Flexmar Polyaspartic Floor Smell Day 5

[garageman921381]

Polyaspartic Floor, Still Smells on Day 5 - Normal?

Had a new polyaspartic 2-part flake floor installed in my attached garage last week by a local company who is very reputable and does about 500 of these installs per year (5-star ratings everywhere, installers and sales rep seemed really sharp). Slab for the garage is about 4 months old with no previous floor system on top, just a concrete sealer. Vendor did a good grind, put down the Flexmar base coat and let cure for a bit, added a few boxes of flake let cure for ~1.5 hours, and then did the Flexmar top coat. Whole house smelled that day but I'd say the smell went down by 50% by the evening. Garage has a front and back overhead door and both were open for the install (outside temp ~32 F). Doors kept ~2ft open for next 5 days except for one night where I cranked up the garage heaters to 70 to make sure I got a good cure. During the day, I tried to keep the doors open all the way for max airflow. Fast forward to today (5 days later), and when I close the garage doors the space still has a very strong smell (just like when the install was done).

Spec sheet for Flexmar says it can be installed in low temps and has a very short cure period. Sales rep says floor is fully cured at this point. Not really sure where the smell is coming from. Garage had no smell prior to install.

I knew it would have some smell and it would take some time, but am I being unrealistic that the smell would be gone after nearly a week? Anyone have thoughts/advice? Literature says that the smell isn't harmful (zero VOC and all) but I am sensitive to these things and it is bugging me. Something must be off gassing to make the smell (so I am also curious what chemical the smell actually is). Tempted to make the vendor grind it all off if this doesn't stop soon but I also don't want to be impatient.

All opinions welcome. Thanks in advance!
gM

 

[egdede]

I researched this issue as to epoxies. As to epoxies; fully cured does not mean an end to out-gassing

 

[timtimtim]

There are plenty of threads here documenting lingering smells, search. Personally, mine lasted weeks upon weeks, eventually I bought an ozone generator and that worked after having many thoughts of grinding the coating off.

 

[Shea]

One of the common denominators with most of these lingering smells with the fast curing coatings is application during very low temps. While these type of coatings do indeed cure very fast, the cold temps slow that process down.

I believe what is happening is that the installers are not waiting long enough for the base coat to cure sufficiently. An additional 30 minutes to an hour can make a big difference. When they apply the top coat, they trap the remaining solvent fumes from the base coat and it takes weeks for those fumes to escape. In some of these cases the coating had to be removed because the base coat never cured.

 

[garageman921381]

Thank you all! Woke up this morning and the smell was gone. Appreciate the advice.

 

[Garage Flooring]

For the next guy or gal:

1. Ventilation
2. What Shea said. Increase your time between coats.
3. Ventilation
4. Make sure walls and ceilings are primed or painted first. Reduce the likelihood of the odor soaking into anything.
5. Did I mention ventilation?
6. Understand what you are dealing with. A 70% solids product contains 30% solvents. Those solvents stink and they have to go someplace. That takes time and.... you guessed it ventilation

 

[ducatithunder]

For the next guy or gal:

1. Ventilation
2. What Shea said. Increase your time between coats.
3. Ventilation
4. Make sure walls and ceilings are primed or painted first. Reduce the likelihood of the odor soaking into anything.
5. Did I mention ventilation?
6. Understand what you are dealing with. A 70% solids product contains 30% solvents. Those solvents stink and they have to go someplace. That takes time and.... you guessed it ventilation

With regards to line 6 ... is it better to do this coating prior to drywall? Or is the smell more likely to soak into the framing then? Thanks.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Re: Polyaspartic Floor, Still Smells on Day 5 - Normal?

I would do it after walls finished


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[Mbrant]

I am new to this forum, found it in researching odor issues after epoxy base/polyaspartic topcoat install by local contractor with great reputation/references. I am having bad odor issues after 4 months of non stop ventilation.

I put my floor down in Dec. right as temps in Memphis dropped from 50s~60s to 40s and stayed there all winter. My garage is below living space that has the smell in it as well.

Thinking about the Ozone generator as a last resort before grinding it off, but keep reading cautions concerning use of ozone generator if you are not aware of what the reactions may be. Seeing how I allowed my "reputable" contractor to talk me into doing this install in below 40 degree temps as my first mistake, I do not want to walk blindly into another mistake. Contractor won't even return calls at this point, trying to be as nice as I can and do not want to end up in court, would rather **** it up and deal with it myself. Any advise anyone may have is welcome.