Plans for Epoxy-coat floor - opinions sought

[Prometheus]

Hi everyone.

My wife and I recently bought a new house and are expected to take possession the end of this month or early November. The garage needs some care, and I figured what better time to do the floor then before we move all of our junk in!

The concrete in our new house is in pretty decent shape and I'm planning on going with an epoxy-coat kit. I talked to Christine today because I'm a little worried about coverage. The garage is 22x24, so 530 square feet. The concrete looks a little patchy like the penetration might not be consistent. I know this is a textbook case for using a primer prior to laying down the epoxy.

I'm probably going to use the Legacy Industrial Standard Primer and lay the epoxy-coat on top of that. I'm wondering if anyone has done this combo before (I would think so...) and what the results were. Also, how long should the primer cure prior to putting down the epoxy-coat? Is there a maximum time? My plan is to do the prep over 1-2 days, do the primer coat. Wait until the next day, do the base coat of epoxy-coat, then the next day do the clear overtop of it all. So probably a 3-4 day process depending on if prep takes me 1 or 2 days.

The only catch to all of this is that it will be November in Michigan. Christine said as long as the slab is ~45 degrees for ~3 hours the epoxy-coat will be ok. Has anyone tried heating the garage so the slab warms up and then coating the floor with either the Legacy product or epoxy-coat? I would hate to do all the prep work and then ruin an install because the temps weren't quite right. Thanks.

-Adrian

 

[Shea]

Hello Adrian. I know from past threads that Christine from Epoxy-Coat and Scotty from Legacy work together all the time regarding just what you are planning to do. Many members have used that exact set up with great success.

Also, how long should the primer cure prior to putting down the epoxy-coat? Is there a maximum time? My plan is to do the prep over 1-2 days, do the primer coat. Wait until the next day, do the base coat of epoxy-coat, then the next day do the clear overtop of it all. So probably a 3-4 day process depending on if prep takes me 1 or 2 days.

Don't wait more that 24 hours before applying another coat. Your time schedule should work out fine. However, you didn't say how you are going to prep the floor. If you introduce water into the process you are going to have to let the floor dry out for a few days, maybe longer with the cool weather.

You can heat the slab by heating the garage but it does take a while. Make sure you take a surface temp from the slab and not the air before you start.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Everything you assumed is correct and we have many Epoxy-Coat customers visit us for primer. Our primer is compatible with EC and many others as well.

If you choose to coat in the 40-50 range keep the material in the house until it's go time. Expect the rolling to be a little tougher. Deeper into the 50's would be much better for you and the coatings. Expect the cure to be longer too.

 

[Prometheus]

Thanks for the feed back thus far. I plan to rent a concrete grinder as my primary method of surface prep, followed by degreasing and acid etching. I am really hoping I can heat the garage enough to be able to do this before we move in, but at the same time I don't want it to be too cold and ruin all the work.

Does anyone have a good sense of how long the temp needs to be above 50s? I have a couple kerosene heaters I could just run continuously for a bit and I could probably borrow a torpedo heater to stick in the doorway, but I don't want to run them for 12 hours if I only need to keep the temp up for 3-4. Thanks.

 

[rugerlady]

If you use kerosene heaters, they don't burn completely and can throw off contaminants onto the floor. Keep the heater on something non flammable and cover the area of floor around the heater. We prefer electric or nat gas heat for this type of project.
The temp should be above 45 or so for at least the first few hours.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

If you use kerosene heaters, they don't burn completely and can throw off contaminants onto the floor. Keep the heater on something non flammable and cover the area of floor around the heater. We prefer electric or nat gas heat for this type of project.
The temp should be above 45 or so for at least the first few hours.

 

[Prometheus]

Thanks Christine and Scotty. I'm hoping I will just need the heater just to raise the temp ~10 degrees or so. It should be 40-45 in early November, but I would just feel better knowing it's in the 50s. Thanks!