I haven't decided on which epoxy coating to use, but I've started the floor prep for my 32 x 30 ft garage. Its 12 years old and isn't in too bad shape- just a little bit of oil, paint drops, and glue.
I thought I would use the Quikrete Bond-lok, since it is designed to clean, degrease, and etch at one time, and I thought this would be easier than doing this in separate steps. I also bought a pressure washer to help with the cleaning. Well, I've gone through 2.5 gallons of bondlok over less than half my garage, and I'm disappointed in its cleaning and etching. Though it foams up on the concrete, I'm not getting the visibly rough, etched surface. My concrete started out with an uneven texture (smooth and some areas, rough in others), and the bond lok hasn't been able to roughen up the smoothest areas. And while I scrub I see the bond lok foam get dark and dirty, but once I wash was the floor, I have a hard time distinguishing the cleaned sections from the dirty sections- it doesn't end up looking like clean white concrete.
Am I expecting too much from this product? I have resigned myself to getting more bottles of this expensive stuff and doing a second cleaning pass, and then using muratic acid for the etching. I'm only leaving the chemicals on the floor long enough to give it a good scrubbing- 5-10 minutes. Does it work better if I leave it on longer?
I thought I would use the Quikrete Bond-lok, since it is designed to clean, degrease, and etch at one time, and I thought this would be easier than doing this in separate steps. I also bought a pressure washer to help with the cleaning. Well, I've gone through 2.5 gallons of bondlok over less than half my garage, and I'm disappointed in its cleaning and etching. Though it foams up on the concrete, I'm not getting the visibly rough, etched surface. My concrete started out with an uneven texture (smooth and some areas, rough in others), and the bond lok hasn't been able to roughen up the smoothest areas. And while I scrub I see the bond lok foam get dark and dirty, but once I wash was the floor, I have a hard time distinguishing the cleaned sections from the dirty sections- it doesn't end up looking like clean white concrete.
Am I expecting too much from this product? I have resigned myself to getting more bottles of this expensive stuff and doing a second cleaning pass, and then using muratic acid for the etching. I'm only leaving the chemicals on the floor long enough to give it a good scrubbing- 5-10 minutes. Does it work better if I leave it on longer?