We will be applying a full-flake epoxy to my shop floor in a few weeks and I have a few questions:
- I am going to open up a trench in the floor to install electrical conduit and a floor box. The trench will be about 10' long x 3" wide x 4" deep. This should have been done months ago but it got overlooked. What would be the best product to patch the trench that will cure the quickest with minimal shrinkage?
- What kind of floor scraper should I buy to knock down the flakes?
- I have a 9" diameter electric drywall sander and am considering sanding the flake; what are the pros and cons of doing so? Is it necessary or not recommended?
- I'm considering adding the anti-slip grit to the first coat of the clear top coat, then rolling the second coat without any grit. I'm concerned that the grit will make it difficult/annoying to sweep or wipe up spills so I don't want it too aggressive. However, I hear that sawdust makes the floor extremely slippery so I need to add the grit. Thoughts?
1. "What would be the best product....?" 2 gal of Wolverine's
TrowelEase 1162 combined with 70lbs fine kiln dried sand. 100% solids epoxy based mortar will not shrink.
2. As CoRestore noted a dedicated floor scraper or, if you've got one lying around, a CLEAN square point shovel also works well. Scrape north-south then east-west and don't be shy with the pressure. Sweep, vacuum and blow it out with an electric weed blower then walk any questionable areas in your socks. If they get snagged up or you feel sharp edges hit the area again.
3. When the "sheet of glass" finish is the goal, pro's will sand the flakes with a 175rpm floor maintainer w/ 120grit sanding screens prior to applying a clear epoxy flood coat. This can get tricky though as you risk sanding off too much and exposing the underlying epoxy coat. The only way to do this safely is going with a double flake broadcast but that's a whole other conversation.. Just do a thorough scrape of the flakes as noted above.
4. If you're going with a
full flake broadcast you'll need to either apply a flood coat of
clear epoxy or minimum of two coats of your clear wear coat (in our case
EnduraShield 2254 urethane). Traction additive always goes into the last coat. We've offered many types of traction additive in the past and have settled on
SpheriTex because it offers the best balance as it relates to added traction, ease of cleaning, abrasiveness, and durability. SpheriTex is comprised of micro glass spheres so there are no sharp edges to catch mops or... skin and it will not distract from the beauty of the urethane clear coat given that it is glass. It will add a pleasant glare reducing matte finish when viewed on the horizon but virtually disappears when looking down at your feet. My experience is that the stipple finish produced by a full broadcast flake is not enough and we highly encourage SpheriTex on all our urethane top coated systems.
