FREE!!!!! RockSolid Floors Polyurea Gray Kit's

[mbalka]

Part two of the installation. Now the "glamour shots." The polyurea was really thick and took some time to get spread out. May have had something to do with the temp at time of application, which was at the low end of Citadel's recommendations (40 or so outside, 65 inside with heat. I'm sure the slab was closer to 40 than 65.) But having expansion joints helped with judging how far the stuff was supposed to spread.

Here's that same shot from the steps earlier showing the sill plate, now coated and sealed. Just a little shadow of a bump there now, but it is totally hidden anyway.
View media item 7527
A shot of the bay that houses the diesel pickup. I did not elect to use the gloss topcoat; just the basecoat after assurance that it would have a good bit of gloss on its own. Man, were they right. It is pretty glossy by itself. The down side may be long term durability, because I tend to really bang stuff around in my shop, but we'll see over time.
View media item 7526
This is the shot of the side where Mrs' Murano goes. It doesn't get beat up like my side, but I tend to roll the tools, jacks, boxes over there rather than jockey cars, mostly out of laziness, so it will get some abuse too. She gets that side 'cuz its close to the steps.
View media item 7528
Here's a good closeup of the amount of flake I used. Not much, just enough to trick your eye into ignoring the imperfections in the pour of the slab. I really like a floor with no chip; makes it so much easier to find what you dropped, as I tend to do at the most inopportune time, but the chip does look better over a wide area. You can also see just a bit of what looks like orange peel at the doorway. Those are fiberglass strands that poked up after the etch. I wasn't at the house when they poured the slab, so I didn't know they strand reinforced it. But I will say that the poly flowed for what seemed forever and the strands kind of got "sucked" back into suspension, similiar to powder coating. You can't tell what they are, but they look a little orange-peely in a few minor places. I could have knocked them down with some sandpaper or grinding, but I was under a time constraint to get this done in a three day stretch.
View media item 7529
Now the homage to my Cornwell guy, Joe. Here is the garage all put back together and in use for a week now. The floor is looking great, cleans up all the road grime and salt with a damp mop, and reflects a ton of light to brighten things up. As I told the guys at Citadel, I am really pleased with the results. I am partial to other colors besides gray, but it is growing on me.
View media item 7530
Now next week I will start working on the shop next door. Smaller area, so I should be able to knock that out easier than this one. Hopefully, I'll get shots of that area up in a couple of weeks.

MB

 

[mbalka]

Here is part three, the info that Citadel wanted in the survey. Again, guys if you're doing one of these installations, send them your honest opinions, not mine. I'm putting this out there for all the guys who didn't see the surveys.


Here are the survey details:

1. Temperature at time of install- 42 degrees outside, 65 inside with supplemental heat

2. Ounces of remaining product- unknown because the second phase is not complete, but we have 625 square feet in the completed area, and out of five shipped kits, we have a little over two and a quarter kits remaining. I think the quantity and application rates are right on the money.

3. Concrete condition- good surface, fiber reinforced. Mild oil staining, but not saturated. Very few divots, well troweled.

4. Instructions easy to follow- yes. My mistake was to watch the youtube application videos which were oriented to a two-part product, with very short working time. Made us mistakenly think our window of application was limited. Had I not watched that and just followed the printed instructions we would have been crystal clear.

5. How to improve instructions- I would point out that the single component is very, very thick and requires a bit of working to get the correct coverage rate. I can see how a DIY'er would over apply and then run out of product. Also, I would point out that a roller head any thicker than the Jen provided would not yield the same results--those foam roller heads are not available around here for sale. All the foam roller heads here are much thicker than the 1/4 inch or so of the one shipped, and they would tear later in the application as you work out the product.

6. Any surprises inside? Not really, although I knew to expect bag packaging of the product. That might take some consumers by surprise. I saw that another GJ member had packaging failure in shipping, but mine arrived fine. Also, there are no lot numbers on the individual packages; normally over larger areas you want the same lot number for compatibility and color match. Perhaps that is not an issue with this product?

7. Something else I wish was included? I would have liked to see an additional roller head, given how hard they are to find around here. Even the Porter and Sherwin Williams branded stores don't have them, which is surprising.

8. How did the etch work? Exactly as the documentation stated it would. Mild fizz, low odor, cleaned the concrete very well after two applications of degreaser.

9. Did I like working with the pouch? Yes; it made getting all the product out much easier than having to spatula it out of an irregular container considering its viscosity. However, it makes judging volume a little harder because the pouch doesn't have a "fixed" shape to judge volume by. I am sure it is much more economical to market, as well, which can cut down on cost.

10. Pouch remained intact and sealed during shipping: Yes. However, as I mentioned, I saw photos of another GJ member who was not as fortunate.

11. Was I able to apply the product according to the instructions easily: It took a while to get the hang of working the product out to the correct thickness for the square footage. Primarily due to heavy viscosity, but I think I was successful. I did notice at the end of the area the roller head wanted to "walk" off the roller, maybe because the product was beginning to thicken due to curing? We had to repeatedly reseat the roller head on the roller right at the end, while using the M and W patterns to spread coating.

12. The most difficult part of the installation: judging the thickness of application to be sure enough product will last for the area. The viscosity has alot to do with this, and it just took some time to figure it out. And if too much goes on in too thick an area, will you get offgassing and solvent pop like a paint application? Not sure.

13. What surprised you during application: how well the coating flowed out after being rolled out. My concrete has lots of fiberglass hairs from the embedded strand, and you wouldn't know it after the fact. The coating just smoothed all those hairs right back into suspension and the chip seemed to get pulled into the coating after casting it, like the surface tension was almost negative-sort of like powder coating but with a liquid.

14. Did the product cover the required square footage? yes, but we were guessing with the mil thickness for the first pouch until we saw where we would be in comparison to how the garage is segmented. Like I said earlier, the pouch is easier to get all product out, like a toothpaste tube, but volume is hard to judge. Won't have any problems for the second application, though. Now we know.

15. How long did it take to walk on? I walked on it about 12 hours later, albeit in sock feet. Floor wasn't tacky, but I was fearful of scuffs and scrapes in the coating before a full, adequate cure, so no shoes.

16. How simple was the process: If you can mop, squeegee, and paint with a roller, you can do this. You be the judge of your own skillset.

17. Did I install myself: Yes, but my dad helped etch and he cut in the edges while I rolled.

18. What do I like most about the finished product? The surprisingly glossy finish; how well the finish trapped the fiberglass hairs and flowed out; how much light the coating reflects now. It really makes the garage look much cleaner.

19. How easy is it to clean? So far, it just mops up like linoleum tiles. We'll see with some longevity if it abrades and loses its gloss; hopefully it retains most of it forever.

20. How durable is it? Well, that is hard to say. However, I did move an upright freezer, a refrigerator, a set of stairs, metal shelving, and the vehicles back in the garage after 72 hours and didn't scratch the floor anywhere that I am aware of. I did use cardboard and appliance dollies to move them around. All in all, for virgin flooring and working on it for an afternoon, I am pleased thus far.

21. How does it look and feel? very smooth, actually. Nice gloss; the photos speak for themselves!

22. How does it meet or exceed my expectations? Well, this isn't quite a fair question considering what I paid for the product. Any positive attribute would please me considering I just paid for shipping. But I will say that I am considering purchasing the product at retail pricing for my father in law's garage and installing it for him. I think it is an excellent value, but a little pricey. I am really glad that the fiberglass is totally disguised in the coating after raising them with the etch. It really gave our garage a high end, finished look that you would find in a custom home or luxury auto shop.

23. Would I recommend it to a friend? Absolutely. The only caveat would be price.

24. Would I do a short promo for Rock Solid Floors? Sure would.

All the folks at Citadel/Rock Solid were eager to answer questions quickly and everyone was friendly to deal with. A great team of guys. I would deal with them again just over customer service, probably. So there you have it. What do you guys think?

MB

 

[56nash]

I am still waiting for mine to arrive, but that has been a mixed blessing. We have much bigger problems with our floor than I thought. Our garage floor is the ceiling for my second garage on the lower level and has some issues with cracking and popping of significant areas. 45 years of road salt damage. Hopefully all our patching will be done by the time it arrives. We are paying storage offsite for one of the collector cars, I hope we will be done by the end of Feb. Another month storage payment would ****. We hope to have our patching materials in hand and have it patched and ready to install the finish the next weekend after that. Our install is more than just for cosmetics, we have got to do something to prevent further damage.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I am still waiting for mine to arrive, but that has been a mixed blessing. We have much bigger problems with our floor than I thought. Our garage floor is the ceiling for my second garage on the lower level and has some issues with cracking and popping of significant areas. 45 years of road salt damage. Hopefully all our patching will be done by the time it arrives. We are paying storage offsite for one of the collector cars, I hope we will be done by the end of Feb. Another month storage payment would ****. We hope to have our patching materials in hand and have it patched and ready to install the finish the next weekend after that. Our install is more than just for cosmetics, we have got to do something to prevent further damage.

Make sure you send some pics of your patching.

 

[56nash]

I am planning to post a start to finish on this mess, from the **** filled first picture to the empty space and the repair and finish and finally putting things together to make it a nice workspace.

 

[rhude968]

Great write up MB. I wouldn't be surprised if they call you to do a spot on an infomercial.
Your garage looks fantastic.

I noted several comments on the thick and heavy viscosity of this product. What would you recommend to a first time user to help him overcome using too much too little product?

 

[mbalka]

A couple of after-the-fact tips: Use the roller head they give you. In fact, get two or three from them. I couldn't find them locally and used a foam roller head from a box store. What a joke it was. Went through three generics in a space half the size of the original that took one roller head. Also make sure the temperature of the area you're coating is in the neighborhood of 55 degrees at the floor. I noticed in the shop I just did with the temps higher, around 70, the coating was a little more difficult to spread thin. I think the cooler temp really helped it stay pliable longer. But no matter how you put it down, I found you really had to work it out with the W and M patterns to get it thin enough. Once you use it you'll see what I mean.

MB

 

[PaulR]

Great write up!! Thank you Mbalka!

 

[kywildcat]

A couple of after-the-fact tips: Use the roller head they give you. In fact, get two or three from them. I couldn't find them locally and used a foam roller head from a box store. What a joke it was. Went through three generics in a space half the size of the original that took one roller head. Also make sure the temperature of the area you're coating is in the neighborhood of 55 degrees at the floor. I noticed in the shop I just did with the temps higher, around 70, the coating was a little more difficult to spread thin. I think the cooler temp really helped it stay pliable longer. But no matter how you put it down, I found you really had to work it out with the W and M patterns to get it thin enough. Once you use it you'll see what I mean.

MB

How do you think it will do with a floor temp or 35 to 40 degrees?? Also I may have missed it in your post, but did you put the product directly on the floor or did you use a roller pan??

 

[J_T_P]

I was under the impression that the RockSolid product was an polyurea product and NOT a polyaspartic.

Someone please clarify.

 

[mbalka]

JTP- it is a polyurea. I taught my spell check the word polyaspartic and not polyurea. I must have left polyaspartic in the posts. Sorry for the confusion.
Temps for my application were in the 50-60 degree ambient range, and I think the slab temp was lower than that. I think it would be ok with the temperature around thirty. I poured it into a tray and then rolled it out. I thought it would be simpler than pouring it on the floor and easier to transition sections.

MB

 

[Cruzin90]

A polyaspartic is a type of polyurea. It's an aliphatic moisture cure polyurea.

Instead of a foam roller pad, you can use a pad made of Dralon. A common store brand is Purdy. Typical thickness is 3/8".

 

[mbalka]

Here are the photos of the workshop I completed last weekend. I was surprised to see the color of this side a little more blue than that of the other are I coated. However, I like it just as well.

Before the floor was cleaned and etched:
View media item 7677
Another from a different angle:
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One final shot at the back door, sorry about the camera quality. Must have a dirty lens and I didn't see it until now:
View media item 7675
Now after:
View media item 7680
And one more, I see, with dirty footprints in it. ****!
View media item 7678
Again, I must say that I am pleased so far with this stuff. Makes a world of difference in my garage and shop. We'll see how well it holds up over time.

MB

 

[kywildcat]

It does have a blue tint to it, but it looks real nice. I wonder what the difference was? Its a good thing the two areas are seperate, that may have been a problem.

 

[kywildcat]

Here are some picture of my ROCK SOLID Floor installation today. I am very happy with it, it turned out great. I will post a detailed post on how it went, but I still have to go out tonight and apply the top coat on the main garage. I will tell you that it whipped my ***.........and Im still not done.

 

[kywildcat]

Here are few more shots. I dont know how to caption each picture.....sorry!

 

[kywildcat]

I finished my ROCK SOLID floor last night. This really is a major undertaking as far as Im concerned. I acid etched the 24x36 garage on Friday, and that wasn't to bad because the floor was new, with no stains or oil. It did have some Kentucky red clay from the cars, but it came up easily. The acid even took off some of the clay that I couldn't see after I cleaned it.
It took several attempts on ROCK SOLIDS part to get me a good product. The first two shipments had major packaging problems, and the third shipment was in cans, and it hardened before I used it. Finally the fourth shipment came in gallon containers, and had a quart can of tint. There were no instructions with this shippment so I had to call Adam for advice. He told me the way to measure out the tint to get the same colors in each batch.
It is had to figure out how much product to use when you first start out, and I started out a little light before I realized it was going to flow out better than I thought. I did just how they said to do it, by cutting in the sides in and rolling 4x4 sections. I added the flake to each section as I went. The back rolling is very important because it gives the floor a consistant look. It took almost 5 hours to roll out all the base and put down the flakes. I waited about 7 hours for the floor to set up, and I may could have done it in 6, but I wanted to make sure. I applied the clear coat in the same manner as the base coat. It is VERY hard to see the clear coat as you are rolling it out, but again its just a matter of time before you can figure out what you're doing.
There is a good gloss to base coat, and the flakes stick good to it. The flakes kind of stick up out the base, which will help in traction issues. The clear coat seals the flakes in, but it still seems like it will have plenty of tracktion on it. I haven't gotten it wet yet, so that part remains to be seen.
Adam and Bruce were extremely helpful in my application, and belive me you will have some questions. Bruce was so customer friendly, and my hat is off to him for all his help.
ROCK SOLID went out of there way for me, because of packaging problems, and shelf life of the product, I did have several issues. I will submit my survey to Adam in the next day or so, and if he chooses to post it here, that's fine by me.
I cant' speak of durablity yet, but the product worked fine, and looks great. I will post in a few months on what I find out about the durablity. If anybody wants to pm me and ask anything, please feel free. Thanks again ROCK SOLID!!!!

 

[Frank The Plumber]

What can you do to make me feel better about using a product that is based upon polyurea? What kind of emissions am I looking at with this product both initial and long term? What kind of protection is My Grandmother going to need to wear to install this product? Are the emissions from this product home safe?, or is this product a garage only application? Does this product contain formaldehyde? Thank you.

 

[kywildcat]

I only used it in the garage and the base coat did not have much of a odor, you can smell it but it wasnt bad. The top coat had more of a smell, and I did it a night, with a window open in the garage. I did not wear any type of respirator for either application.
The garage was closed up all night, and I wasn't overwhelmed this morning when I opend it up today. I cant answer about the foraldehyde, you would have to contact ROCK SOLID. I dont think many grandmothers will be installing this, but that is somebody else's call.

 

[56nash]

what was your slab temp when you applied? I hope I am doing mine this next weekend. How dry was your clearcoat a day later?

 

[kywildcat]

what was your slab temp when you applied? I hope I am doing mine this next weekend. How dry was your clearcoat a day later?

I dont know the slab temp at the time of install. It was 45 degrees inside when I started, and about 65 when I finished. The clear coat dried with in 8 to 10 hours and I could walk on it.

 

[Aspen RT]

Wow, those floors look good, I like the shine. Now to see how well it stands up to every day use and abuse.

 

[kywildcat]

Aspen........not one of the above pictures have the clear coat added yet. As you can see the base coat does shine, but you should see them now........looks like a glass floor. I will get some more pics up tomorrow

 

[56nash]

I look forward to the pics with clear coat, things look great so far.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Can we still get in on this?

My garage..

-Nigel

 

[Value]

I saw Rock Solid Floors at Lowes today. Can I use this stuff over my existing POR 15 floor?
POR 15 is similar in chemical composition to Rock Solid. Anyway can I get a sample to try over my POR 15? My POR 15 doesn't hold up to hot wet tire pick-up. Hot wet tires which are allowed to cool over the POR 15 causes the rubber to adhere to the POR 15.

I was hoping Rock Solid's composition being similar to POR 15 would save me from sanding off the POR 15. I had used a diamond sander/grinder prior to placing my POR 15 and etched the concrete as well.

 

[kywildcat]

What is POR 15?

 

[kywildcat]

Sorry Nash.....no pics this weekend. Ended up in Tampa to watch Kentucky play in the NCAA. Ill get them up them up soon.

GO CATS!!!!!

 

[kywildcat]

What can you do to make me feel better about using a product that is based upon polyurea? What kind of emissions am I looking at with this product both initial and long term? What kind of protection is My Grandmother going to need to wear to install this product? Are the emissions from this product home safe?, or is this product a garage only application? Does this product contain formaldehyde? Thank you.

Do you have some kind of reason to be skeptical about this floor? I see most posts of new floors get great comments, but mine didnt get any. I have looked at all the floors here, and this one looks good as any. I cant speak of the wear yet, but I will tell you about it either way in a few months after its has had traffic on it. Hey, Im thicked skinned, tell me what you think!!!

 

[GLoomis]

Do you have some kind of reason to be skeptical about this floor? I see most posts of new floors get great comments, but mine didnt get any. I have looked at all the floors here, and this one looks good as any. I cant speak of the wear yet, but I will tell you about it either way in a few months after its has had traffic on it. Hey, Im thicked skinned, tell me what you think!!!

I gotta say, you did an amazing job. Looks perfect to me. I am looking at doing my garage here soon (22 x 23) and your floor is exactly what I want to do. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[scooter1979]

I have a 40 year old home with a 5 car attached garage. The original owner painted the floor green (why i do not know) I pressure washed the floor a got rid of most of the paint. Here is the problem. I have a sissor lift and the wheel is solid steel. When raising it rolls along floor. i know prep is the most important part of any job. But do you think your product would work

 

[kywildcat]

A Couple more pics. This is the first time I have put the car in the garage since floor was completed. I chose to let it sit for two weeks before I put it in there. I know I could have put in the next day, as it was dry already.....but I waited anyway. You can see where I drove in through mud, and you can also see how easy I could mop it up. I took one pic with full tire tracks and one where I ran a mop across...........so EASY to clean up. Also the traction on the floor is so much better than I had hoped, I'm wearing tennis shoes, and no slipping at all. I'm glad I passed on the silica sand in the top coat for sure.
I can see a few places I missed on the top coat. You have to get down low and look across the floor to see it. I will be contacting Bruce or Adam to see how I can fix this. It should be easy as I have some top coat left.

It would not let me add pics. I got this error msg:


Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing
If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error.

 

[kywildcat]

Whoops!!

 

[rickairmedic]

Wildcat give Bull a shout he should be able to tell you whats up with the pictures.


Rick

 

[kywildcat]

http://s1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/kywildcat1/

 

[56nash]

Looks great!! I hope to be rolling my base coat in about 2 hours. This whole project is making me tired. Keep us updated on the rest of the garage as you work more.

 

[56nash]

Well we didn't start when we hoped to, so the alarm is set to be up at 1:30 AM to put down the clear.

 

[kywildcat]

OUCH!! How did the base coat turn out??

 

[56nash]

we got the base down and were done with that by 8:45 and went out to eat with friends. The base coat covered evenly and looked good until we got up in the middle of the night. Our slab has had various repairs done over the years by previous owners, and even with grinding it did not take the finish evenly. I have some blotchy areas but compared to the disaster I started with I could not be happier. The product goes down well with nice even coverage, the chip we found was not as easy to get even than we thought it would be. The clear was a breeze to put on, very smooth and even roll out, self levels well. Now I look forward to going out and building out the rest of the garage. The past while it has been a chore to go out and work on getting to this stage, now I think it will be a more enjoyable process from here forward. Huge milestone has been passed.

 

[fletch33]

Now that it is warmer can we get in this deal? If so I will PM asap

Up here in Chicago, there are no stores that carry your kit to try. Wife and I are looking to finally coat the garage floor

Tired of power washing every spring after the salt so that I can work under my car.