Pits in the new floor

[MongoTom]

Not trusting myself, I paid a local firm to cover the floor: Elite Crete epoxy and polyaspartic top coat. I returned from vacation to see the final product for the first time and have to admit I'm less than satisfied. Perhaps my expectations were wrong. The floor contains dozens of these "pits" and I don't know what they are or if they can be filled/repaired.

Some are so deep, I could stand up a piece of grass in them.

Is this normal for a garage floor? Should I pay the remainder that I owe or demand some repair of this? Thanks for the advice.

 

[bdamico]

I see nothing

 

[bacarl]

Is this normal for a garage floor? Should I pay the remainder that I owe or demand some repair of this? Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like a question for the installer to me, but that does not look normal. I'd send him the photos or bring him back in and express your dissatisfaction. Was this the EC installer from Dexter?

FYI, here's my crack at posting your pictures:
*nevermind, you already fixed the links.

 

[MongoTom]

Yes, this is the Dexter place. They must be pits in the concrete itself. I guess I'm surprised that the epoxy didn't fill them in. This is my first time at floor covering. My thought now is to get some epoxy from him and fill in the pits myself. Then cover with polyaspartic, also from him. We'll see.

 

[bdamico]

I still see nothing.

 

[dcs Inc]

I can't pull the photos up. Who was the installer and what was discused before the project started? gene

 

[MongoTom]

Are they visible now? I tried a different url.

 

[bdamico]

can't see how many there are and how they're spaced, but is that from spiked shoes? And I don't think that's normal, those are holes in your coating--last thing you want/paid for.

 

[Edger]

Definitely do not pay the remainder until they are fixed satisfactorily. It is crazy to have holes like that and I bet they were there before they put the polyaspartic on top.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Spike hole or a fish eye that opened up??

 

[dcs Inc]

Doesn't matter what caused it...(well it does but that wont help geting this resolved) Have the guy fix it.... simple as that.

 

[MongoTom]

Yes, I found a couple dozen without looking too hard. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, what will "fix it" mean in this case? Just fill them in with epoxy and cover them with polyaspartic clear?

 

[jordan369]

Yes, I found a couple dozen without looking too hard. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, what will "fix it" mean in this case? Just fill them in with epoxy and cover them with polyaspartic clear?

I would imagine you could have those areas filled in with epoxy. Those look similar to fish eyes found in clear coats. Those are repaired by filling the voids with additional clear and sanding smooth.

Mike

 

[dcs Inc]

Yes, I found a couple dozen without looking too hard. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, what will "fix it" mean in this case? Just fill them in with epoxy and cover them with polyaspartic clear?

Well, I'd quit trying to grow grass in them. Other than a few small blemishes in the finish (that are easy fixes by the way) are you happy with the outcome? The application you had installed is really tough and long lasting. Give us some overall pics.

As far as how to fix these, the installer will have a plan.

 

[MongoTom]

The fix is in. He tinted polyaspartic top coat the same color as the epoxy. Then walked around with a syringe filled with it and filled each hole. He said this would hold up much better than filling with epoxy. I walked around with him to point out a few that he missed. If any remain after this, he'll return to fill those, too. I paid him what I owed.

He called these air holes that went right into the concrete, and they certainly look much deeper than the finish. He said when the concrete was poured, it may not have been vibrated (his term) sufficiently to release all the trapped air. I was there and I know how hard they worked on that floor. It may have something to do with the thickness of the pour (8"). He told me he's never seen this many in a floor before.

Pictures and a better description of the final product will be posted soon.

 

[dcs Inc]

Good deal.

 

[StrongholdEpoxyFlooring]

I know this comes a bit late, but being a flooring installer myself, maybe I can add some insight...

These pits are 100% NOT spike marks! What happened with your floor is most probably, outgassing. This occurs for a number of reasons, but in your case, I suspect that you had some minor pitting left over after the prep work was complete. Air/dust/whatever can be caught up in these pits and if a spiney roller is not used after the coating is applied, small bubbles can form across the curing timeline, as a result of the entrapped air, and pop(or sometimes not pop at all) too late in the cure for the hardening coating to self-level itself back into the hole. Outgassing can also occur when their is a drastic difference between the concrete temp and ambient temp during install.

Bottom line, shoulda used a spiney roller, like a good contractor would when there is a chance for entrapment/outgas.

The sad part is that these "holes" absolutely would have been created in the first coat...so they knew they were there before they applied the topcoat(which would have gone on far too thin to fill them in), but did nothing to them along the lines of repairing at that time. Really only highlights one point which is that they were well aware of the issue after the finish coat and were hoping you would just **** it up and live with it. Tisk-tisk...

 

[StrongholdEpoxyFlooring]

BTW- This kind of pitting in concrete happens all the time! You were being fed a line when he told you he had never seen it that bad before....unless he has only done one other floor! Ha!

 

[MongoTom]

In the world of auto detailing, they'd say it passes the "10 foot test". From a short distance, it looks terrific, all the same color with a satin finish. I'm very confident that it is now well protected from water, salt and solvents.

The installer said I would see roller marks, and he was right. He said the oxide he put in the polyaspartic top coat would dull the shine and he was right. He set those expectations and accepted them prior to hiring him.

I did not expect to see as many shallow pits. My expectation was that the floor would be relatively smooth. My mistake. I also didn't expect to see dirt, as if someone walked on the epoxy with dirty shoes before permanently covering it with clear polyaspartic. His mistake, I believe. I'll live with it.

I wanted a floor that I could work on without losing parts, so i asked for zero color flakes. I suspect the addition of those cover a multitude of imperfections, such as those I've described. A mono-color floor must be the most difficult to make perfect.

I'm preparing photos of the entire garage and those will be in another thread. I'll post the link here when that happens.

Thanks for your help!

 

[bdamico]

In the end, you're the only one who is ever going to notice this. I'm sure it looks great

 

[dcs Inc]

I know this comes a bit late, but being a flooring installer myself, maybe I can add some insight...

These pits are 100% NOT spike marks! What happened with your floor is most probably, outgassing. This occurs for a number of reasons, but in your case, I suspect that you had some minor pitting left over after the prep work was complete. Air/dust/whatever can be caught up in these pits and if a spiney roller is not used after the coating is applied, small bubbles can form across the curing timeline, as a result of the entrapped air, and pop(or sometimes not pop at all) too late in the cure for the hardening coating to self-level itself back into the hole. Outgassing can also occur when their is a drastic difference between the concrete temp and ambient temp during install.

Bottom line, shoulda used a spiney roller, like a good contractor would when there is a chance for entrapment/outgas.

The sad part is that these "holes" absolutely would have been created in the first coat...so they knew they were there before they applied the topcoat(which would have gone on far too thin to fill them in), but did nothing to them along the lines of repairing at that time. Really only highlights one point which is that they were well aware of the issue after the finish coat and were hoping you would just **** it up and live with it. Tisk-tisk...

Tisk-tisk right back at ya. I think your incorrect in throwing the installer under the bus. I've never seen out gassing look like this. The pictures provided looks as if they were impacted. Product fractures around the hole tell me it was impacted. Also,there's no product ridge build up around the hole. (download them and blow them up). I don't think your spiked roller wouldn't have prevented whatever created this. I'd like to know as I upload this type of stuff and show in class. I'd need an actual cause and remedy not someone guessing.

Rising temps in a room will pull moisture out of a slab and cause gassing. High humidity in the air can cause fish eyes. Frothing up a milkshake when mixing is where the spike roller will come in handy. gene