Epoxy-Coat Project Start - Prep Questions

[raymon1717]

I finally decided on Epoxy-Coat and put in the online order. This website and all your discussions have really helped my decision making along, thanks to you all! As with many of you I research the hell out of everything, and the info on the prep is great. Anyway, still waiting for the shipment but I am starting the prep this weekend. Here's what I am planning.....let me know if anyone has any helpful advice.

1) leaf blow the entire garage out.
2) Power Wash the floor.
3) Scrub any stains (floor is only 2 years old and limited stains) with degreaser using a wire brush (recommended degreaser??)
4) Power Wash again.
5) Etch with the solution epoxy-coat sends
6) Power wash again.
7) Lay down the epoxy.
8) Paint walls and cieling with white latex paint.
9) Stare at it's beauty for days.

My Garage is 22x18 (396 SQF). So I got 1 kit that is supposed to cover 500. Hope it makes it. I know some of you recommended 2 cotas, but they disagree there...so I will let you know the truth after I try it! I got the Taupe color with flakes. Should look pretty sweet.

I will post pictures as I go.

Additional prep questions -
1) do you use a brush to paint around the edges first (I assume the answer is yes), and if so, do you only prepare a small amount first to do this? do you apply flakes to this narrow edge?
2) do I need to go buy any equipment in addition to what comes in this "all-inclusive" kit? If better rollers or squeegees make a difference I want to buy them.

Thanks!

 

[Tyson]

For rinsing you don't want to powerwash....With a rinse you want as much water as possible, not pressure.

Get a scrub brush that attaches to a hose (like for cleaning a deck). They work wonders.

 

[bmwpower]

A power washer can help move out the particles loosened after etching. Saves your back from scrubbing the particles off, too. But, I agree, use a lot of water to neutralize things and move the acid solution off the floor. Then maybe powerwash.

And for heaven's sake, do 2 coats. What's the time period allowed between coats?

 

[SteveB]

I would do the painting, at least the ceiling, before you start the floor. Saves a lot of hassle later.

 

[red vette mike]

Be prepared to wait a while after you get through with your cleaning/etching. It took from last Sunday until about Thursday for mine to dry out. I taped some plastic down to check for dryness. However, you could see that it was still damp. I also used a right angle grinder with a 'sandpaper' type abrasive wheel to hit concrete imperfections as well as paint spots (I am just finishing this construction which began in April.) If you paint the walls or ceiling I would put plastic down on your floors. I sprayed my ceilng and walls and paint was going everywhere. I am going to apply my paint this coming week. I used Muriatic Acid to etch-that is some tough stuff-folks using that should use every precaution-especially eye protection. The acid tends to 'gloop' out into the water and will splash back on you. My neighbor said that he sticks a piece of wood down in the water and pours the acid onto the wood to prevent the acid from splashing back on you. Long gloves and a respirator were, to me, a necessity. Good luck.

 

[snorvet]

raymon,

1. dont use the plastic mixer attachment included with epoxy-coat. get a metal one.

2. Mix extremely well. I had a few small spots in my second coat that didnt cure. Epoxy Coat says that the activator wasnt mixed in well enough.

3. I used Epoxy-Coat acid using their instructions to dilute the acid. But the diluted acid seemed useless- i could touch it with bare hands without a problem. I had one grease spot that I applied acid full strength, and it worked wonders there.

4. If I had a chance to do it over, I'd probably skip the shotblasting and just acid etch full strength

5. I agree with red vette mike. Drying takes a long time. I did mine in early May when temps were quite cool - about 50 degrees at night. So I cranked up the heat and used fans for a week to dry it out. When I applied the first coat, there were thousands of bubbles that came to the surface and hardened. I had to sand down these bubbles before applying the second coat. I'm pretty sure that the concrete temp was warmer than the air and that caused a problem. So I dont recommend using heat to help dry the floor.

6. I applied epoxy about 8'x8' at a time. So if the area was next to a wall, I'd brush an 8' section next to wall as part of that area. I didnt do the entire edge of the whole garage before rolling - just in sections.

7. I highly recommend at least 2 coats. The first coat goes on like a primer. The 2nd goes on looking like glass. One kit should do your 396 sf one coat. I have close to 500 sf so it was a thin coverage at one coat. You may get by with one kit, but I'd get 2 for 2 coats.

I also used taupe with flakes. I bought more rustoleum flakes because I wanted a heavier flake look.

Good luck,

 

[gargoyle725]

dont presurwash. you should be able to rent a floor scrubber then just mop the floor ,do not use much water just like you were mopping a floor inside your house, use scrubber to clean floor and with fresh water mop again changing the water very frequently. do this just before you lay epoxy

 

[JGard]

Not to hijack, but I'm in the same boat as this guy.

This Saturday I just spent the day trying to degrease my floor...here are the steps I took (and planned steps for the future).

1. Pressure washed the entire floor and walls (I'm only doing half of my garage at a time, due to storage, so I did half here).
2. Put down some concrete degreaser & cleaner, a full bottle. Used a large pushbroom to spread it around and rub it in.
3. Pressure washed to remove the degreaser.
4. Layed down Acid etching. A full bottle didn't even cover half of my garage, though
5. Pressure washed off the acid.
6. Layed down primer on the walls for paint to adhere to the concrete walls.

Now, I'm finding I still have some greasy spots on my floor. I'm going to use another bottle of degreaser, and then it looks like I may have to use more acid to etch again.

Tonight's plan is to paint the walls. Tomorrow night I was going to clean the floors again...maybe this time I will not use the pressure washer, though, as many of you are recommending. It's a pain to get rid of all the grease on the floor, but I want to make sure this stuff sticks!

 

[raymon1717]

I spent Sunday prepping as well. At least until the thoughts of football and cold beer overwhelmed me. What I thought would take an hour to clear out the garage ended up taking 3. Anyway, I then blew it out, swept and powerwashed. I cannot believe how good the power washing worked. I have only a few stains still remaining. I have a scrubber brush attachment for the washer and a solvent intake (for the degreaser) on it, which seems to work well on the stains. I will be hand scrubbing the last few spots and then powerwashing it all over again. Then on with the etching.

Are you using Epoxy-Coat? If so, did you have any problems geeting your kit delivered?

 

[raymon1717]

raymon,

1. dont use the plastic mixer attachment included with epoxy-coat. get a metal one.

2. Mix extremely well. I had a few small spots in my second coat that didnt cure. Epoxy Coat says that the activator wasnt mixed in well enough.

3. I used Epoxy-Coat acid using their instructions to dilute the acid. But the diluted acid seemed useless- i could touch it with bare hands without a problem. I had one grease spot that I applied acid full strength, and it worked wonders there.

4. If I had a chance to do it over, I'd probably skip the shotblasting and just acid etch full strength

5. I agree with red vette mike. Drying takes a long time. I did mine in early May when temps were quite cool - about 50 degrees at night. So I cranked up the heat and used fans for a week to dry it out. When I applied the first coat, there were thousands of bubbles that came to the surface and hardened. I had to sand down these bubbles before applying the second coat. I'm pretty sure that the concrete temp was warmer than the air and that caused a problem. So I dont recommend using heat to help dry the floor.

6. I applied epoxy about 8'x8' at a time. So if the area was next to a wall, I'd brush an 8' section next to wall as part of that area. I didnt do the entire edge of the whole garage before rolling - just in sections.

7. I highly recommend at least 2 coats. The first coat goes on like a primer. The 2nd goes on looking like glass. One kit should do your 396 sf one coat. I have close to 500 sf so it was a thin coverage at one coat. You may get by with one kit, but I'd get 2 for 2 coats.

I also used taupe with flakes. I bought more rustoleum flakes because I wanted a heavier flake look.

Good luck,

Can you get the metal mixer at Home Depot or a place like that? Good suggestion, that would really piss me off if the thing broke in the middle of the project.

So you just used the solution they provided for etching full-strenght? What did you use to scrub it in with?

 

[boiler7904]

Can you get the metal mixer at Home Depot or a place like that? Good suggestion, that would really piss me off if the thing broke in the middle of the project.

Check the paint department of any hardware store. My local Ace had them in several sizes for $5-$10 each. I've also seen them in Lowes and Home Depot. Make sure that the one you buy will fit your drill's chuck.

 

[snorvet]

Raymon -

Just like Boiler said - hardware stores have metal ones. I used a drywall compound mixer bit - thats all I had handy when the kit one broke in half.

I used a metal bristle scrub brush with the full strength acid only on a bad brease spot I had. The rest of the area I just spread the diluted acid per the instructions, let it sit awhile, and then rinsed.