Poly-Aspartic Floor Nightmare

[sdscottsdalelmt]

588sq ft garage apartment Poly-Aspartic Epoxy floor. Williams, AZ. 7,000ft. The week the project was done we had our first freeze.

10/6/21, Crew of 3 shows up and does the job in two days.

1. 10/8/21, I pay vendor in full $3,000 for the job.
2. Week 1, calling and texting owner to tell him house is still out-gassing. He insists nothing is wrong.
3. Week 2, contacting owner to tell him house is still off gassing, that I’m having to live in a hotel because I can’t be in the space.
4. Week 3, contacting owner to tell him house is still out-gassing, asking him is there anything that could have gone wrong? He insist nothing is wrong or was done wrong.
5. Week 4, contacting owner letting him know after an hour in the building, I am experiencing physical symptoms of headache, nausea and dizziness.
6. Into week 5, he finally comes out to the property and offers an ozone machine as a possible fix.
7. Mentions that xylene may have been used to cut the product.
8. I contact the manufacturer who insists they have been in business for 20 years and have sold thousands of gallons of their product. The Chemist states the application was done incorrectly with the prepping of the concrete or the mixing of the materials.
9. 11/8/21, I’m now insisting that something is very wrong, that this a potential health hazard. I’m exposing myself every day trying to air out the building.
10. The owner consults an attorney and is now refusing to speak to me on the phone.
11. I have been directed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors to file a formal complaint and have a third party do a ‘Building Confidence Inspection.’
12. I ask the owner of the company and his crew to not come back onto my property ever again, as I do not trust his safety or ethics.
13. He seems ok to let me live with this situation for many more weeks while the third party and his attorney decide what he should do.
14. I rent industrial heaters to “bake” the house for five days over 100°. The smell gets worse and then seems to subside.
15. I pay for a chemical analysis of the air which shows elevated levels of xylene, benzene and alcohol. But, is “under OSHA” standards. Winter comes and I close the building up and stay. 7 days later have to evacuate from headache and disorientation.
16. 2/2/22 ROC sided with vendor stating that the product looks fine and there is no way to determine the smell.
17. I personally rent a grinder and am now eight hours into grinding the product out myself. The whole neighborhood smells of a nail salon. I’m airing out every day, using ozone machines at night and am determined to fix the problem.

I am open to any and all ideas to help fix.

And, never do epoxy evvveerrrrrr!!! I’m at least $6,000 in for the job, living in hotels, chemical analysis and finally had to completely move out until the Arizona ROC finally decided they weren’t going to help anyway.

Thank you!

 

[Shea]

Your experience is definitely unfortunate. I hate hearing stories about contractors that will not take responsibility for their work. The problem is not with the coating, it's the installation.

The one common denominator with the problems people have reported with polyaspartic coatings off-gassing is cold weather and/or cutting the coating with Xylene or other solvents in order to make it easier to work with.

Coating contractors are pushing polyurea polyaspartic coatings hard because they can be installed in one day. They make more money because it cuts down on labor. A crew isn't needed for a minimum of two days like it is when installing epoxy or an epoxy hybrid coating (note; polyaspartic is not epoxy). I've seen articles on the internet from some coating contractors who purposely lie about some of the characteristics of epoxy to make it look far inferior to polyurea and polyaspartic coatings - but I digress.

Polyapartic coatings can be installed in one day because they cure very quickly. Unlike epoxy which requires 8 - 12 hours between recoats, polyurea polyaspartic coatings allow the installer to apply additional coats within an hour or so from the previous coat, sometimes less. Thus, concrete prep can be done in the morning and all required coats applied immediately thereafter. The job is done before the day is.

Some of these installers fail to account for are much colder temps during application. Colder temperatures increase the amount of time a coating needs to cure before reapplication. Cutting the coating with Xylene only increases this time. When you combine those two factors with an installation company that is not willing to wait the additional time or is ignorant of the requirement, the solvents from the initial first coat (usually the color coat) do not get the chance to evaporate from the coating as it cures. The second coat traps these solvents and they can outgas for weeks or even months.

I sincerely hope you get somewhere with your claim and eventually get reimbursed.

Removing the coating via grinding will fix the issue in most cases. However, there has been the occasional problem of the solvent fumes permeating the drywall and remaining unless replaced. I hope you don't have that problem. Are you done grinding?

 

[sdscottsdalelmt]

Thank you for your response! I am on a hunt for a better grinder at the moment. Flagstaff Chemical supply company is suggesting a ph balancing cleaner of some sort after the grinding? I’m going all the way down to rock. Shop vac, black plastic garbage bag tied off for disposal. I’ve been told the concern for the dry wall too.

The ROC sided with the vendor so he is not liable for anything nor is willing to help with anything.

Thank you!

 

[FMB4]

Yep, applying most any garage floor 'paint/coating' is not generally a good idea during the winter (regardless of what the salespersons say). That said, unsatisfactory concrete pours and 'coatings' are probably the most common issues mentioned in the G Forums.

Meanwhile, welcome aboard.

 

[bikerneil]

Wow, what a sad story.........

 

[sdscottsdalelmt]

Wow, what a sad story.........

Yea, Bikerneil. Thankfully I bought the place for the land surrounding, but yes, it’s been insanely stressful and all around a health hazard.

Thank you for letting me share my story here as maybe it can help others.

 

[sdscottsdalelmt]

This is the chemical analysis ($125) I had done by a company called Chemical Badges out of Florida. They are amazing. Reading was done months after install. I’m grinding all the flooring out and already have another test ordered to do when I am done.

 

[sdscottsdalelmt]

I’m doing a semi-wet application with a spray bottle these two products during the grinding to help keep the dust down even with the vacuum. Then, add water to large mop basin + the cleaners and spread over whole area. I let it soak in and then mop up. Repeat. I’m 16 hours into grinding now. Feeling heavy in my lungs and have chemical burns on my face even with full hazmat suit. This stuff shouldn’t be legal!

 

[sdscottsdalelmt]

Your experience is definitely unfortunate. I hate hearing stories about contractors that will not take responsibility for their work. The problem is not with the coating, it's the installation.

The one common denominator with the problems people have reported with polyaspartic coatings off-gassing is cold weather and/or cutting the coating with Xylene or other solvents in order to make it easier to work with.

Coating contractors are pushing polyurea polyaspartic coatings hard because they can be installed in one day. They make more money because it cuts down on labor. A crew isn't needed for a minimum of two days like it is when installing epoxy or an epoxy hybrid coating (note; polyaspartic is not epoxy). I've seen articles on the internet from some coating contractors who purposely lie about some of the characteristics of epoxy to make it look far inferior to polyurea and polyaspartic coatings - but I digress.

Polyapartic coatings can be installed in one day because they cure very quickly. Unlike epoxy which requires 8 - 12 hours between recoats, polyurea polyaspartic coatings allow the installer to apply additional coats within an hour or so from the previous coat, sometimes less. Thus, concrete prep can be done in the morning and all required coats applied immediately thereafter. The job is done before the day is.

Some of these installers fail to account for are much colder temps during application. Colder temperatures increase the amount of time a coating needs to cure before reapplication. Cutting the coating with Xylene only increases this time. When you combine those two factors with an installation company that is not willing to wait the additional time or is ignorant of the requirement, the solvents from the initial first coat (usually the color coat) do not get the chance to evaporate from the coating as it cures. The second coat traps these solvents and they can outgas for weeks or even months.

I sincerely hope you get somewhere with your claim and eventually get reimbursed.

Removing the coating via grinding will fix the issue in most cases. However, there has been the occasional problem of the solvent fumes permeating the drywall and remaining unless replaced. I hope you don't have that problem. Are you done grinding?

I’m 16 hours in. Feel like I’m getting somewhere. I’m going to rent the hand grinder next for around the edges and am open to the denatured alcohol to help remove too. I posted in the thread the cleaning products I’m using and the chemical analysis I had done months ago.

Thank you for your response