final results after hours of work

[Dave Maxwell]

Well after a long time getting ready to epoxy floor. It looks like ****. Gas outs all over. Primer was a waste I guess. I can get pics to work as usual. If you want to seevth I can email somebody and they can post

 

[benwah]

Dave, do you have a moisture issue? Was the epoxy primer applied in the beginning of the day and it got real hot?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Epoxy was applied in evening. No moisture. Did the plastic check.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

By no means blaming supplier. Just my **** luck

 

[Dave Maxwell]

If the concrete finisher would have done a good job, I never would have had to coat it in the first place. Way everything goes I guess

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Maybe we can a get off this epoxy bandwagon now.
It fails
It's not easy to repair
I'm gleaning that ten years is a long life for a floor
Prep is ridiculous

Sorry for your troubles.
Maybe others will reconsider based on your experience.

Nothing worth while is easy and keep in mind that a fraction of successful outcomes show up here. All the issues show up and that is not an exaggeration.


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[benwah]

Maybe we can a get off this epoxy bandwagon now.
It fails
It's not easy to repair
I'm gleaning that ten years is a long life for a floor
Prep is ridiculous

Sorry for your troubles.
Maybe others will reconsider based on your experience.

I disagree. Just because there are a few failures doesn't mean that epoxy is junk. It is extremely durable. It is used daily in food service, pharmaceutical, sports facilities, automotive shops, manufacturing facilities, garages, airport hangars, warehouses, waste water treatment plants and more.

Everything fails eventually. Epoxy is a sacrificial coating to protect concrete (and steel), same as tile, wood, VCT, or any other type of flooring.

It is very easy to repair. Scarify damaged area and re-apply in most cases.

Prep is fairly simple. Grinding a floor is not hard with the right tools.

There are a lot of lesser quality products out there and I think that's why a lot of failures are found. It also could be something as simple as a formulation issue from the manufacturer or maybe it was applied incorrectly. These things do happen.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

I don't want this post to become a bashing thread. I was just stating how my luck went. I have seen a lot of nice floors. I'm going to fill building and whatever is seen will be smootgd with a DA and then fixed. My supplier did all he could do. Even on weekends and holidays.

 

[kd3pc]

Dave M

Dave D, here and I my luck is like yours. "a man has to know his limits" and I have learned that for things I do, things often go wrong and I try to have plan B, and plan C and WHEN they all fail, I have learned to just deal with it.

Best of luck, and perhaps some day our luck will change.

 

[Bogey won]

After reading many threads,and really liking the look,if i do my floor i think it will be the paint instead of epoxy,too many horror stories,even tho a fren has a very large shop done,and it looks great.

Guess i don't have the patience for the prep and the cost,so its paint or tile,and my jacks are always dragging a wheel,so it stays as is or gets sumpn that i can touch up and move on.

Do i love a garage mahall,u bet,and i have desire for one,but in the end my 400sq ft,is a working space,and a reasonable price and a quick touch up,is more desirable at the moment.

Race deck is still in question but the price is a bit high for what i want to spend.$400 bucks maybe is what i would be willing to lay out.A nice floor is one of my fondest desires,but,function over form sometimes.

Kudos to the duck,a devils advocate is not always a bad thing,gets the brain to churn and hopefully choose whats best as the floor in somewhat of a fashion is an investment,in time,money,expectations,any of us hate to be disappointed.Nothings 100 percent my pard says,so we struggle with the outcome,best to ya.

 

[EpoxyCoat2]

Well after a long time getting ready to epoxy floor. It looks like ****. Gas outs all over. Primer was a waste I guess. I can get pics to work as usual. If you want to seevth I can email somebody and they can post

You can apply a clear coat over the top to fill in the pits from the outgassing. There is prep work that needs to be done, and it will cost more money, but it will give you an overall smooth finish. Sorry to hear that you had outgassing.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

This particular floor having a history with the finishing may have been extra-ordinarily porous and therefore the primer did not "fill" the pores to the extent that is standard.

Nevertheless, Kayla made a good suggestion regarding the pits and with a bit more work this can be turned around.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Got 3000 s/f to sand. Whole floor did it. Just going to have to use it. Out of time. Will sand and try something different in future. Storage building now for awhile.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Maybe a bad batch. Never know. With my luck I should have just went with a cheap brand. This wouldn't be so painful then.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

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[Dave Maxwell]

Holy crud. I got it to work

 

[BabaGanoosh]

Dave: what do you mean you got it to work? Are you saying the problem is fixed?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

The picture. I have troubles posting pics

 

[Trey T]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I had outgassing but not nearly anything like that, maybe like 5-6 bubbles, and I couldve prevented it.

Are those bubble from the concrete gassing or from the rolled-bubble and chemical reaction?If it's from the concrete, you'll see the hole. If it does not have the hole, those bubble came from when you mixed the batch or rolled it.

What many ppl don't understand is that gas bubble form not from from the concrete but from the epoxy application process. Primer is not a guaranteed product that will seal the concrete 100% but I believe it will minimize the outgassing.

Unfortunately, there's no easy way of repairing that w/o leveling down each crater individually. I've done it on my garage but nothing compare to that. I believe even if you lay the clear coat down, you'll have those crater in place and the floor will be bumpy all over w/ those crater.

If that was my floor, I would leave it alone. Your floor is still much more protected and durable than it was before.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Not sure where the gas is coming from. The pad is completely isolated from the ground. 2 inch foam board under and around. Someone said methane is why I wondered

 

[tncatadjuster]

That looks like there was air blowing over the floor during cure. IT can be saved, I have had several in the same condition in the last 30 years.

Good luck, it looks like a nice floor, hang in there.

 

[amberjack1234]

Dave, the floor DARN good except for the bubbles. I certainly would have to at least make one attempt to make it good. If course I don't know your situation as you said that you were out of time. Terrible shame. I don't have any advice at all except that I would have to try again. I have never done one yet but I am getting close. The building inspector came today and give me the last nod on the building so I am done with them now.

 

[Trey T]

tcatadjuster: what's your method to repair the bubble craters?

 

[tncatadjuster]

That would depend on how much traffic it has received and other things.. but a good start is a pack of razor blades and clean hands; cut the bubble off flush and solvent wipe after each, buff dry and go to the next one.
Then clear it with compatible topcoat.

Sounds like a lot of work and it is, but that floor looks good, just got caught by one of the many things that can go wrong.

If it's seen traffic then screen the entire thing, blow and coat.

I would be very proud of doing that floor, the bubbles are just that, bubbles, the coating now has roots for sure.

The capillaries being exposed by properly opening the surface is a good sign, I still think it was windy or a fan was involved.

By the way I know you know there are craters there now, but six months you will have to look hard to find them if you do nothing at all. There is a issue with chemical resistance but not from any other point of view than esthetic, roll with it if you want.

 

[Trey T]

That's what I thought but that's not very economical to repair it individually like that. I had under 10 craters in a 450sq-ft garage and it took about 30min to do w/ a knife, rough stone to level, and clean the surface.

Besides, the next step is to determine if those craters were caused by concrete outgassing holes or not. If it is, then it may continue to outgas when clear applied, especially during this season when it's hot/warm.

It appears that he has about 100 times more bubbles than I did. That would take about a full work week schedule (40-50hrs) to repair, and the cost would be anywhere from $800-$1000. Mind as well diamabrush it for about two hrs ($20-$50/hr) plus rental then pretty much start over.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I not sure what your calling out gassing, the reason there is a bubble is that the epoxy was pulled by gravity into the capillary and the air has to go somewhere, the coating had started to skim over and then the bubble is formed. If the skim is starting to set up or air is blowing over it you get big bubbles. There is no positive pressure of a gas on the floor, just displaced air.

Or that is what I have experienced in the hundreds of floors that I have applied.

 

[DENALIAKITAS]

Which legacy industrial products exactly did you use?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

I have been scraping them flush with a razor blade on edge. Just keep scraping the top till its smooth. Tried cutting but I cut a piece of epoxy out with it. I have 3000 s/f. To work on. Time is because this floor was suppose to be done last year but guy screwed up the pour. I am paying mortgage on my other house until I can clean out my garage there. Then sale. Should I use 5 minute epoxy to make the holes smooth before reclear. I'm reclearing it no matter what. Too many roller marks for me. Used a 3/8 nap. Trying a 1/4 this time. I also couldn't see what I was puting down with the clear. I used the SD pro package

 

[Dave Maxwell]

What do you mean by screen it?

 

[Dave Maxwell]

 

[Quijote]

Damn, that's no garage, that's a hangar!

 

[Dave Maxwell]

42x72 is all. Can't wait to get second floor up

 

[tncatadjuster]

What do you mean by screen it?

When hardwood refinishers sand a floor for re-coat, they use a sandpaper that resembles window screen. It has oxide adhered to it and allows the dust that is produced a place to escape. That industry calls this "screening".

I have found that is the best method to prepare a new epoxy floor for re-coating.

It would be the way to prepare this floor, now that you have mentioned that there are roller marks. The screening will prepare the surface and remove the bubbles and marks to the point they are covered by the next coat.

I think a man should be able to screen this floor in one day. Buy plenty of screens and rent a low speed sander if possible, heat is your enemy. If you buy one or two screens per section, replace screens often, even though you might not think they are needed.

Hoping this turns back to the point your happy.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Hand sand then with that material

 

[Dave Maxwell]

Like what I used on drywall it sounds. What grit?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Dave, you can rent a wood floor machine that uses these screens. Call around. This is the same process a floor refinisher goes through prior to recoating a wood floor.


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[Dave Maxwell]

Cool. Will check. Was going to use my DA sander with fine grit

 

[Trey T]

I used 80 grit sand mesh for drywall to level my bubble craters. That was slow and I stepped up using a Dremel w/ stone attachment.

When I was fixing my bubble craters, I learned that epoxy is one hell of durable material.

 

[Dave Maxwell]

I'm going to move my stuff in and try to leave middle open. Stuff on sides will have equipment and stuff on it

 

[Notgrownup]

The DA will be good with 80 grit for spot sand like on the bubbles, the screen will give better adhesion for the whole floor...