epoxy floor project begins

[jeff68bird]

ok ist post here but have been reading comments for months. think i have my choices narrowed down to u-coat it or epoxy coat and leaning toward the epoxy coat mostly because of the good reviews here and the bad reviews on u-coat it.

ist step i used a 50/50 mix of concrete cleaner/etcher i got from home depot.did a good job cleaning all the spackle off the floor and started the etching .

2nd i have fiber glass hairs in the concrete so as per the epoxy companys instructions i burned them out with a propane roof torch and 30 lb bottle.took a while but got most of them out

3rd i bought the muratic acid and mixed it also 50/50 . i wet the floor ist and then evenly applied in both directions then brushed bothe directions and rinsed 3 times last time with some baking soda.

i think its ready. all the pores are exposed and the water ***** right into it.also have lots of little holes from where the fiber was which should help the epoxy bit.

if iam missing anything please chime in. i do have 1 question.there are a couple tire tread marks that are still there.(see pic) will these be a problem and if so any idea how to remove them,

also will the epoxy coat fill in the fiber holes(no deeper than 1/16 inch)think i should definately go with the flakes to help hide them.

thanks for any input jeff

 

[Edger]

I doubt the tire marks will make any difference. Only thing you can do is acid etch and water blast after, they look nice and faded.

 

[pima67]

I would suggest that you rub your fingers on a few different places on the floor to see if there is any residue left from the acid or baking soda. If there is you will see it on you fingers (or you could use a dark but clean rag also).

 

[jeff68bird]

I would suggest that you rub your fingers on a few different places on the floor to see if there is any residue left from the acid or baking soda. If there is you will see it on you fingers (or you could use a dark but clean rag also).

doesnt really come off on my fingers but i do see some white chalky looking areas now that is is starting to dry. so i guess my next step would be to pressure wash it? i thought i has read that pressure washing was not a good idea because it forces water futher into the concrete.?

 

[Edger]

In 20 years of water blasting concrete I would say you can never force water into concrete. The only way is to soak it for a long time.

I used to remove quarter of an inch of oil/dirt buildup on a typical 10,000 sq.ft. floor with 6,000 psi of high pressure water, then give it a soak for 20 mins with strong detergent, then rinse twice (a fire hose was good) and vacuum up both times.

The concrete began to dry immediately we vacuumed up the last water - max. 1hr.

Blast it good!

 

[jeff68bird]

In 20 years of water blasting concrete I would say you can never force water into concrete. The only way is to soak it for a long time.

I used to remove quarter of an inch of oil/dirt buildup on a typical 10,000 sq.ft. floor with 6,000 psi of high pressure water, then give it a soak for 20 mins with strong detergent, then rinse twice (a fire hose was good) and vacuum up both times.

The concrete began to dry immediately we vacuumed up the last water - max. 1hr.

Blast it good!

ok guess my power washer is junk. 2100 psi .cant tell where i did or didnt once the floor is wet.went over the whole thing anyway. i dried off a section with the roof torch and ran my hand over it. no white comes off but if i sand it with 80 grit i do still get some white powder. if this ok or do i have to keep rinsing. next step is a better power washer or can i just brush it with some cleaner like comet or ajax and then rinse with the hose. must have rinsed it 6 or 8 times already. i know i am over analyzing this but i just want to be sure.

 

[csp]

Yes you are over analyzing this. If the pores are exposed and you're not getting any residue you're done with prep. Let it dry and start the epoxy application process.

 

[rugerlady]

I'm surprised no one else caught this....if you acid washed the floor after the fibers were burned off. you really need to torch the floor again. The acid will eat away some of the concrete, exposing more fibers. These will stick up in the epoxy. Please call me if you have any questions.

 

[Edger]

You do not need 6000 psi your washer is OK, I just used that as an example because we used to remove thick oils and dirt from very old manufacturing plants and needed to work quickly, however I did find that 3000 psi was needed close to the concrete to remove all the white residue.

My guess is that your prep is plenty good enough now and if your acid has exposed more fibers I would be very surprised.

 

[jeff68bird]

Yes you are over analyzing this. If the pores are exposed and you're not getting any residue you're done with prep. Let it dry and start the epoxy application process.

thanks this is why it takes me forever to get anything done. letting it dry!!



edger and christine . dont see to much new fiber i will probably use the torch to help dry it so that will take care of any strays.

 

[rugerlady]

Sounds good, I double checked with a few of my fellow employees and they thought the same as I did. With more etching, more fiber exposed.

 

[ggcdad]

I ground the whole floor and then acid etched the two front bays but not the back one, and more fibers were definitely exposed from the acid etch that needed to be burned off.

 

[jeff68bird]

ok epoxy coat came yesterday. opening everthing to check to be sure it was all there .i filled in one of the saw cuts with chaulk to even level. when it dried it shrunk up alot and the joint would have definately be visable when coated didnt like the looks of it so i dug it back out.i decided to go with the hd821 legacy gel filler and ordered it the other day. should be here today. if i can get it filled tonight i was planning on coating this weekend.purchased all the extra supplies mentioned in some of the other posts.

problem now the weather is calling for 45 and rain now so may have to postpone.not as much the temp but the rain is concerning me. been reading a lot about outgasing and bubbling problems. just wondering what would be the best temp to keep the garage. i have a large heater and can maintain any temp. also is it true that i should cut the heat off while coating to allow the temp to go down while appling.when do i kick the heat back on.

going to use 18inch rollers and squeeggees . does extra backrolling help or hurt the bubbling outgasing issue? also should i premix and batchmix the part A the night before or the day of.again looking to reduce the problem with bubbles.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Bird:

You can use the HD-821 for any imperfections (bug holes, cracks, etc...) in the slab as well.

Good luck.

 

[jeff68bird]

applied the hd821 filler today. taped both sides of the joint and did my best to force as much material in the joint as i could. then wiped it clean against the tape.ended up a little lower than the surface so tommorow i will wipe a second coat since i have enough left . ordered a 1 gallon kit. christine from epoxy coat said the epoxy would fill in the difference but fiqured i would wipe it again anyway and then sand level in a few days . stuff is ok to work with but is very sticky. used a small piece of cardboard to mix each batch . able to do about 10 ft with each batch.

i was planning on having this done already and actually coating this weekend but rained all day so weather pushed me back till next weekend anyway.