Prepping Floor for Epoxy

[Mvpjeff106]

On my new garage, I'm almost ready to make the epoxy purchase. Spoke to Justin at Garage Flooring and he was super knowledgeable and helpful with my questions.

When prepping the floor, has anyone had first hand experience with muriatic acid cleaning the floor prior to epoxy? I'm looking to purchase the True Lock Epoxy Kit with flakes and clear coat. Concrete floor is around 35 days old and was power troweled when poured. I would rather go the Muriatic Acid prep route with hot water pressure washing but if anyone had bad results, I could go the route of grinding.

Looking for any input. Thanks!!!

 

[Shea]

Etching your concrete with muriatic acid should work well for your situation. This is mainly due to the fact that the TrueLock epoxy kit comes with an epoxy primer as well. We have an article here on how to properly etch concrete with muriatic acid.

Pressure washing before hand is great for cleaning the concrete, however, be careful with how you use a pressure washer when acid etching. You don't want to use the pressure washer for rinsing the acid solution out of the concrete. It can drive the solution deeper into the concrete. Instead, neutralize the floor first and then rinse out with liberal amounts of water using a hose. You can then rinse with the pressure washer after that to help drive out remaining concrete residue and insoluble calcium phosphate (white powder).

Just remember that when using a pressure washer it will take longer for the concrete to dry since moisture is driven further into the substrate .

 

[James-W]

I was under the impression that the preferred method of preparing the floor is to grind it rather than use an acid etch. The acid etch will work reasonably well, but grinding the floor would be better in that the epoxy will adhere better.

 

[JStar4]

Grinding and cleaning well after is deff the best

 

[Shea]

Yep, grinding is the preferred method. No argument there. However, not everyone can do that and that's when acid etching comes in to play.

 

[Mvpjeff106]

Thanks Shea. No sealers were applied by the mason so being brand new, I just have accumulated saw dust and spackle that's on there.

 

[57JoeFoMoPar]

I ground the concrete in my garage prior to the epoxy install because I knew my car had been leaking oil on it. Grinding took care of most of everything and for the bad spots I just hit them with the acid as an extra measure. I put down the Armorpoxy Ultra 100% solids product, which has been incredible. No issues whatsoever with adhesion or durability. The floor grinder rental was about $200 through the local Home Depot for the day.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Just a reminder to all, if you grind, make sure to buy the matching primer from your supplier!

 

[vavet]

Make sure you rinse thoroughly. Get a squeegee to help push water out. A second person to squeegee while you rinse would be very helpful. You might also consider using a wet/dry vac.
I didn’t rinse well enough and I had to rinse again, scrub thoroughly again, and then wait for it to dry again. When in doubt, keep rinsing.