Epoxy problem

[Thor01]

Hopefully I am not the only person that has to deal with this mistake, so I am hoping that someone can share their experience with me. I dumped a batch of Epoxy Coat on the floor that had too much Part A (paint) for the amount of Part B (hardener), approximately 15% too much. Before spreading, I called the tech rep at Epoxy Coat and was told not to worry, that it would dry, but take longer. So I spead the material and flaked it. The next day it seemed as dry as the other correctly mixed sections to the touch and bare foot walking, but I did not do a fingernail test. Consequently I did not realize it was still softer than the other sections and wound with with some deep gouges in the expoxy. Numerous calls to thier tech reps, who have been great to deal with, were reassuring that the epoxy would indeed harden, but might take 2-3 weeks. At 10 days after the application, I am not noticing any change in the softness, and my bad experiences with epoxy glues that were not properly proportioned, are causing me sleepless nights. If you have had this problem, I would appreciate any information or experiences, and if you had to remove it because it would not harden, how did you get it off?
Thanks for any help
Thor01

 

[AmericanEpoxyFloors]

Commercial epoxy systems are typically tolerant to +/- 10% of their mix ratios. Outside that, a lot of other conditions (contaminants, humidity, color loading, etc.) start to really effect whether or not you'll get enough chain building to consider your coating cured.

It sounds to me like you were far enough outside the ratio that you are not going to get a good cure, based on it being 10 days old and still soft. If your coating is soft/cheesy enough to be a problem, then you should be able to scrape it up fairly easily using a floor scraper or something that you would use to pop up tile. If that doesn't work, then you'll have to get a grinder and a diamond cup to take up the old coating.

If your coating is just soft enough to be scratched and damaged, and you are going to have to take it up anyway, then you might want to try to put down another coat of epoxy over the top (at the proper mix ratio). That assumes you don't mind risking the materials costs and time. Putting a good coating over a marginal one MIGHT solve your problem and keep you from having to pull up the old one, which is a real hassle. This is a pretty sketch fix, but might solve your problem.

Good Luck!

George

 

[Thor01]

George,
Thank you for your input. I don't know why Epoxy Coat is telling me it will harden based on its current state as that does not compute with my experiences with improperly mixed epoxy glues. They told me that as long as it is not wet to the touch (paint comes off the floor onto your finger) it will harden. I guess I will wait another couple of weeks and then diamond grind it off if necessary as I have to diamond grind my other garage floor to prep it for the epoxy. I don't think adding another coat on top of the bad section is going to work as the underlaying epoxy is not bonded to the floor.
Thank you,
Guy

 

[hldtyt]

I cant speak for your floor, but I did the same thing. I put on two coats of Endurashield, which is a clear coat and hoped for the best. So far it seems to be holding up fine. There are two areas that are slightly soft under a decent amount pressure. The vast majoprity seems to have cured just fine. The area that I cover in the improper mix is in a light traffic area.

I am waiting for more time to pass before ripping it out and redoing it.

 

[Thor01]

Unfortunately the area that I screwed up will hold the right side of my Tundra truck, so if it does not fully cure, I am sure the tires will pull it up. Talked to Epoxy Coat today again and they continue to reassure me that it will harden. I'll hope for the best because getting that stuff up in its present sligthly solf stage would be a real mess.
Thor01