Floor temps for coating question

[Mr. D]

I'm in North Alabama and while we have mild winters the temps do get low during Jan-Feb-Mar. Looking at the various brands of epoxy coatings both GJ sponsors and Big Box stores looks like I need at least 60 degrees of outside air and floor temp to coat my floor.

Am I screwed till spring? Really don't want to wait that long to get this garage makeover project going.

Thanks
Dennis

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

North of 50 degrees is fine for most products in this category.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I'm in North Alabama and while we have mild winters the temps do get low during Jan-Feb-Mar. Looking at the various brands of epoxy coatings both GJ sponsors and Big Box stores looks like I need at least 60 degrees of outside air and floor temp to coat my floor.

Am I screwed till spring? Really don't want to wait that long to get this garage makeover project going.

Thanks
Dennis

50 degrees on our Polyurea. You can do epoxy at that temperature but it slows way down in terms of cure.

 

[Mr. D]

For now I'm hard pressed to get north of 45 and the floor is less than that I'm guessing.


So, if press on with concrete prep as in cleaning, grinding, acid etch Etc. will that last until warmer weather?

 

[Mr. D]

I bought this house back in August and told myself than I needed to get this done BEFORE I moved anything in but that didn't happen.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Don’t pre-prep. Wait until you can coat.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mr. D]

Don’t pre-prep. Wait until you can coat.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

**Paging Legacy Industrial**

OK so no pre-prep.

I started down this road by getting a local retail quote for an epoxy coating with flake and that came in at $4,000 for 600 sqft so that was a non starter for me anyway.

Next I research the same products from a DIY standpoint and found those to be about $1,000 plus floor prep cost.

To be honest my end game goal all along was to have a grayish color floor and I didn't really care about decorative flakes or a multi step process for applying the product.

I notice your company has a product called Hellfire that can be applied in temps down to 35 deg F that is a single component. Sounds like this is what I need to achieve a gray floor in colder temps. Pictures on your web site look great.

I'm pretty hard on my garage floors and feel that a decorative flake system would just get trashed over the years. Just need something that looks nice and cleans up well.

Also I have never been a huge fan of non-skid, does this product get real slippery when wet? My floor doesn't really get wet, if it's raining I just close the door. Car doesn't go in and out if its raining.

Thanks
Dennis

 

[EricVonHa]

In using a commercial grade product from any of the vendors here, you'll be fine in terms of longevity provided the floor is properly prepped prior to the application.

The flake or anti-skid additions, to me, hides the dirt better than using a solid color.

You'll appreciate the anti-skid if you ever had any fluid on an epoxy floor. It might as well be ice if there is no anti-skid. The flake is a cosmetic condition where the anti-skid is more functional.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast for an upcoming weekend project where it's a little warmer and you'll be fine. If you have any way to put a space heater in the garage and get it up around 50 degrees or so, I think you will be happier. It's no fun dealing with chemicals when your hands are cold.

Last tidbit, take the advice of the flooring vendors here and stay away from the Home Depot and Lowe's products. If you want something that will be extremely durable and last for a decade, use a commercial grade product NOT from the big box stores. The Lowe's or Home Depot Rust-Oleum 2 part epoxy will suffer premature breakdown because their chemical composition is light-duty and geared for basic garage use

Another quick tidbit, if you want to go the anti-skid route is to talk to a local pool installation contractor. They will know where to buy quartz locally for adhering to the epoxied concrete.

If you were anywhere near the Philadelphia area I have about 200 lb of blue quartz with t size black pepper. Looks pretty phenomenal. This is all of the stuff that was vacuumed off after saturating the 2nd epoxy layer.

 

[TheLurker]

**Paging Legacy Industrial**

...I'm pretty hard on my garage floors and feel that a decorative flake system would just get trashed over the years. Just need something that looks nice and cleans up well...

Both of mine look good but I did both in mid-summer (because I'm a glutton for punishment).

One is 6 months old. One is going on 4 years old.

The urethane top coat does wonders for keeping everything looking nice.

 

[Mr. D]

Both of mine look good but I did both in mid-summer (because I'm a glutton for punishment).

One is 6 months old. One is going on 4 years old.

The urethane top coat does wonders for keeping everything looking nice.

Lurker

Did you use Epoxy or Polyurea Coating?