Davey4000
Well-known member
A sealer was applied to my concrete floor when it was installed. Can I still use an epoxy finish on it? Are the preparations the same as unsealed concrete?
Epoxy Over Concrete Sealer?
- Thread starter Davey4000
- Start date
Winmon
Well-known member
I made the mistake of putting a sealer down before I decided to epoxy the floor. In order to put an epoxy down, you will need to remove the sealer. You can either do this by renting a Edco surfacer like this one....
Be prepared to spend ALOT of time on it. My 1600 sq ft took about 30 hrs.. Also be sure to get the diamond stones.
You will probably get the sealer "gumming" up the blades until it is removed. This is what I kept having to stop to clean out of the blades.....
If you use the Edco surfacer it helps to add some weight on the machine (you can see them in the picture). I used a few concrete steps.
However, if I had it to do over again, I would just hire someone to come in and Shotblast the floor (you might also be able to rent one).
Be prepared to spend ALOT of time on it. My 1600 sq ft took about 30 hrs.. Also be sure to get the diamond stones.
You will probably get the sealer "gumming" up the blades until it is removed. This is what I kept having to stop to clean out of the blades.....
If you use the Edco surfacer it helps to add some weight on the machine (you can see them in the picture). I used a few concrete steps.
However, if I had it to do over again, I would just hire someone to come in and Shotblast the floor (you might also be able to rent one).
Thanks. That's what I figured the answer would be. Unknown to me, my contractor sealed the concrete with a garden sprayer as it was being finished. Some places are nice and slick with a grey color to it and others are white and not slick. If it were all like the former I'd leave it alone; however, it looks splotchy. My garage is 36' x 48' and it sounds like a lot of work to remove the sealer.
Perhaps I will start looking at non epoxy solutions.
Perhaps I will start looking at non epoxy solutions.
Jay H 237
Well-known member
Davey4000 said:
That sounds like the concrete floor in the new addition they put on where I work. I don't know what the concrete was sealed with but it had that look to it. After several months it evened out and shined up. It looks like the foot traffic buffed it up. Probably take years for that to happen in a regular garage though.
Is there any moisture on or under your floor? Newer water-based sealers look milky until they dry, and will blush when they get wet again. If he used a water based sealer, then you have a moisture problem, not a sealer problem. Was a vapor barrier used?
Maybe the sealer was applied too thick in some areas; sealer is one thing where more may not be better. If that is the case, it will probably flake off, eventually. There are mechanical strippers as mentioned, and citrus based cleaners (require scrubbing). Not fun no matter which way you go.
krooser
Well-known member
I had a sealer on my floor and I simply sanded it off with a square orbital sander. It took all of an hour...I used about four sheets of paper for about 1200 square feet.
I epoxy coated my floor after that and it's been perfect for over a year.
I epoxy coated my floor after that and it's been perfect for over a year.
kenjenkins1
New member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2014
- Messages
- 2
I would just clean it up real good, and put another coat or two of sealer on it.
benwah
Well-known member
The easiest and most surefire way, in my opinion, to remove that sealer is to shot-blast your concrete to achieve an ICRI-CSP3 or greater surface profile. This will leave your concrete very porous and ready to accept epoxy coatings. If you were to go this route a double broadcast flake/quartz application would be ideal, but you could get away with a couple lifts of 100% solids epoxy. At minimum I would broadcast aggregate to refusal in your first coat.
falcon64
Well-known member
If the garage os not gonna be a man cave i would try resealing. What kind of sealer was it?
Shea
Well-known member
I don't think you will get an answer guys. This thread was started 8 years ago 
falcon64
Well-known member
Lol awesome!!
Myrtlerose
New member
Hello
I asked this same question about epoxy over sealer. Well has any one tried it. My sunroom had regular sealer over acid stain. Then I did my bathroom with epoxy over the acid stain. Well I liked that better but had no intention of removing the 2 month old sealer. So while I was doing the bathroom I cleaned a corner of my sunroom and with my roller still wet from the bathroom I rolled a corner of epoxy over the sealer. It looks great feels good and I think it is going to be fine. I am going to watch it for awhile before I do the whole thing but when I put a second coat on the bathroom I will probably do the whole sunroom. Why wouldn’t it adhere if it adheres to most anything else. I will send pics and updates when I do it.
Myrtlerose
I asked this same question about epoxy over sealer. Well has any one tried it. My sunroom had regular sealer over acid stain. Then I did my bathroom with epoxy over the acid stain. Well I liked that better but had no intention of removing the 2 month old sealer. So while I was doing the bathroom I cleaned a corner of my sunroom and with my roller still wet from the bathroom I rolled a corner of epoxy over the sealer. It looks great feels good and I think it is going to be fine. I am going to watch it for awhile before I do the whole thing but when I put a second coat on the bathroom I will probably do the whole sunroom. Why wouldn’t it adhere if it adheres to most anything else. I will send pics and updates when I do it.
Myrtlerose
Shea
Well-known member
No, it will not adhere well to a sealer. Epoxy needs to be applied to bare concrete or a surface that has been roughed up in order to form a mechanical bond. Epoxy applied over a sealer will peel sooner than later.