OK, everything was complete on July 4th!
The epoxy application was surprisingly easy. I used a 2:1 volume ratio and divided everything out into 8 'part A' and 8 'part B' buckets. I used the same buckets as:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246234&showall=1
Thank you to that thread, it really helped me get organized.
<Key Points>
These epoxy applications have been documented many times, so I will just mention what I found unique:
-Have another person help, it was invaluable.
-Spiked shoes for both
-Have good ventilation, but be careful of winds blowing in stuff onto your sticky floor.
-I'm glad I used primer. My new floor really soaked it in. I'm glad it happened to the primer layer, instead of the final epoxy.
-Primer and spiked shoes don't go well together. I noticed many small need pricks in the primer that gave a rough surface while we were laying down the epoxy. However, without the spiked shoes, it would have made the job very difficult. I used Legacy's Standard Primer, and it was allowed to dry ~15 hours prior to epoxy. The spikes caused mini pockets with a peeled edge. Using my hand, the "peel" easy scraped off. After applying epoxy, I could not tell the difference, so perhaps it wasn't too big of a deal after all.
<My Results>
It's about 31 hours after final application, and so far so good.
No bubbles or fish eyes, did not have to do any additional back-rolls to combat any issues. After the second back-roll, I waited a few minutes for signs of trouble, and when I saw it was OK, I applied the sprinkles and non-slip.
There were 2 spots where I accidentally dropped too many sprinkles, and to remedy that, we re-back rolled just that spot. It doesn't look pretty, as you can tell there are sprinkles underneath the epoxy, and makes the epoxy look rough.
No big deal, unless you look very closely.
Around +24 hours from final apply, I noticed a dull spot on the floor. You can see it in one of the images I have attached. The epoxy looks rough and dull. Completely opposite from the rest which is smooth and shiny.
I am not sure why, perhaps a thin layer??
Has anyone seen this or know what caused it?
Epoxy-Coat instructions mention a cure time of 24 hours for heavy traffic. However, they also note not to have any water touch the epoxy for 7 days (not sure why, if full chemical resistance is 3 days). To play it safe, I have decided not to leave the garage empty until next week. Only trouble is that I decided to epoxy past the garage door to the concrete edge. I struggled with trying to tape plastic drop-cloth to the mostly closed garage door and the driveway, but such a large size of plastic sheet is very difficult to deal with.
Tip: I purchased the cheapest sheet of ply wood, and cut it to 2 pieces measuring 8' x 1.5'. Wrapped the plastic sheet around it, and stapled the sheet to the wood. Very easy to handle and rest against the mostly closed garage door. Hopefully will keep rain out as it is forecasted for Sunday night until Wednesday.
That's it. I hope this will last, and I hope I don't find any surprises tomorrow morning. I would say that the primer application and the epoxy application was very easy. The hardest and most stressful part was cleaning, scrubbing, and removing oil stains.... watching the weather for rain and high humidity, and crossing your fingers that the garage floor has dried so you can keep to your schedule.
