epoxy primers

[Mannyandlilly]

Hi all was wondering what type of primer I can use with epoxy coat?
Not worried about brand just what types does the primer have to be
epoxy primer or can you use almost any type?
Thanks

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Be careful that you don't put a home-center epoxy under that very good Epoxy-Coat.
Like a house built on a fudged foundation .

 

[Jim B]

I went with a company that supplied all the components of my garage floor, primer, epoxy, color chips, control joint epoxy gel and urethane top coat. In doing so I was assured that all the components of my floor play nice together.

 

[Mannyandlilly]

Thanks guys Iwas hoping Scotty would chime in.
The reason Iam asking is up here in the great white north some products
are hard to get.
I ordered my epoxy-coat from Lowes in Grand Forks and as Iwas doing more
reading realized That I should use a primer also and thought I could use
something local like Home Depot to save another trip to Grand Forks.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[pauls_workshop]

Be careful that you don't put a home-center epoxy under that very good Epoxy-Coat.
Like a house built on a fudged foundation .

This is a case where other manufacturers than Legacy have other conclusions and recommendations. Professional installers will often use a water based epoxy, just like a rustoleum kit, as a primer, under a 100% solids basecoat epoxy. This is because the water base will bond very well to the cement floor, better than a 100% solids would as a basecoat, and they are lower cost, so make sense as a primer coat. You can also take a higher solids epoxy and thin it significantly to act as a better bonding primer coat. But thinning an epoxy will permanently lower its strength, so that is a bit of a tradeoff. On this forum, we should always discuss industry standards and options people take. Opinions are fine too, but let's not call opinions fact and not discuss the other available options to also consider. Scotty does not sell Rustoleum products, so naturally is not going to be recommending anyone ever use those for any reason under the sun, whether that is good advice for a person or not. - Paul

 

[Mannyandlilly]

Paul thanks for the reply I also was thinking that a water base primer
would (sink) into the concrete better and if it would not then why
use a primer of any kind may as well just use the epoxy -coat and
do what the company says.

 

[Mannyandlilly]

Thanks Scotty for your input and Paul also .
After Iam done with my floor I will post pictures and I hope my floor looks
as good as the others on this forum>

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Yes sir. Good luck.
I didn't mean to scare you. I know our products will work with Epoxy-Coat and I should leave it at.

Perhaps some GJ members can share a positive result regarding a big-box primer.

 

[pauls_workshop]

Yes, and not to say either that there is anything wrong with Legacy's primer. Many have used that and had very good success with that product. It is also proven to work well with Epoxy-Coat. Also check out Paul Oman's company website here: http://www.epoxyproducts.com/

In it he talks about water based epoxy used as primers. Very good info source for newbies to learn about what people are already doing successfully or not in the industry. Many ways to skin a cat as they say. - Paul

 

[Zmw]

I did my first garage 4-5 months ago. I used a water based epoxy as a primer - big box store stuff. Valspar from Lowes. I used a solvent based epoxy as my base coat - big box store stuff, Rustoleum professional epoxy. I used original color chips HPU 747 urethane clear coat. (note, I actually used 2 coats of urethane since they shipped me an extra one).

My floor is top notch so far. It made it through a Phx summer with no hot tire pick up, thing looks tough as nails.

I am looking at doing another garage floor soon. I am thinking of the same system but looking for another waterbased epoxy as a primer since other options are cheaper then valspar. Like a norklad water based epoxy.

If anyone has suggestions for a good quality water based epoxy for a primer at a good cost let me know!