Pre-epoxy prep

[OrneryDuck]

We're planning on having the garage floor urethane-epoxied this month with full-spectrum chips. In preparation we are moving everything out of the garage that isn't bolted down. That leaves the few items in the 'bolted down' category to sort out. The water heater, water filter and water holding tank all rest on the floor and are quite immovable as we cannot afford the 'up to 3 days' of no water in the home.

Going around them is our only option at present, but I am hoping they can be relocated within the garage down the road (better arranged and possibly additional features). If we are able to adjust things around in the future, can I have the bare areas under their present locations touched up without issue? Should I be worried about possible spills in the future affecting the untreated areas or causing 'lifting' at the edge between them?

Any other things to consider prior to the actual process?

 

[dcs Inc]

I would "key" it in. Take a 4" diamond blade saw and cut a line where you will be stopping the epoxy. Tape to the inside of this line. It doesn't have to be deep at all, just a score. Grind the slab.

 

[OrneryDuck]

We are having a company that specializes in floor coatings do the work. Their 'past work' examples seem well done. As long as they manage the quality I've seen from some of the professional outlets on here, I'll be happy. With that in mind, the actual surface prep and application should be in good hands (their hands). I just want to do everything I can to make their efforts as painless as possible for the sake of a better end product.

This is the general area, the water equipment is stored behind the red panels:

The tanks after removing the red panels:

From left-to-right:
-Water heater (immovable)
-Whole-house activated-carbon filter (immovable)
-Water holding tank, 80Gal (immovable)
-Chlorine inter-mix tank, 30gal (movable)
-Air compressor, 60gal (movable)

The intended coating from the contractors sample board:

We've decided on the green.

I like the idea of scoring around the area and masking it off. Any reason we couldn't accomplish this around the circumference of each tank or should we keep it simple and select a larger square area around all of the immovable items?

 

[dcs Inc]

You could probably paint brush in right up to the tanks. Go under the raised one as far as possible. I worry more about prep than anything else.

 

[OrneryDuck]

Floor is done. They started Monday at 10:30AM and were finished by 6:00PM.

First car went on it mid-day today; wife was a champ and got the air compressor in while I was at work.

We'll see how it holds up over time but initial impressions are high. The only complaint I can found, if I were to do so would be the inconsistent coverage on the walls. I was worried this might be an issue when we first considered the 'backsplash', but it is fairly minor overall.

 

[dcs Inc]

Looks great. Vertical surfaces are tough.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Great floor!

 

[OrneryDuck]

Vertical surfaces are tough.

Yep! Functionally the verticals/backsplash are sealed and protected just as well as the rest of the floor. The flakes were just too stubborn to stick with gravity acting against them and in such a high concentration, they were bound to be less consistent compared to the floor. I'm happy that we chose to do the vertical space as it looks fantastic as a whole. Given the opportunity to do it over again I'd take the same path.

Now I just have to get to work making the rest of the garage look half as good as the floor, but that is a story for another thread.