Epoxy floor with flake - how smooth should it be?

[Innovate1]

Just got a floor done and they say it's complete. Seemed a little rough but need to look at it again. I didn't look to see what they did to the flake before putting the final clear coat on. My understanding is that this is usually scraped to knock down any flakes that are sticking up. How smooth should this be?

 

[benwah]

It all depends on how thick the top coat was applied. A thinner top coat will leave a rougher texture. A fat top coat will leave a smoother texture. It's all personal preference. If you want it smoother, ask them to apply another coat.

 

[Innovate1]

It all depends on how thick the top coat was applied. A thinner top coat will leave a rougher texture. A fat top coat will leave a smoother texture. It's all personal preference. If you want it smoother, ask them to apply another coat.

Any way you could quantify what I should expect for a thinner, rougher texture? I just took a quick look and need to look closer tonight. Without some sort of reference it's all very subjective.

 

[BarryWells]

It really makes no difference. If the final product looks good to YOU...It's good.I like floors a lil rough

 

[benwah]

Any way you could quantify what I should expect for a thinner, rougher texture? I just took a quick look and need to look closer tonight. Without some sort of reference it's all very subjective.

Not really, to be honest. It all depends on the size of flake that they used and the coating used. These matters are normally discussed and agreed upon before the job starts. Feel free to post some pictures and we can chimein whether it looks like it's done properly or not.

 

[Innovate1]

Not really, to be honest. It all depends on the size of flake that they used and the coating used. These matters are normally discussed and agreed upon before the job starts. Feel free to post some pictures and we can chimein whether it looks like it's done properly or not.

Really hard to get pics to show surface roughness in my experience but I will give it a try. Maybe use a light to the side to show shadows.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
If a full broadcast was used then the floor is normally sanded or scraped well and then topcoat is applied, normally two coats since the first coat soaks into the millions of little gaps created by the overlapping. Topcoat is not thick and should not be applied thick as it can not cure properly and can end up with milky areas or not properly cured areas. Two thinner coats are much better than one thick coat. Only a high solids epoxy can be applied thick, but these can yellow.

If a partial fleck broadcast was done then normally the floor is not scraped and there would be a not insignificant texture to be expected.

 

[Innovate1]

I took a good look at it and it is awful. There are still flakes that come loose when you run your hand across it and if you did it with much pressure you might tear up your skin on the edges of the flakes. I am not sure what they put on it as a clear coat but it is REALLY thin. The flakes crunch when walked on.

I put a quarter down for scale in the one picture.

There was a bubble about the size of a golf ball and half an inch high. I told them about it. They said when they got there the next day it had disappeared (it was cooler). It is mostly flat but I can still find it and it is still slightly elevated and loose. I am temped to just rip it off so they have to redo that spot as I fear they may just flatten it and coat over it.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, it's a bit hard to tell from the photos since one looks like a medium broadcast. while the other one looks more like a full broadcast.

In any case based on your description they may have applied the flecks later than they should have since if the epoxy started curing and hardening they won't 'sink in' to the floor so instead they appear to be sitting on top of the floor quite a bit, or went in sideways and didn't flatten out into the coating. Most definitely they should not crunch, be loose, or be dangerous.

The way to repair this is to run a flat floor scraper hard over the floor to remove and knock down the high spots, and then recoat with clear and nonskid. Have them do a test area in a corner first to make sure you are pleased. If they can't fix it to your liking then it needs a good sanding or light grind, re-epoxyy, re-fleck properly, and re-topcoat.

Topcoat is a thin coating and will do little if anything every to 'fix' problems with the floor.

 

[Innovate1]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I did notice some variation of amount of coverage across the floor.

Yes, the flakes appear to be mostly sitting on top of the epoxy. Surprising since the day was cool so the epoxy shouldn't have set up very fast. I had heated the building to about 65F. How is the flake done? I am thinking because of the large area that some area would need to be coated with epoxy and then flake tossed onto it, then do some additional area and flake it, etc. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to get to the whole area to flake it until the epoxy has at least skinned over. Perhaps they mixed the epoxy and then let it sit some time before applying so they could go quicker? Just a wild guess.

You say coat with clear and non-skid. Is this the normal top coat?

They said they could apply more coating but it appears to need the high spots to be knocked down. I would think that would remove a lot of the flake but it may still look ok.

We are running out of patience and about to hire someone else to fix it.

There is also a place where the second layer of epoxy bubbled up and is laying flatter now but up a little and loose. My thought is this needs to be cut out, some prep of the lower layer (light sanding? and the issue could be the first layer didn't adhere to the concrete) and then coat that area with epoxy and try to blend in with the rest of the floor and add flake. Is this basically what needs to happen?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
The rough problem needs to be scraped or sanded and re topcoated, or the entire job done over after the above is done.

For the loose area yes it should be cut out, re prepped, re epoxied and flecked and topcoated.

The flecks get applied to wet epoxy and are normally evenly applied by applicators wearing spike shoe bottoms which allows for easy and even application while walking on wet epoxy.

It sounds unfortunately like this was a poor installation.