot of sealer and then lift it out of the pore. When dry, the lifted sealer bits would have a gummy consistency.

It's all in the prep.