A few years back I put Epoxy down in my garage and a utility room in my basement.
The garage was done with a "100% solids" kit I got from Costco that they don't sell anymore. I don't remember the name of it now, but I put Epoxy-Coat down in the utility room, the application instructions, product behavior and result were very close.
Soon thereafter I helped a neighbor put Norklad in his garage.
All applications were done with no flakes. We intended these to be working garages and finding something dropped onto a flaked floor and cleaning a flaked floor are both harder than a non-flaked floor. The flakes would also require a clear top coat to do it right ... so no flakes for us.
The result in his house was much different than in mine. My floors are what I might call "softer", but I don't know if that is the right word = perhaps less hard? Mine are more like the floor having a very hard plastic top coat. His floor is more like it is encased in glass.
If I take a screwdriver and push very hard on my floor it will make a slight indentation and then spring back to its original shape. His will not do that, but it is more likely to chip if something very heavy with an edge gets dropped on it.
If mine gets wet, it is slippery, but not really that bad or dangerous so long as you are careful. His is like walking on ice.
I much prefer my floor over his.
Is there a hardness scale/measurement/standard that one can look at when comparing products? The product specs for each are copied below, but I don't see anything that would correlate with my observation/comparison between the two floors. Perhaps the difference is due to differing amounts of specified hardener when the two parts are mixed???
I am planning to help my dad with his garage and would like to know how to achieve the same results that I got on my floor - and make sure it didn't happen by accident.
The Norklad product page lists:
VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTENT: Nearly zero pounds per gallon
RECOMMENDED FILM THICKNESS: 12-30 mils
COVERAGE PER GALLON: 53-130 square feet per gallon @ 12-30 mils
PACKAGING INFORMATION 3 gallon kits (2.9 – 3.0 gallons net approximately)
MIX RATIO: 12 pounds (1 gallon) part A to 4.15 pounds (.50 gallons) part B (volumes approx.)
FINISH CHARACTERISTICS: Gloss (70-95 at 60 degrees @ Erichsen glossmeter)
ABRASION RESISTANCE: Taber abraser CS-17 calibrase wheel with 1000 gram total load and 500 cycles = 32 mg loss
FLEXURAL STRENGTH: 5,400 psi @ ASTM D790
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH: 9,100 psi @ ASTM D695 – 1/2 ”X 1/2” bars
ADHESION: 450 psi @ elcometer (concrete failure, no delamination)
VISCOSITY: Mixed = 1300-2300 cps (typical, most colors)
TENSILE STRENGTH: 4,800 psi @ ASTM D638
ULTIMATE ELONGATION: 3.1%
GARDNER VARIABLE IMPACTOR: 50 inch pounds direct – passed
HARDNESS: Shore D = 80
HARDNESS: Shore D = 80
Epoxy Coat shows
(I don't see the same "Hardness" number):
CURED STATE PROPERTIES
Heat Deflection Temperature C-48
Tensile Strength, psi -5349
Tensile Elongation at break, percent - 16
Compressive Strength, Ultimate, psi-12,800
Compressive Yield Strength, psi -0.98
Izod Impact, ft-lb./inch notch -.606
Taber Abrasion CS-17, 1000 G., 1000 cycles-48 mg. wt. loss
Reported as percent weight change of immersed 1” by 3” by 1/8” samples at 25 degrees C. ONE WEEK
5% Detergent - .58
5% Acetic Acid - .71
20% Acetic Acid- 3.31
50% Acetic Acid- Destroyed
10% Sulfuric Acid - .77
25% Sulfuric Acid - .69
70% Sulfuric Acid - .11
98% Sulfuric Acid -Destroyed
5% Nitric Acid- .74
20% Nitric Acid-1.35
10% Hydrochloric Acid-.51
10% Sodium Hydroxide- .45
50% Sodium Hydroxide-.03
5% Citric Acid-.60
5% Lactic Acid -.59
Methyl Ethyl Ketone-Destroyed
Xylene -.09
Toluene- .18
Ethanol -7.06
Methanol- Destroyed
Isopropanol-.26
Gasoline-.05
Antifreeze-.02
Brake Fluid - .89
Transmission Fluid-.09
Skydrol (500B4)- .01
Bleach-.45
3% Hydrogen Peroxide -.59
50% Sugar Solution -.49
The garage was done with a "100% solids" kit I got from Costco that they don't sell anymore. I don't remember the name of it now, but I put Epoxy-Coat down in the utility room, the application instructions, product behavior and result were very close.
Soon thereafter I helped a neighbor put Norklad in his garage.
All applications were done with no flakes. We intended these to be working garages and finding something dropped onto a flaked floor and cleaning a flaked floor are both harder than a non-flaked floor. The flakes would also require a clear top coat to do it right ... so no flakes for us.
The result in his house was much different than in mine. My floors are what I might call "softer", but I don't know if that is the right word = perhaps less hard? Mine are more like the floor having a very hard plastic top coat. His floor is more like it is encased in glass.
If I take a screwdriver and push very hard on my floor it will make a slight indentation and then spring back to its original shape. His will not do that, but it is more likely to chip if something very heavy with an edge gets dropped on it.
If mine gets wet, it is slippery, but not really that bad or dangerous so long as you are careful. His is like walking on ice.
I much prefer my floor over his.
Is there a hardness scale/measurement/standard that one can look at when comparing products? The product specs for each are copied below, but I don't see anything that would correlate with my observation/comparison between the two floors. Perhaps the difference is due to differing amounts of specified hardener when the two parts are mixed???
I am planning to help my dad with his garage and would like to know how to achieve the same results that I got on my floor - and make sure it didn't happen by accident.
The Norklad product page lists:
VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTENT: Nearly zero pounds per gallon
RECOMMENDED FILM THICKNESS: 12-30 mils
COVERAGE PER GALLON: 53-130 square feet per gallon @ 12-30 mils
PACKAGING INFORMATION 3 gallon kits (2.9 – 3.0 gallons net approximately)
MIX RATIO: 12 pounds (1 gallon) part A to 4.15 pounds (.50 gallons) part B (volumes approx.)
FINISH CHARACTERISTICS: Gloss (70-95 at 60 degrees @ Erichsen glossmeter)
ABRASION RESISTANCE: Taber abraser CS-17 calibrase wheel with 1000 gram total load and 500 cycles = 32 mg loss
FLEXURAL STRENGTH: 5,400 psi @ ASTM D790
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH: 9,100 psi @ ASTM D695 – 1/2 ”X 1/2” bars
ADHESION: 450 psi @ elcometer (concrete failure, no delamination)
VISCOSITY: Mixed = 1300-2300 cps (typical, most colors)
TENSILE STRENGTH: 4,800 psi @ ASTM D638
ULTIMATE ELONGATION: 3.1%
GARDNER VARIABLE IMPACTOR: 50 inch pounds direct – passed
HARDNESS: Shore D = 80
HARDNESS: Shore D = 80
Epoxy Coat shows
(I don't see the same "Hardness" number):
CURED STATE PROPERTIES
Heat Deflection Temperature C-48
Tensile Strength, psi -5349
Tensile Elongation at break, percent - 16
Compressive Strength, Ultimate, psi-12,800
Compressive Yield Strength, psi -0.98
Izod Impact, ft-lb./inch notch -.606
Taber Abrasion CS-17, 1000 G., 1000 cycles-48 mg. wt. loss
Reported as percent weight change of immersed 1” by 3” by 1/8” samples at 25 degrees C. ONE WEEK
5% Detergent - .58
5% Acetic Acid - .71
20% Acetic Acid- 3.31
50% Acetic Acid- Destroyed
10% Sulfuric Acid - .77
25% Sulfuric Acid - .69
70% Sulfuric Acid - .11
98% Sulfuric Acid -Destroyed
5% Nitric Acid- .74
20% Nitric Acid-1.35
10% Hydrochloric Acid-.51
10% Sodium Hydroxide- .45
50% Sodium Hydroxide-.03
5% Citric Acid-.60
5% Lactic Acid -.59
Methyl Ethyl Ketone-Destroyed
Xylene -.09
Toluene- .18
Ethanol -7.06
Methanol- Destroyed
Isopropanol-.26
Gasoline-.05
Antifreeze-.02
Brake Fluid - .89
Transmission Fluid-.09
Skydrol (500B4)- .01
Bleach-.45
3% Hydrogen Peroxide -.59
50% Sugar Solution -.49
