polyurea floor coating irritant to throat & lungs?

[6th Gear]

Last weekend I coated my floor with epoxy (fri) and then did a top coat with polyurea (sat).
The building is 32x40x12 and I had the doors open on Sunday and part of Monday day but have had them closed mostly since because it has been rainy. The building isn't air tight, there is no interior walls or insulation.

While applying the polyurea, I noticed the strong odor compared to the epoxy and after noticed that my throat seemed to be constricted and I was breathing heavy to catch a breath.
I'm not out of shape, but it's kind of like when you're next to someone who dumped half a bottle of grandma perfume on themselves... that kind of feeling like you just need to get a full breath of fresh air.

I go into the garage every day after work to check on the floor and it still smells strong. The surface feels cured, but I can still leave a mark if I press down with my finger nail. I'm wondering if keeping the doors closed and hot humid weather is slowing things down a bit.

Last night I was showing the coating to a friend for a couple mins and when we walked out, he mentioned that he was feeling a constriction with his throat/lungs, breathing heavier in the fresh air to catch a breath. Then I realized it wasn't just me

Has anybody else experienced this with polyurea coatings?

The floor looks great!

 

[AlphaGarage]

Find the MSDS of your product and review it, it should list what you're smelling and address your concerns.

There have been at least 2 people who have posted here about polyaspartic jobs they claim have gone wrong - very wrong. Move out of the house, hospital visits, lawsuit type wrong. One was a pro install, the other a DIY.

Although Wolverine manufacture polyurea products, this is one reason we don't offer them to the DIY clients. They have their place, but a DIY home garage/shop application usually isn't one of them.

 

[Kingham]

Oh.. I've been there... did a condo where the next door neighbors compalined about the smell and fumes.. had to get a hotel room for the night and wanted me to pay for it... the home owner we did the work for didn't even notice the smell.

Raining? what is the humidity level.. We've found that high Humidity levels will do two things.

1. retard cure times
2. Keep fumes from dissipating as the air is so heavy.

 

[6th Gear]

It's been raining every night this week, again tonight. It also rained all day Tuesday. Then it had been in the 80's during the days... so it's been fairly humid. That explains... Tonight is the last of the rain so I'm opening the windows tomorrow and leaving them open. Inspecting the floor today, it does seem to be curing still as it seems I have to press harder to leave a mark from my finger nail.
I was still coughing in the garage though.

 

[PaulR]

Everything I've read about Polyurea says it's VOC compliant, odor free, and dries in one day so you can move it all back in. That's one of it's key benefits. I've never heard of someone putting it over Epoxy though, sounds like you may have made a bad witch's brew. Were you instructed by either manufacturer or a professional that you could "mix" these two products successfully?

 

[Wanna Ride]

These types of fumes can be very strong. Humidity, temperature and rain can definitely play a factor in curing times. But remember... like all paints, epoxies, etc.... this is some potent stuff, you'll be able to smell it for a while. Leaving the doors open, if possible, offers strong ventilation and helps tremendously. A fan, to help circulate some air will help with this.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Men:

my 2 cents:

I wouldn't apply any coating without a NIOSH mask on.
You are gambling on someone else's good intentions.

Even with good ventilation, you are standing over a product that is involved in a chemical process.

Lastly, I would never recommend a poly-aspartic (fast cure urethane) to anyone other than a seasoned pro. I am not putting anyone down, they are HARD to deal with and the experience you gain from putting down a few million square feet of coatings will only give you a slight advantage.

 

[6th Gear]

The product is Epoxy-Coat. I got 3 kits of epoxy and 2 polyurea, all in white.

Then I was mixing slightly off on the epoxy for the first 1/3 of the floor, http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71224

So the first 1/3 of the floor is thicker on the epoxy coat. Christine said it would take longer to cure, but as long as it started to cure (which it had) then it would be fine to apply the polyurea top coat in the 18-24 hr window. So perhaps the epoxy curing slower is causing the polyurea above it to cure slower as well? The back 1/3 still feels a little softer than the rest, so I am thinking it is still curing.

The rain stopped and I've has the windows open last week and doors open this weekend and the smell has gotten much better.

Everyone who has come over lately thinks that the floor is still wet because it is so glossy!
I pulled a car in yesterday, but still going to wait longer before driving on the back 1/3 where the epoxy was thicker.

 

[Cruzin90]

Some polyaspartics (polyurea) contain solvents, some contain a small amount of solvents, some don't contain any solvents. So, not sure about the brand you used, but the solvents will gas off.

One of the polyurea components is isocyanate. Once it mixes with the resin and allowed to cure (moisture cure), it's harmless, but before it's mixed and cured, it's best not to let it touch your skin and you should not breath it.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Very true Cruzn. Our product has very little smell, in fact our (2) biggest users of the Legacy Industrial "PolyAspartic" work in FOOD STORAGE FACILITIES!!