Going to apply Rust Bullet this weekend

[fehren2800]

So I had spent the previous week cleaning and preparing my garage floor for the application of Rust Bullet coating. I have an unsealed concrete floor that had been poured last fall and I spent the winter insulating, hanging drywall, wiring, building door frames etc in the garage. There was a good amount of construction dust that I vacuumed up and dug out of all the saw cut control joints.

I then started scrubbing and washing the floor and had a few spots where some locust leaves got buried under the surface. So I chipped them out and wire brushed the loose material away. I then washed and rinsed the floor again and let it dry for a few days. I used this http://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-215173-EPOXYShield-Concrete-24-Ounce/dp/B0008JHBD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440204388&sr=8-1&keywords=rustoleum+epoxy+shield+concrete+patch
to patch the small divots from the leaves. Afterwards I ground the spots smooth and washed and rinsed one final time last Sunday.

I put a temp and humidity gauge in there and right now I'm at 51% humidity and 72 degrees. Tomorrow and the next day the weather should be in the 70's and humidity under 70% from 9am to 11pm. So I'm going to try and get the base coat and second coat with flake on tomorrow and then the 2 coats of clear on Sunday. Hopefully that is enough dry time if I start at 9am.

My only other question is I have saw cut control joints 1" deep over a radiant heated floor so there is no freezing and thawing going on. I am still on the fence about what to do with the cuts. I don't want to fill them with RB and waste a bunch of material, but I also don't want to leave them open. I have heard of using sand or screen spline to fill the gaps and then just go over it.

I was thinking about rolling right over it and not filling the cuts but letting some RB roll down in there and fill them in after the floor is done with caulking? Any thoughts?

 

[Shea]

I was thinking about rolling right over it and not filling the cuts but letting some RB roll down in there and fill them in after the floor is done with caulking?

This method works well and is less expensive than filling them properly and coating over them. After the floor has cured, fill the joint with clean silica sand or play sand up to 3/8" from the top of the joint. Then fill the joint with a self-leveling joint sealer like SikaFlex.

Filling the joint to coat over it requires using an epoxy or polyurea joint filler that cures hard yet has a higher elongation rate in order to flex in case there is movement in the joint. If it doesn't flex enough, a new crack in the joint can cause the coating to crack directly above. These fillers are much more expensive and require grinding the joint after it is filled so that the joint does not telegraph through the coating.

In case you are wondering, self-leveling sealers like SikaFlex are not paintable and you can't sand them.

 

[Gcrop]

Good luck. I was able to do 3 coats of RB (no flake or clear) in one day but my temps and humidity were well above your conditions.

As for my expansion joints, I just let some RB in there when I was cutting in the edges of the garage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Garage Flooring]

One thing we have noticed is try to get the front of the garage when temperatures are cooler and it's not in direct sun. Keep the door down far enough to keep the slap from heating up and keep direct sun off it

 

[fehren2800]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I have one coat down now and am waiting for it to be dry enough to put on the second coat and the color flakes.

I assume that I should wait for the second coat to dry completely before applying the clear coat.

Thanks.

 

[Gcrop]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I have one coat down now and am waiting for it to be dry enough to put on the second coat and the color flakes.

I assume that I should wait for the second coat to dry completely before applying the clear coat.

Thanks.

I pretty much did but it only took 4 hours or less to dry.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[roche]

Pics?

 

[fehren2800]

I just finished putting down the first coat of clear on top of 2 coats of RB and the flakes. It seems that the clear doesn't cover as much as the base coat per gallon. I'm thinking I might have to get more for the back room on the garage.



rolling out the first coat



Temp and Humidity, check



more first coat




After the second coat and flakes. This was at 10ish or so. I let it dry all night until 10 am before I started with the clear. It was not tacky and I could walk on it without leaving any marks.



This is how heavily I put down the flake. Not a full broadcast job, but enough to cover any roller marks. In hind sight, I should have let the 2nd coat dry and see how it looked before putting the flakes down. I did a real meticulous job rolling and it looked good after the first coat.



This is after the first coat of clear. It locked all the flakes down and the second should really make it shine. It has only been drying for 1.5 hours so it is still tacky. I hope to get back on it in another hour or 2 for the final coat in the main area.

 

[MagicMarker]

Looks great!

 

[fehren2800]

Thanks


Still waiting for the clear to completely dry so I can apply the final coat. It is hotter and more humid today than yesterday and there is less of a breeze. It also looks like I'm going to have to go back and pull out a few moths and flies from the clear coat. They seem to love that stuff.

 

[railroadjim]

Thanks for the updates

Thanks for posting your updates.

I have a similar situation to yours: fresh slab poured last December (26' x 46') with plenty of saw cut sections. I hadn't seen a garage with the saw cut sections like this with Rust Bullet applied, so I was glad to see how it looks.

I ordered my RB about two weeks ago, and am finishing getting the garage ready to coat. Luckily, I had no leaves in my concrete, but I do have one saw cut joint that the builder messed up (re-positioned the saw mid slab, making a wide cut for about a foot) that I might want to patch.

Besides that, I just need to finish getting the stuff off of the floor and then power-washing it. The heat/humidity was too high last week, and I ran out of time to do my prep. Maybe next week I can apply it.

I'm doing three coats of base, flake in the last coat, and one coat of clear with anti-skid. I'm going to put the flake on a bit lighter than you did.

When you put the flake down, did you roll on RB for each saw cut section, then throw the flakes on it immediately? I'm concerned about getting the flakes on the adjoining saw cut section, and then getting it on the roller as I'm doing the next section.

Any tips for rolling it on nicely? I've been reading up on the recommended back-rolling method.

I hear that the five gallon jugs are difficult to open, and tough to pour from.

I guess I'll figure it all out once I start putting it down.

 

[fehren2800]

I only did 2 base coats as this is just a hobby garage that will see almost no car use. I did each section with the second coat of RB and then tossed the flake on. I used a battery powered leaf blower to blow the flakes off of the next section I was going to do and so on. It worked great and I didn't get any flakes on the roller.

I just used the rolling method from the video. Small sections in a W pattern and then no pressure back rolling. It worked great. I almost wish I would have forgone the flakes but it is too late for that now. I put on 2 coats of clear and that really locked the flakes down for good. I could probably go another clear on top of that. I have to order more anyway as I will not have enough to do the back room of the garage.

Yes the five gallon jugs are difficult to open the first time because the seal had some RB on it making it stick. I used a 1 quart plastic paint cup to basically ladle out the RB into the roller tray. After the bucket had only 3 or 4 gallons left in it, it is much easier to pour.

As for the saw cuts I'm going to put a contrasting color caulking in there like black perhaps.

Good luck.

 

[Garage Flooring]

NICE LOOKING FLOOR! The clear should give the same coverage as the gray, but it is not as viscous. We were doing some experimenting with the clear on a new application this last week and I am going to work on some better suggestions for it.

 

[fehren2800]

I think you are correct. I used about 2.5 gallons of the base and about the same amount of clear for the main area. I got 6 gallons of base and only 3 gallons of clear. I ordered over the phone and got the quantity suggested. What I am saying is that I am going to need more clear to do the rest of the coating.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I think you are correct. I used about 2.5 gallons of the base and about the same amount of clear for the main area. I got 6 gallons of base and only 3 gallons of clear. I ordered over the phone and got the quantity suggested. What I am saying is that I am going to need more clear to do the rest of the coating.

OK. Please feel free to call me directly. The coverage per gallon is the same.

For gray you need two coats. For clear you only need one, so that should have been enough material.

 

[fehren2800]

Only one coat over flakes? I see it recommends 2 coats over full broadcast applications. I have a heavy random broadcast flake job. I see my mistake now. Other than using extra product, are there any downsides to putting a second coat on?

 

[Garage Flooring]

There is no 'downside' to more clear, but after 24 hours you have to lightly sand surface. I put downside in ' ' because one note would be the more clear, the more slick.

 

[fehren2800]

Got it. I'll need 1 gallon as I still have 1/2 gallon left. I will be applying it do the back room on my garage which currently is bare concrete. As soon as the front dries completely I can move some stuff out of the back room and get to work on doing that floor as well.

One question. How long will the clearshot last in a half empty can? I filled the 5 gallon bucket of RB base coat with argon over the 2.5 gallons of RB as per their website. I'm hoping to be ready to do the floor this weekend. It is much smaller area 10x32. Will the product last and still be usable by Saturday? I picked up some empty paint cans from Lowes, but they are lined with some sort of coating, so I don't know how the RB product will react with it?

I'm ordering another gallon on your website right now.

Thanks.

 

[SugarMamasGarage]

Looks great!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Garage Flooring]

Got it. I'll need 1 gallon as I still have 1/2 gallon left. I will be applying it do the back room on my garage which currently is bare concrete. As soon as the front dries completely I can move some stuff out of the back room and get to work on doing that floor as well.

One question. How long will the clearshot last in a half empty can? I filled the 5 gallon bucket of RB base coat with argon over the 2.5 gallons of RB as per their website. I'm hoping to be ready to do the floor this weekend. It is much smaller area 10x32. Will the product last and still be usable by Saturday? I picked up some empty paint cans from Lowes, but they are lined with some sort of coating, so I don't know how the RB product will react with it?

I'm ordering another gallon on your website right now.

Thanks.

Typical (so many variables) shelf life once opened is 30 days.