Help! Epoxy going on tomorrow...contains Lead?

[snowcrackerut]

OK, my contractor showed me samples for products from Westcoat 100% solid epoxy. He grinded the floor today and left the product in the box in the middle of the garage. It's Aquapon 35 not Westcoat. Its a 69% solid and has pretty good durability reviews on this site and others..so even though he switched products on me I'm not sure I can yell wolf...although, I noticed it contains lead. You have to declare when selling your house if you know the house to have lead products, let alone my wife is pregnant and I don't want my future booger eaters to drool more than usual. So, is this a valid concern? My goal is to improve the house not put barriers up when selling the house. Do a lot of Epoxy's contain lead? Please help!
Oh and nice of him to leave the door cracked and whole house is coated in concrete dust. My OCD wife who I spent many hours convincing we needed this has begun to sit quietly and stare at me with a strange smile on her face....not good people, not good....

 

[Cruzin90]

69.1% by weight, 53.6% by volume. So, about 50% of what you're buying is evaporating away. Put down 6 mils wet, you get 3 mils dry film thickness. That's a lot of solvent!

I'm not finding the lead in the MSDS's, maybe I missed it. I sort of doubt it contains lead, lead cannot be in paints in the U.S.

 

[xrdad]

I'd stop him now and ask questions.. plenty of info on this site about using 100% epoxy vs the other stuff.

If you're not sure about the coating he wants to install, back away now.. removing it could be a nightmare of it's own!

 

[snowcrackerut]

Oh, I picked it up off an old post on another site. Now that I'm looking at the can and spec sheet more closely, you're right...I don't think it contains lead. My bad. I will talk to him about the solids.
On with the show....

 

[Edger]

100% solids epoxy is more expensive and a little more difficult to apply, but it has a good film build for looks and for wear. The more thinners in the product the longer the pot life and the easier it is to put down, but the less film build the more you see imperfections and the less life you get from the coating (I do not think life is an issue in a garage). Pay him less for the job, he tricked you.

 

[PaulR]

In doing weeks of research on Epoxys last year I took a long look at PPG Aquapon. You can spout numbers all day long, 50%, 65%, 35%, 100%, whatever but near as I could tell PPG Aquapon was GREAT stuff. They coat battleships and bridges with it if I recall correctly.

WRT to kids and the lead thing, yea, I got three kids, I'd be a little worried, our youngest 1-2 year old eats EVERYTHING she can get her hands on. I would keep an eye on your kids for the first two years, make sure they don't chew on your floor. Long term or resell, not sure what to tell you....

 

[AlphaGarage]

The old switcheroo isn't that uncommon, even in commercial projects. We've had facility managers order product direct from us, and then have a contractor apply it. That way they're certain of the product being applied. Less than scrupulous contractors have been know to switch labels, decant into other containers, and otherwise scheme to install a cheaper, inferior coating.

One of the trade magazines had an article about a job where the contractor pulls up with a truck and opens the doors to show the coating to be used, then when the company rep is out of sight they unload another product that was hidden in back.

If you agreed to product A, and your installer puts down product B, odds are you just got ripped off.