Epoxy-coat review

[tbaz]

one year after my Epoxt-Coat 100% solids i have a review i feel may me helpful, i cruised forums for weeks prior looking for info from start to finish.

long story short i really put the time into prep, acid washed floors x 4 times , pressure wash and shop vac for days , spotless!! could not wipe up dirt with my hand on floor , filled all cracks, and angle grinder with masonry blade all possible oil or rust spots, i believe it was flaw less.

bought 250 sq feet more Epoxy-Coat than i had needed to thicken coverage , application was as described , easy and i did every thing TEXT BOOK !

i noticed bubbles after application drying time , i later investigated it may be to me applying at the low end of temp scale and over rolling or over mixing ( i find unlikely because i am meticulous with directions) . I can live with craters i guess. i also noticed that the gloss level dried to a much duller sheen than expected and i was very very unhappy with this , costumer service said maybe it was the temp it cured at ( still with in the recommend temps however). I guess i have to live with this .

post 1 Canadian winter of parking inside the garage and squeegee the floor to get the salt and snow out almost daily, i noticed a lot more sheen gone, almost a matte finish now and i have large light brown puddle stains through out my garage, they will not come out , i tried everything believe me. One last call to costumer service , they blamed my prep. I know that it has jack to do with my prep!i think it was the salt staining the alleged stain free epoxy. This and the other calls led me to believe that the warranty they offer is bogus having to many loop holes to fall back on.

Over all the floor is not peeling at all , asides from the dull gloss and salt stains and getting a "worse case scenario "thrown at the floor for a year, its holding up fine. I can live with the stains because maybe nothing than repel that salt and grime that comes with the winter. I may just get another product to top it and try to get some gloss back and prevent more stains but I'm currently researching that.

in summary good product , just be weary of the claims it makes and the duriabilty of it in your climate, not pleased with their costumer service. ps they later told me i should have bought their top coat when i called about the gloss concern. sorry for my poor grammer I'm in a hury and a poor writer,lol.

feel free to pm for questions

 

[retfr8flyr]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I am not a big fan of Epoxy-Coat because I think all epoxy products need a primer coat and Epoxy-Coat doesn't. I also think that any floor that sees much abuse should have a Poly Urethane clear top coat but that's just my opinion. I hope Epoxy-Coat will step up and help you out.

 

[benwah]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I am not a big fan of Epoxy-Coat because I think all epoxy products need a primer coat and Epoxy-Coat doesn't. I also think that any floor that sees much abuse should have a Poly Urethane clear top coat but that's just my opinion. I hope Epoxy-Coat will step up and help you out.

No you are absolutely right. Your opinion is the same as architects and engineers around the world when it comes to epoxy on concrete. Also, regarding the polyurethane; whether it is clear or pigmented, it adds to the life of your floor.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

There is much to be said for a primer (crater protection) and a urethane topcoat (as Benwah noted).

 

[atxtracker]

There is much to be said for a primer (crater protection) and a urethane topcoat (as Benwah noted).

Would you recommend primer an all epoxy coating, even if it's not yours? (Legacy Industrial)

 

[NitroShark]

This tune keeps getting played over and over, so I will add my advise....

(use only 1 manufacture for all your material coatings)

5 steps to a bullet proof DIY epoxy floor.

1 Grind floor
2 always use Primer (prevent later crater holes during later applications)
3 Color coat (add heavy flakes here, but not required if you add anti-skid in step 5)
4 Clear Coat
5 Polyurethane (you can add anti-skid here, if you didn't add heavy flake in step 3)

24 hr Max -between coats...

Done

The steps above will cost you between $1.25-$2 sq/ft DIY

Shawn

 

[atxtracker]

This tune keeps getting played over and over, so I will add my advise....

(use only 1 manufacture for all your material coatings)

5 steps to a bullet proof DIY epoxy floor.

1 Grind floor
2 always use Primer (prevent later crater holes during later applications)
3 Color coat (add heavy flakes here, but not required if you add anti-skid in step 5)
4 Clear Coat
5 Polyurethane (you can add anti-skid here, if you didn't add heavy flake in step 3)

24 hr Max -between coats...

Done

The steps above will cost you between $1.25-$2 sq/ft DIY

Shawn

Thanks

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

Please contact me at the office. I would like to try to help you with your floor.

in summary good product , just be weary of the claims it makes and the duriabilty of it in your climate, not pleased with their costumer service. ps they later told me i should have bought their top coat when i called about the gloss concern. sorry for my poor grammer I'm in a hury and a poor writer,lol.

feel free to pm for questions

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Would you recommend primer an all epoxy coating, even if it's not yours? (Legacy Industrial)

Yes, it is a wise decision.
Many quality garage coating kits include a 100% solids epoxy. 100% solids epoxy makes an excellent base/intermediate coat. It hides imperfections, has good initial gloss and is a great vehicle for chips, quartz and color granules. However, there are (2) Achilles heals to this product. 100% solids epoxy does not penetrate well. This lack of penetration into the substrate can cause issues later in the lifetime of the product. Secondly, it is so thick that air can become trapped in and cause “volcanoes” or “bumps”. The air can be from a porous surface (epoxy displaces air in pores, air releases and becomes trapped in coating). Primers are thin and therefore can penetrate the surface deeply giving the base or intermediate coat a robust lock to the substrate. Primers are thin and therefore when they displace air in a porous surface, the air can escape through the coating without leaving a “volcano” or “bump” on the surface. In addition, primers encourage uniformity in subsequent coats and extend the coverage rates especially over porous substrates.

 

[benwah]

That is the perfect answer, should be Sticky'd!

 

[Shea]

For the doubters and DIYers who are still somewhat confuse, here is a good article as to why it's wise to use an epoxy primer.

 

[Trey T]

I applied my Epoxy-Coat yesterday(7pm, 85degF+) and I only got about 5 bubbles (1/4" to 3/8" dia) toward the front where it meets the garge door (last portion [6ft x16ft] of coverage).

All of the other portion of the garage have no bubble and the reason was I didn't wait long enough to blow out the bubble. I blew the bubble in about 10min after the second roll. It would've been better if I waited about 30min (like said in video) like other portions and then blow the bubbles.

I bought the beige full-kit and black half-kit; therefore, I had plenty of beige left over and I'll sand down the bubble area and reapply. My problem should be an easy fix.

What's the answer to primer regarding bubbles? Most likely not needed, just pay close attention to the instruction if you afraid if there's bubble. Would primer help prevent bubble? I don't know but it may minimize it. The epoxy chemical reaction may just generate gas where small/tiny bubbles may formed during rolling.

 

[Trey T]

Here are some finished photos of my E-C.

-20'x20' floor
-beige w/ anti-skid (the included aluminum oxide)
-black border with Behr metallic flakes (3 lbs)
-clear coat

photos are from cellphone. What I don't like are teh anti-skid and it was hard for me to get it uniformly distributed. I was gonna use Sherwin-Williams Shark Bites but I didn't know how it would work out.

There were few bubbles here and there (second photo) but it's hardly noticed.

 

[tbaz]

I'm contacting Kayla and I'll keep the customer service posted.

 

[hldtyt]

Im no expert but I will give my experience with Epoxy-Coat. I paid for and did my inlaws floor myself. I grinded it. Then I applied a primer coat of clear epoxy. Then I did two quartz coats covered by a clear they sell. Since I did a quartz floor when I went to apply the clear coat, I didnt have near enough. I called them and was told the quartz added so mucj surface area that I would indeed not have enough. So I went to a local concrete company and purchased some off the shelf epoxy and used that as a build coat. Doing so allowed me to apply the purchased clear appropriately. Three years later the floor is wearing like iron. HE drives a Duramax and at 8500 pounds it doesnt cut the floor any slack. So far the floor has done wonderful. Not a single problem.

 

[tbaz]

It's nice your happy with your floor.

 

[PT Doc]

"Epoxy Coat (R) the worlds premium floor coating"

That kind of funny based on the issues brought up on the forum.

I hope they sort you out.

 

[tbaz]

Well, weeks gone by and nobody has contacted me back since the reply from epoxy-coat on this thread, I send details and pics . anyway what I have done is sanded the floor and bought some clear coat epoxy from somewhere else , my Epoxy-coat looks worn and discoloured but the clear brought it up a notch.
My Final thoughts are Epoxy-coat is garbage without the top coat, it is NOT a one step coating as advertised especially for somebody north of the boarder. The service is very hit and miss. I'm glad others are happy with their purchases and product however I will not be offering out their website to my friends .I will however be advertising this site , It's unreal !! thanks. Also

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

We want to give a brief response to TBaz about the stains on his Epoxy floor.
TBaz believes that the stains are caused by salt (salt stains). But, a careful analysis of his photos, show that the stains are from rust water. Our professional installers and chemists have examined the pictures that Tbaz has sent to our office. Epoxy cannot be stained by salt, nor would they leave a rusty color.
We told him the stains could be removed by using Xylene, a strong chemical cleaner, or an undiluted citric solution, but all of them would leave a dull surface, with no guarantee that the rust stain would be removed.
Leaving water, chemicals, or any other fluids on the floor for long periods of time, regardless of how resistant & impenetrable the floor coating is, will result in a damaged coating. As many have experienced, our epoxy floor coating is very durable and resistant, withstanding welding, oil spills, gasoline spills, etc. However, there have been a few instances where a chemical, or rusty water, penetrates the epoxy, causing damages to the coating.
To try to remedy the problem, we sent TBaz a free Touch Up Kit, in October, but that did not fix his problem. Because the Touch Up Kit did not remedy his problem, we then suggested the more aggressive alternative of using the harsh cleaners.
To remedy the dull surface, we recommended an acrylic wax and power buffer, or as a final alternative, apply a clear coat of epoxy over the, clean but dull, floor.
As most of you know, we have always put the customer first, and are dedicated to providing the most durable materials and the best technical advice possible.
We hope TBaz will follow our advice and end up with a beautiful floor that meets his expectations.

 

[tbaz]

For the record I was lead to believe this product was stain resistant . I wasn't told about any products to clean my floor, despite trying all the cleaners mentioned on my own and a true guarantee nothing was left on my floor longer than 2 days . I stand by my honest opinion and DO NOT recommend this floor without a topcoat in any conditions and not in Northern locations in any aspect . Take it for what you will this is only one review. I did receive a touch up kit but after application there was no where enough to help my massive discolouration and I regret putting it on under my new topcoat due to the colour differences . This thread is closed now from me.

 

[Trey T]

Can you post some photos?

It sounds like an applicator/user error.

 

[Coloradotrailrider]

My Epoxy Coat floor has been down for one full year now also. I prepped my floor with acid several times to get the right surface etch and power washed it off after each etch.

I have about 575 sq ft of surface to cover, and one and a half kits is what I used. I ran short of hardener for the last 10'X10' section of floor after measuring out the epoxy and hardener exactly. Long story short, I called Epoxy Coat and they shipped extra hardener out in just two days to my door.

I can not agree more with the experienced pros about a primer coat. I let my bare floor dry out from the water for week, with fans blowing on it to aid in drying. To say the least it was really dry and etched well.

I laid down the epoxy and had a few bubbles at first but rolled them out, no problem. For some reason one of the 10'X10' sections, between control joint lines, started to gas, bubble, like crazy after it was to late to roll out anymore. I have six sections that I did separate batches for, that were all separated by control joints. Five turned out great but that one section was horrible with the volcanoes. I took a long time after trimming maybe 50 to 75 volcanoes level with the floor, and mixing up some leftover epoxy that I kept for touch up. I did not apply a clear coat the floor.

Long story short, a primer coat would have been a lot less work than what I had to do after the fact. I am convinced a primer coat would have sealed and penetrated any craters better and would have prevented all the gassing my floor had.

My floor after one year still looks great. The areas where my vehicles tires rest have a slight dullness to them, nothing terrible. In Colorado, were I live, they use what is called mag chloride on the roads in the winter. This stuff is VERY corrosive and nasty. I wash my floor off in the winter as often as possible but many times I have let the floor be nasty with this stuff for a week or more due to lack of time to clean it.

The areas were the tires rest tend to be the hardest to get the dirty look out. I have found that a good degreaser, full strength will clean it up great using a broom to scrub with. I have had no peeling at all and I am pretty happy with it over all.

I could be wrong but I think even with a clear coat you would still experience some dulling in the high use areas after some time.