Epoxy fumes and drying times?

[jjwithers]

Hello. This is my first post after reading the forum and getting totally sucked in...

I live in a 3 story townhome. The bottom story is a 2 car, side by side garage, then a 3inch step up to an additional laundy/workshop area that measures about 15x18'.
The next two stories up are living areas.

Recently a pipe broke in the ceiling of the workroom area. Insurance wants to rip out the ceiling and vinyl flooring in the laundry/workroom area.

I'm thinking of replacing the vinyl with an epoxy flooring - Legacy / Ucoat / Rustoleum. Insurance will either re-vinyl or pay me $$.

I am a DYI person so I am hoping I can recover the workroom area with Epoxy.

My concerns are:
A - Timing - We won't have more then a few days to get a new floor in, so we can move back into the room. Ideally, i'd love to have the floor coated in a day.
B - Fumes. Part of the floor extends to a staircase landing that goes to the 1st floor. Are the fumes terrible if they seep into the rest of the house for a day or two?

Ideally, i just want whatever will be quick, durable for a motorcycle lift, and easy to apply.

TIA for your feedback.
-Josh

 

[AlphaGarage]

For an epoxy coating you'll need to profile the floor, muriatic acid is commonly used, but it has a nasty odor. We have a very low odor alternative, but it's more expensive than muriatic acid.

After that's out of the way the coating itself, with our system, can usually be done in 2 days, but our system has 3 coats - a primer, top coat, and clear coat. Although I won't say they're "odor less" we've never heard any complaints about the smell, and they have zero hazardous organic compounds and zero volatile organic compounds. They're not unique in that aspect, many of the coatings out there have very low odor during application. Obviously you should avoid any that are solvent based, and there are also some non-solvent based coatings that smell pretty bad, so do check that out beforehand with the vendors.

 

[Elite Crete Australia]

If you are replacing vinyl then you will need to also remove all of the glue underneath it. An acid bath won't touch this stuff. You'll have to mechanically remove the glue which will also leave you with an improved profile for your epoxy coating and save yourself messing around with acid etching or profiling and also remove the need to add moisture to the concrete prior to applying the coating. As Alpha Garage has said, 100% solid epoxy coatings aren't the epoxy coatings that are notorious for their odour, however some 100% solid formulations do stink. As for timing, getting all of this done in a single day is not impossible but probably unlikely. You can use a fast set epoxy formulation and get a few coats done in a day and also even top coat it with a urethane in that same day but you'll have to be prepared to work the long hours. The likely hood of removal, prep work and then multiple coatings in a single day are highly unlikely but not impossible.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Missed the vinyl tile detail... Yup - a grind is in order. Hopefully the glue is hardened and brittle - that slightly soft stuff can be a major pain....

 

[jjwithers]

Thanks gang. Out of the blue today, insurance sent over a 'floor guy' to rip up and replace my floor. Actually, he just estimated the cost and will do it sometime next week.
I thought they were going to pay me to have somebody else do it.
He said i could put any floor i want down there... and make up the difference if it costs more then the replacement value of vinyl.

He told me to come to the showroom next week to see other options that might be as durable as epoxy but not as lengthy of an install time.

Anything like Epoxy would be ideal. Heck, anything better then my 35 yr old, cracking vinyl will be an improvement.

-J

 

[Elite Crete Australia]

An epoxy floor is not necessarily a time consuming system. Regardless of which flooring solution you go with, you are going to have to rip out the existing floor. The timely part of the epoxy system is waiting for the coating to cure and setup. You can half this time with a fast setting epoxy like our E100-PT1 Fast Set or you could go the more costly route of a polyaspartic or polyurea coating, either of which I would never recommend to a DIY'er.

 

[jjwithers]

I got a Legacy kit. I hope to coat it tomorrow. I have a respirator but how bad are the fumes if it is in a fairly not-too ventilated area? will they be unsafe 7 hours after applying the coat? Right now the door between our garage and home is not attached and i worry about the fumes going into the house once my family gets home at the end of the day.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Hello. This is my first post after reading the forum and getting totally sucked in...

I live in a 3 story townhome. The bottom story is a 2 car, side by side garage, then a 3inch step up to an additional laundy/workshop area that measures about 15x18'.
The next two stories up are living areas.

Recently a pipe broke in the ceiling of the workroom area. Insurance wants to rip out the ceiling and vinyl flooring in the laundry/workroom area.

I'm thinking of replacing the vinyl with an epoxy flooring - Legacy / Ucoat / Rustoleum. Insurance will either re-vinyl or pay me $$.

I am a DYI person so I am hoping I can recover the workroom area with Epoxy.

My concerns are:
A - Timing - We won't have more then a few days to get a new floor in, so we can move back into the room. Ideally, i'd love to have the floor coated in a day.
B - Fumes. Part of the floor extends to a staircase landing that goes to the 1st floor. Are the fumes terrible if they seep into the rest of the house for a day or two?

Ideally, i just want whatever will be quick, durable for a motorcycle lift, and easy to apply.

TIA for your feedback.
-Josh

Josh,

Those are great questions. First, as to the odor and fumes. we offer, as do many others, very low odor, 100% solids, VOC compliant coatings that will greatly reduce the concerns over lingering fumes.

To do the job correctly, you MIGHT be able to prime and base coat one day, top coat the next day and then wait for a cure. If you truly want no odor and an instant floor, perhaps a line of garage floor tiles would be a better solution

 

[jjwithers]

Thanks Justin,

I did a primer coat the day before.
This morning, the weather was sunny and warm so I put down the epoxy coat. I had a respirator on and when I took it off, i noticed the fumes but they weren't terrible. I had fans going and opened the windows in the house. I left and went to work... and upon returning for lunch, the smell was nearly gone.

The floor looks great. I can't wait for it to fully cure so i can make use of it!

-josh

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

JJ, glad it worked out!!

 

[Garage Flooring]

Thanks Justin,

I did a primer coat the day before.
This morning, the weather was sunny and warm so I put down the epoxy coat. I had a respirator on and when I took it off, i noticed the fumes but they weren't terrible. I had fans going and opened the windows in the house. I left and went to work... and upon returning for lunch, the smell was nearly gone.

The floor looks great. I can't wait for it to fully cure so i can make use of it!

-josh

Not sure how I missed the fact that I answered the question after you had a great solution!