Paint chips down, freaked to lay clear!!

[Cannonball]

Hi all.
Been lurking here for a while. Finally decided to become a member to share my projects and help others learn from my screws up.
So I have done a number of garage floors in epoxy but this is the first one that I have decided to add paint chips. It's looking good, I think??
To the point of laying on the clear but not sure if I need to add more chips in certian areas. When you stand back some areas seem different. Almost like there is more of one color or swirls in the chips. When you go up to the area and look down it does not appear to have to much chips at that spot and the swirl dissapears. Don't know if it is just the gloss of the base showing through or what.
Will the clear pull it together? The good part is you can't really focus on one point and it is random enough that it does not have a pattern.
See attached pictures. Sorry for the size of them.
When everyone says to order lot's extra of the paint chips, do so.
The unfinished part is done now, and blended ok. Lucky......
Let me know what you think. Should I just move ahead with the clear??
Thanks. CB

 

[BL50]

I think it looks great ... seal it! Once you move all your stuff back in you'll soon forget about any perceived imperfections anyway!

 

[930dreamer]

Looks great...

 

[Bigpigdave]

Looks great to me, put on the clear. Don't get hung up on it.
Thanks, Dave

 

[haugy]

Looks good to me. And you'll be your toughest critic. Most people would never notice. Clear it, drink a beer, and admire your work.

 

[rugerlady]

Looks like a good job to me.

 

[bazzateer]

It's so random that it's not noticable. Slap on the clear and enjoy!

 

[jkherd]

Nice job, looks great. I need to do that to my shop floor.

 

[TheBanker]

Do you have more chips? Don't seal it until you are happy with it. I don't know how you will add more chips though, once its done its done unless you add more base.

My floor is pretty inconsistant but I have learned to live with it after no one else seems to notice.

 

[Cannonball]

Hi.
Thanks for the replies.
I have decided that the rest of the floor is random enough. Almost gives you motion sickness if you try to focus on one spots and stare at it long enough.
The section where I did not have enough chips didn't completely blend.
Should have overlapped more with the base color. It's close just not heavy enough all the way along.
I do have chips left so the thought is to roll on some clear and add chips to the clear.
I will have to let it dry then clear the entire floor.
Has anyone tried chipping using the clear to fix spots?
Will the chips settle to the base or do they look like they are sitting off the surface?
The other option would be to brush on base color and rechip. This is hard to do as when you sprinkle on chips to blend you have no idea where the wet blend line is. That's why I was thinking on using the clear.
Let me know your thoughts.

 

[WkndWarr72]

From what I've read I would stay away from broadcasting chips in the top clearcoat. They won't settle in like they did on the base coat and you'll end up with flakes sticking up through which will make cleaning difficult and they will eventually get contaminated with dirt/oil and won't look so nice. Be happy with the nice job you did, you'll eventually get used to it.

 

[Cannonball]

Well as much as I didn't want to add chips to the clear. When I blew the chips off the section that I needed to complete, my overlap was not enough and you could see the start/stop line. As well I missed a section at the threshhold.
Brushed on clear and added chips, let it dry and scraped that section again, then clear coated the entire floor. Like most have said it's lots of fun trying to see where you start and stop with the clear, especially with a full face respirator on.
Very happy with the results.
The swirl patterns that I was concerned about are fine. The clear pulled the darker chip colors out (blacks and grays) and everything blended in fine.
Just letting the clear dry and deciding if I am going to do another coat and if I should add anti slip grit to it.

 

[TheBanker]

good job...

 

[Johnny chaos]

looks good

 

[aqr81]

Looks great.

 

[PBSS-garage]

What brand of epoxy did you use?

Jeff Reed

 

[Cannonball]

Hi Jeff.
The base coats are Amerlock 400 and the clear coat is Amershield polyurethane.
Used it on past garages and the product is super durable, but nasty to work with (even in the low VOC formula).
Only recommend it if you are prepared to wear a full face respirator, impervious coveralls and nitrile gloves.
I am sure there is other products that are as tough, but this stuff has never failed me so it is hard to try something new.

 

[jager911]

Looks great, getting ready to re-do my floor after 10 years and plan to do chips this time.
How many pounds did you use for yours and how large is it? Ordering by the pound off eBay for a 600sqft garage, looking for heavy coverage and thinking about 10-12 lbs. Thx.

 

[Cannonball]

Garage is 20x24 (outside dimensions).
Actual floor area covered was just over 400 sq.ft. when you subtract the corner area.
I had ordered 15 pounds of chips from Original Color Chips and purchase a couple of extra 1 pound boxes of Rustoleum chips from H.Depot as I was worried that I was going to be short.
Divided the chips into four bags and marked the floor into four sections (on the wall as a reference).
If you can do the floor in two sections you recover a fair amount of chips that do not stick and can be reused.
I used the recovered chips to finish the last section that I was short so this means I needed approx. 17 lbs. to cover this area.
To do 400 sq.ft. in one shot I should have purchase 20 lbs min.
You do not want to use the pieces that you recover after you scrape the raised chips down, as they tend to be a lot smaller.
The chips were a gray/white/black blend and I picked a base color that was a noticably different shade then the chip colors so that it would provide contrast when showing through.

 

[jager911]

Thanks for info, sounds like I'd need closer to 20lbs for 600sq ft, though I was not going for complete coverage as you did. Did you use any anti-skid additive? I have a back entry door and thinking of just doing it on main path for foot traffic.

 

[TheBanker]

I would do the anti-skid at least by the door. Epoxy is very slippery when wet. Just about busted my *** good coming in one day out of the rain.

 

[Cannonball]

Hi.
I wouldn't consider my coverage full by no means.
If you take a look at the earlier picture in the post you can get an idea how much base color is showing through.
To get this kind of coverage you would need 30 pounds to do it in one shot or might be able to get away with 25 if you do it in two sections and use the chips that didn't stick that you recover.
After knocking down all the chips that were sticking up I did one coat of clear. You could tell it was going to be slippery even without it being damp. No real grip when walking on it with my clean boots. I figured that it would be even worse with the next coat of clear so I added in anti-slip compound to the clear (mixed in the can). This was a Rustolium product i believe. Will double check. Wasn't to sure if it was going to do anything as you couldn't really see it on the surface. I also had a shaker bottle of a coarser grit that I walked over and sprinkled lightly once the paint began to set up. As I am in a winter climate I placed it heavier at the threshhold of the garage door and back door.
I would put on some type of anti-skid, a little bit harder clean-up is well worth a saved fall.