epoxy floor, rode hard - put away muddy

[rmuell01]

Hi all,

I just spent the last weekend moving my machines and pressure washing my floor (it's been a long time) and I don't want to do it again. Thus the need for a new floor.

I have a small metal working hobby that is disastrous to my epoxy floor, which I've had for about 8 years.

I drop metal, move machines (mill, lathe, surface grinder,etc; anywhere between 100 and 1750 lbs), some welding, grinding, cutting metal in a bandsaw. you know, the typical stuff.

Well my floor is now gouged and a lot of the epoxy is gone. It is **** ugly. I would like to put something else down and have been following the current list of questions. I think I have two options:

1. put down the most rigid floor and put the machines on top of it... (what that would be I don't know, would it be dented? crack?)
2. put down a floor around the machines and have more of a selection of floors. (and maybe put some mats down under the machines to keep the floors clean).

I do like the typical interconnecting tiles, PVC, RaceDeck, etc.

I could use some help.... vendors are welcome to answer.

Rob

 

[A_Pmech]

I hear of a lot of people having epoxy problems on this board and I just can't figure it out. Either the prep work was really bad, the coating was crappy or improperly applied or they must have a lot higher expectations for flooring than I do?

Most of my machines weigh in the 6,000 lbs to 9,000 lbs range and my Rustoleum epoxy floor looks fine, except for in front of the main door where I did some welding directly on the floor and dragged the fork tips a few times. In fact, I ran the floor scrubber over it last week and it almost looks new! If I waxed it it would probably glow, but that doesn't really interest me.

I do recommend you put down some rubber mats in front of your machines, especially the surface grinder. That way your dropped parts won't get a "ground finish".

In this photo the floor is just dirty:

After a good scrub:

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I think if you grind it off, inspect the floor for water problems, and put down some good epoxy you won't have any more problems. If you don't want to go the epoxy route again, I'd look at VCT.

 

[Edger]

It sounds like your floor is a bit soft and breaking down under the epoxy, rather than the epoxy breaking down all the time. You could try grinding down, hardening, patching, grinding patches and re coating which should give you a better floor, but all that is time consuming and expensive, and how much better is hard to define.

In food areas they have the same chipping problem with dropped knives etc. so a thick mix of epoxy and sands used to be troweled down for that application. Trouble is that the chips still occur in the epoxy from dropped objects, but the concrete is not exposed which meets food standards.

Might be a lot of expense to fix it properly.

 

[rmuell01]

I hear of a lot of people having epoxy problems on this board and I just can't figure it out. Either the prep work was really bad, the coating was crappy or improperly applied or they must have a lot higher expectations for flooring than I do?

The floor was brand new when we put down the epoxy, it was late in Oct, which if I remember correctly, was about 45-50 degrees that year. I know the floor was ground and acid washed. I waited 3-4 days before anything was brought back in. There was no clear coat over the single coat of epoxy.

This doesn't mean it was a good or bad job, I didn't have any experience with epoxy at that time. I also wouldn't expect epoxy to hold up to all the things I've dropped on it. I know I won't stop dropping things, so I need to put something in place to protect what I have left.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You may need a broadcast floor. Receiver coat of epoxy, broadcast sands to rejection, topcoat of epoxy, urethane glaze over top. One more layer of sand can be added for a Double Broadcast. Excellent build and the sand adds strength.

 

[rmuell01]

You may need a broadcast floor. Receiver coat of epoxy, broadcast sands to rejection, topcoat of epoxy, urethane glaze over top. One more layer of sand can be added for a Double Broadcast. Excellent build and the sand adds strength.

aaaaahhhhhhhh. What?
are you saying? put down another coat of epoxy on top off what I have, throw some more chips in, put down more epoxy,.......

sorry, could you explain? thanks

 

[tncatadjuster]

Prep floor, install one coat of epoxy, broadcast sand until you only see sand.
Next day blow off all sand that is not stuck. Apply another coat of epoxy on top of sand to fill in and encapsulate stuck sand. This ends up with a higher build and a much stronger floor.

This is many times stronger than a coat of epoxy.

 

[Edger]

Good suggestion Scotty.
I did several large jobs this way which all lasted well with industrial abuse. As one person rolls out a thick coat of epoxy, one or two other guys throw sand on top until it all soaks into the epoxy and you have only dry sand on top.
Next day you sweep or blow or vacuum the loose sand off and apply another coat of epoxy. Just a tip, the second coat on top of the sand used up three times the epoxy of the first coat.

 

[rmuell01]

can I put epoxy over my existing epoxy floor?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

rmuell01: If it is down tight you can degrease, degloss, solvent wipe and and re-apply.
This comment is based on you having a REAL epoxy coating and not a single part fake or a water-based homeowner coating from a Big Box.

 

[rmuell01]

how do you degloss? sander? what about the existing chips in my epoxy? they can stay as they are?

I appreciate the answer.

Rob

 

[RobSmith]

sounds like putting icing on a marshmallow...a hard surface on a soft base. I would be more confident with an original base......remove the 'soft' stuff first.

 

[thegarageguy]

As your first post indicated, you never grinder and you put down one coat. I'm guessing rolled on and paper thin. Of course its not gonna hold up. What everyone is suggesting is a broadcast floor but what they aren't telling you is that its much more difficult and it usually takes 2 broadcasts and a few good men to apply. Maybe its best you contact a professional in your area before you have a similar result you have now with a lighter wallet.

 

[rmuell01]

As your first post indicated, you never grinder and you put down one coat. I'm guessing rolled on and paper thin. Of course its not gonna hold up. What everyone is suggesting is a broadcast floor but what they aren't telling you is that its much more difficult and it usually takes 2 broadcasts and a few good men to apply. Maybe its best you contact a professional in your area before you have a similar result you have now with a lighter wallet.

thanks for your reply,

Actually, it was put on my pros (well, they did it for pay if that makes your a pro, don't know how much experience they had) and they did grind the floor, on a brand new floor. but I think you're right in that they applied it by rolling.

How else can you apply epoxy?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

thanks for your reply,

Actually, it was put on my pros (well, they did it for pay if that makes your a pro, don't know how much experience they had) and they did grind the floor, on a brand new floor. but I think you're right in that they applied it by rolling.

How else can you apply epoxy?

I believe the poster was commenting on the thickness (paper-thin) and not the method. Epoxy is typically rolled but can be squeegeed and rolled.

 

[rmuell01]

I believe the poster was commenting on the thickness (paper-thin) and not the method. Epoxy is typically rolled but can be squeegeed and rolled.

yes, thank you. And I wouldn't be able to tell you if it was thick or thin.

 

[bams50]

Prep floor, install one coat of epoxy, broadcast sand until you only see sand.
Next day blow off all sand that is not stuck. Apply another coat of epoxy on top of sand to fill in and encapsulate stuck sand. This ends up with a higher build and a much stronger floor.

This is many times stronger than a coat of epoxy.

Holy cow, I had never heard of this before! Awesome info. How does this compare to products like U-Coat-It, with the chips you put down?

More valuable stuff, from the great members of GJ!

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

This is a system using 100% solids and sand. It is not something you buy off the shelf.
You let the manufacturer know your square footage and he assembles everything you need.

 

[mpire]

My epoxy floors seem to be self healing when I drop heavy stuff on them.

Not sure why.

 

[kyles974]

My epoxy floors seem to be self healing when I drop heavy stuff on them.

Not sure why

Interesting

 

[Edger]

My epoxy floors seem to be self healing when I drop heavy stuff on them.

Not sure why.

Your epoxy has to be soft.

 

[scott67chevelle]

I have a quartz double broadcast floor in my shop. Tough as nails, very labor intesive and not cheap.

Scott

 

[rmuell01]

I wanted to post pics of my floor so I can get additional info (unless this confirms the answers).

things dropped

looks like peeling

so was it a bad job? too thin? redo it?

appreciate the add'l help

Rob

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Rob:

Did they grind it? Looks like the concrete beneath may be suspect. Tough to tell.

 

[CamarosRus]

Scott/Chevelle, Could you explain what QUARTZ and Double Broadcast means.

What size material was used and was it broadcast til refusal/rejection

What color was the base coat (gray???)

What exact material was used for top coat.

How can you state tough as nails when you havent used/tested it yet ???

 

[scott67chevelle]

Scott/Chevelle, Could you explain what QUARTZ and Double Broadcast means.

What size material was used and was it broadcast til refusal/rejection

What color was the base coat (gray???)

What exact material was used for top coat.

How can you state tough as nails when you havent used/tested it yet ???

Look up Torginol's web site, check out the Colored granules.

My shop is a bunch of colors mixed to no specific color. My father did this for a living and my quartz is leftovers from many jobs. It takes a pound per sq. foot to cover on a double broadcast.

The top coat is called Terroxy Clear Resin, it's a 2 part system.

Brake clean, lacquer thinner, DOT 3 brake fluid don't touch it. I had brake fluid on it for hours, just wipe it off and you never knew it was there. Even welding, it takes some pretty hot be-be's to burn into it. The floor is roughly 1/8" thick.

 

[rmuell01]

Rob:

Did they grind it? Looks like the concrete beneath may be suspect. Tough to tell.

It was a brand new floor, and yes they did grind it. It was a 6 bag mix concrete.

Rob

 

[AlphaGarage]

It's tough to tell what's happening just from the photos.

With the problem spots, when you cleaned up did you notice if there was concrete stuck to the coating chips, or was the coating that lifted or broke off just coating material?

A good coating system will significantly increase the durability of concrete. But there's a limit to how much it can help - especially if there are existing issues with the concrete. A primer will penetrate and chemically bond to concrete, a topcoat will help spread and dissipate kinetic energy from dropped items, and there are other materials that can increase those benefits even more. We have a manufacturer who was moving a huge multi-ton piece of machinery, had forklifts at every corner. One of the corners slipped off the lift. They were expecting to re-pour and re-coat the concrete in that section, but after lifting and moving the machine they were surprised to find that there was barely a visible scratch. But then they probably started out with concrete that was up to specs.

On the other hand with a floor where there are pre-existing issues with the concrete, it's probably the weakest link and will fail.