What prep is necessary for an epoxy treatment on a new house? I live in Arizona and just bought a new house and before the garage sees much traffic I want to epoxy the garage floor. Only concern I have is that the house is new (slab was poured sometime in July) and I dont want to ruin anything if the concrete isnt fully cured yet. What surface prep do I really need to do? I don't really want to have to grind or put any acid down.
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Prep for Epoxy treatment?
- Thread starter Grabbit
- Start date
FL_Javelin
Well-known member
Your slab is more than cured enough for epoxy. Prep is everything. Multiple threads here will attest to that. You will need to acid etch at the very least. I used a floor grinder but then I couldnt acid etch. Dont skimp on preperation
edit; and pray they used a vapor barrier
edit; and pray they used a vapor barrier
Last edited:
AlphaGarage
Well-known member
The concrete is fully cured in 30 days.
Even if the floor is new, most epoxy manufacturers recommend that you still profile the concrete before applying their product. Check product instructions.
Even if the floor is new, most epoxy manufacturers recommend that you still profile the concrete before applying their product. Check product instructions.
AlphaGarage
Well-known member
To "profile" refers to prepping the concrete surface so it has a good texture for the coating.
The correct profile is for the floor to have a 5 - 10 mil texture, that means that there's a spread of 5 - 10 mils from the low spots to the high spots. Of course that's difficult to measure, but an easy way to judge if you have the correct profile is to compare it to a sheet of 80 grit sandpaper. The grains on 80 grit sandpaper are 201 micrometers, which is about 7.91 mils, so it falls almost in the middle of the recommended range. If the floor feels like 80 grit paper - that's ideal.
Now then... even if you have a new floor, and the contractor managed to achieve a nice light broom finish of about 8 mils, you should still etch. This is because when the wet concrete is being finished salts and other chemicals can gather on the surface and inhibit the epoxy from really grabbing onto the concrete.
By etching, or mechanical grinding, the concrete surface is opened up, and that allows the epoxy to mechanically latch onto the hills and valleys. Quality coatings not only mechanically grab the concrete, but they also chemically bond to the concrete.
The correct profile is for the floor to have a 5 - 10 mil texture, that means that there's a spread of 5 - 10 mils from the low spots to the high spots. Of course that's difficult to measure, but an easy way to judge if you have the correct profile is to compare it to a sheet of 80 grit sandpaper. The grains on 80 grit sandpaper are 201 micrometers, which is about 7.91 mils, so it falls almost in the middle of the recommended range. If the floor feels like 80 grit paper - that's ideal.
Now then... even if you have a new floor, and the contractor managed to achieve a nice light broom finish of about 8 mils, you should still etch. This is because when the wet concrete is being finished salts and other chemicals can gather on the surface and inhibit the epoxy from really grabbing onto the concrete.
By etching, or mechanical grinding, the concrete surface is opened up, and that allows the epoxy to mechanically latch onto the hills and valleys. Quality coatings not only mechanically grab the concrete, but they also chemically bond to the concrete.
Well the surface feels somewhat like sandpaper, i would say closer to 100 grit but i think it will work.
I bought two Quikrete kits and applied the Bond-lok cleaner, etcher yesterday at about noon, rinsed a couple times till it ran clear. I was going to paint it before it got dark but it didn't look dry enough so i left it. Is it going to be a problem if i dont actually get to the paint until tomorrow, so a total of 48 hours since initial application of the Bond-lok. Does the etcher "expire" or cure?
I bought two Quikrete kits and applied the Bond-lok cleaner, etcher yesterday at about noon, rinsed a couple times till it ran clear. I was going to paint it before it got dark but it didn't look dry enough so i left it. Is it going to be a problem if i dont actually get to the paint until tomorrow, so a total of 48 hours since initial application of the Bond-lok. Does the etcher "expire" or cure?
AlphaGarage
Well-known member
???????????????
What does your manufacturer say????????????????????????????