Question about new garage floor before starting epoxy project

[stollio]

Hello all -

First off I wanted to thank everyone for the informative posts; you have helped me immensely in deciding on my plan for epoxying my new garage floor.

We're closing on our new construction house next week, and during the final walk through they were explaining how they forced controlled cracks in the garage floor so that they would crack generally where they wanted them. I was distracted at the time and didn't think much of it until I got home. I then realized that every garage floor I had seen before had contraction joints that were cut, so that the cracks were recessed. Since this garage isn't cut and the cracks are right at the surface, I'm a little confused as to what I'm going to do with them. After a little reading, it seems like a 100% solids epoxy filler would allow the crack to stretch a bit. Does this seem like a good idea? With the floor being brand new, it seems like some settling and expansion of the crack is inevitable. Does it even make sense to apply my epoxy before allowing it to settle a bit? What are my options for cleaning up any cracking that happens post epoxy?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

In your case, let it go a little while.


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[Falcon67]

I waited 30 ish days, then just squished more coating in the cracks when i rolled tbe floor. No new cracks here.

 

[damgto1]

Hi Stollio,
Definitely wait about 30 days as that's the time for a full cure on concrete. If it's already been 30 days since it was poured then I recommend cleaning out the joints really well then sealing/filling them with a poly urethane caulk before applying epoxy to the floor. I would personally use either NP1 or BASF poly urethane. They have proven to me to be the toughest and strongest on the market. Also, poly urethane is much more elastic than epoxy. Good Luck.

 

[stollio]

Thanks for the suggestions.

The floor has been in for about 45 days. It's a pretty thin crack right now, maybe a mm. Not sure how much more settling to wait for, or how long

Is there anything you can do to clean it up if the crack pops open post-epoxy?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Unfortunately 100% solids epoxies will crack along with floor movement. They can always be touched up, but shade differences could occur between batches.

We do offer a flexible epoxy which has some give to it but it's more expensive, please contact us for details and pricing. Thanks!