Epoxy floor, thoughts please.

[12vwiz]

My house is two years old. The attached garage did not have any saw cut expansion joints in it. It now has several cracks running through it. This weekend I prepped the floor to put a epoxy finish down… I’m concerned about the cracks. I know how to repair them but I’m concerned if I do and not having any expansion cuts in the concrete they’re just going to crack again. My question is: Will cutting my own expansion joints two years after it was poured help? Any thoughts?

Also the garage slab is lower than the interior slab so I have 4 to 6 inches of concrete going up the wall. The epoxy floor will have a full broadcast of flakes. I would like to put it on the concrete portion of the wall too. I was thinking about using Bondo multi-purpose putty where the floor meets the wall to create a curve like a built-in cove instead of the existing 90°.
The multipurpose Bondo read that it bonds to concrete and Epoxy with zero shrinking. Any thoughts or tips on doing this?



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[12vwiz]

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[LegacyIndustrial]

Cutting again will do nothing.
Those cuts have to be placed right away or they are irrelevant.

 

[12vwiz]

Cutting again will do nothing.
Those cuts have to be placed right away or they are irrelevant.

Thank you.
Would you go ahead and repair the cracks or would you just rely on the flakes covering them up?


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[LegacyIndustrial]

I would repair them.
Link:

 

[Armorpoxy]

HI, above info is correct and we agree the cracks shold be repaired first. Often newer slabs crack at the begining of their life and then stop.

As for the edges what you want is a 'cove' and you should use Cove Mortar and a curved Cove Tool to make the cove first and then do your epoxy job over the floor and over the curb. We carry Cove Mortar and the tool. We have not heard of anyone doing coves with bondo so we can't comment one way or another.

 

[Innovate1]

On the cove... I have about a 5 month old floor. The floor guy said he doesn't fill the area around the perimeter (joint with foundation wall) because there will be movement there. This is the first I have heard of "cove mortar" but must admit I don't know much about concrete and related stuff. Is it somewhat flexible? Would like to know more about this...

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi cove mortar is not flexible. We only mentioned it since your post commented on it. Most people don’t do coves as they can crack due to temps change. We suggest caulking the joint after the floor is done. You can go up the sides a bit with epoxy and flecks if you want and then a small bead of caulk at the joint.

 

[rjacobs]

not having any expansion cuts in the concrete they’re just going to crack again. My question is: Will cutting my own expansion joints two years after it was poured help? Any thoughts?

Is your slab post tension stressed?

If yes, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE cut control joints...

And in a 2 year old slab they will do nothing anyway since control joints I believe are supposed to be cut within 24 hours.