Question about RustBullet Application

[b-boy]

I think I asked a similar question on someone else's thread a long time ago, so I apologize if this is a duplicate.

I'm finally getting to my RustBullet installation this weekend. It's about a year behind schedule. I've prep'd the floor, and I'm waiting for it to dry.

My plan is to do the floor this coming Sunday, and finish on Monday. I've got 2 coats of color, plus 2 coats of clear, plus flakes.

My garage is 30'x40'. I'm doing 80% of the floor now, and will finish the rest the following weekends. I had to do some creative rearranging to free up the floor space. I will stop at the expansion joints, so the transition shouldn't look too bad.

My main concern is application temps. It's cold here (Buffalo NY). My garage is heated. I can get the temps into the mid 70s without a problem. The place will be warm when I start.

I have a standard 60K 96% furnace heating the space. It's vented from the outside, so the combustion chamber is pretty much sealed. The furnace is walled off from the main area. I built a small utility room to house it.

I'm concerned about the volatility of Rust Bullet fumes. I'd like to have the furnace running to keep the place warm, but is this dangerous? I'll have windows open for fresh air.

I'd prefer not to blow myself up. Any similar experiences with RustBullet?

 

[Garage Flooring]

I think I asked a similar question on someone else's thread a long time ago, so I apologize if this is a duplicate.

I'm finally getting to my RustBullet installation this weekend. It's about a year behind schedule. I've prep'd the floor, and I'm waiting for it to dry.

My plan is to do the floor this coming Sunday, and finish on Monday. I've got 2 coats of color, plus 2 coats of clear, plus flakes.

My garage is 30'x40'. I'm doing 80% of the floor now, and will finish the rest the following weekends. I had to do some creative rearranging to free up the floor space. I will stop at the expansion joints, so the transition shouldn't look too bad.

My main concern is application temps. It's cold here (Buffalo NY). My garage is heated. I can get the temps into the mid 70s without a problem. The place will be warm when I start.

I have a standard 60K 96% furnace heating the space. It's vented from the outside, so the combustion chamber is pretty much sealed. The furnace is walled off from the main area. I built a small utility room to house it.

I'm concerned about the volatility of Rust Bullet fumes. I'd like to have the furnace running to keep the place warm, but is this dangerous? I'll have windows open for fresh air.

I'd prefer not to blow myself up. Any similar experiences with RustBullet?

You need to call Rust Bullet on this. Last I checked they were 30-40% solvents. I can't imagine them saying this is ok, but call them

 

[b-boy]

I spoke to RustBullet. I explained my setup and my concerns. I mentioned that I had a forced air furnace with fresh air intake for combustion.

They said it won't be a problem running my furnace when I'm working. In fact, they indicated that keeping the temperature steady would be preferred. They did mention that I should keep the open containers away from any open flames.

I will have the windows and doors open to allow for some fresh air.

 

[b-boy]

What's the best way to clean this stuff up? I plan on just tossing the roller covers and brushes, and I've got gloves. How do I clean up any accidental spills?

Edit - looks like xylene is the stuff to use.

 

[Garage Flooring]

What's the best way to clean this stuff up? I plan on just tossing the roller covers and brushes, and I've got gloves. How do I clean up any accidental spills?

Edit - looks like xylene is the stuff to use.

Order some of their solvents or use Xylene. Once it's dry it's not going to clean up. That includes your skin -- not to clean with solvents but not to get it there

 

[b-boy]

I've found differing opinions about how to apply anti-skid. One camp says to mix it into the final clear coat. The other says to sprinkle it on top of the final layer of clear coat.

Any opinions either way?

 

[b-boy]

I did my application this weekend. Overall, the first few coats of solid went well. I got excellent coverage and it looked really good.

I had issues with the Clear Coat. My 5-gallon pail was not in great shape. The clear coat was the consistency of honey. You could see that evaporation had occurred. There was maybe 4 gallons of liquid in the 5-gallon pail. The gallon cans were fine. The material has been sitting in a controlled environment for about a 1.5 years. Based on RustBullet's website, their products have at least a 2 year shelf life.

The result is that I was only able to do about half my floor. I'm trying to source more concrete clear coat, but it's out of production.

Hopefully I can find more.

I'm not too thrilled.

 

[b-boy]

I have a call into the company.

Does anyone know if I can apply Duragrade Clear as an alternative?

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have a call into the company.

Does anyone know if I can apply Duragrade Clear as an alternative?

We had two instances of bad material on the 5 gallon containers when we sold it. In both cases the manufacturer replaced the product .

Duragrade clear was replacing standard clear when we dropped the line. It may look slightly different from areas coated with regular clear. You also need to check because you have exceeded max recoat times


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[b-boy]

Thanks for the response. I just spoke to the company.

They want me to take pictures of the containers that have issues. I also have to take pictures of the lot #s on the bottom of the cans.

I had a 5 gallon container that had about 4 gallons of sludge in it. I also had a 1 gallon container that I haven't opened yet, but it sounds completely solid.

I hope they take care of me. They won't commit to anything until I send the photos.

They said that I could use the Duragrade clear over the old stuff without a problem. I'll have to scuff the entire 1200 sq ft before applying it. I never thought about differences in appearance, but since I'm planning for 2 coats of clear it might not matter.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Thanks for the response. I just spoke to the company.

They want me to take pictures of the containers that have issues. I also have to take pictures of the lot #s on the bottom of the cans.

I had a 5 gallon container that had about 4 gallons of sludge in it. I also had a 1 gallon container that I haven't opened yet, but it sounds completely solid.

I hope they take care of me. They won't commit to anything until I send the photos.

They said that I could use the Duragrade clear over the old stuff without a problem. I'll have to scuff the entire 1200 sq ft before applying it. I never thought about differences in appearance, but since I'm planning for 2 coats of clear it might not matter.

If you are applying duragrade over the whole floor you should be in good shape for appearance. What they are going to look at for that white sticker is the manufacturer date.

Please make sure they review with you exactly what steps they want you to take. Preferably in an email. Then document that. Just in case something goes wrong.

 

[b-boy]

I sent the photos. This is what the product looked like.

 

[b-boy]

RustBullet is offering me 50% off the cost of Duragrade to replace the bad material.

They say that based on the manufacture date of the product, it's almost 2-years old. Apparently when I got the product it was already about 8 months old.

I'm arguing the point, but my guess is I'm going to have to pay for the replacement.

 

[Garage Flooring]

RustBullet is offering me 50% off the cost of Duragrade to replace the bad material.

They say that based on the manufacture date of the product, it's almost 2-years old. Apparently when I got the product it was already about 8 months old.

I'm arguing the point, but my guess is I'm going to have to pay for the replacement.

Thats tough. It is reasonable for a distributor to stock large amounts of products which means it will sit there. Often the manufacturer is not making a fresh batch either. Its also why we have a limit on how long a customer can have a product before returning it.

It sounds like you sat on the product for a year and they would not know for certain if the material was properly stored. As a consumer, I would push harder but as a business, I would feel like I was making an attempt to meet the customer in the middle.

 

[b-boy]

I went back to RustBullet and explained the timing, and they agreed to replace the product. I bought an extra gallon just in case.

I do understand their point of view, but I did spend a lot of money on materials for the floor. I contacted them when I decided to put the project on hold. They assured me there would be no problems, and that the product would be fine. No one even mentioned looking at the lot #. It has been stored properly.

I'm very happy with the outcome, and do appreciate their customer service.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I went back to RustBullet and explained the timing, and they agreed to replace the product. I bought an extra gallon just in case.

I do understand their point of view, but I did spend a lot of money on materials for the floor. I contacted them when I decided to put the project on hold. They assured me there would be no problems, and that the product would be fine. No one even mentioned looking at the lot #. It has been stored properly.

I'm very happy with the outcome, and do appreciate their customer service.

Awesome! Now nail down exactly what they want on the recoat


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[b-boy]

Waiting for a response on the instructions.

Thanks for your assistance with this. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[b-boy]

Never got a response after several attempts.

I finally got the replacement Duragrade Clear on Monday. Doing the final coat today. I'm going to scuff up the surface with 150 grit sandpaper and put down the final coat.

I did some minor repair work yesterday. I had a few spots where my color chips were mounded a little. I must have missed that area with the shop vac before the clear coat. I thought that might make for a weak area on the floor. I got a scraper and attempted to level out the raised spots. Holy ****. I almost died trying to put a dent in this stuff. It's really hard. I think I was worried about nothing.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Never got a response after several attempts.

I finally got the replacement Duragrade Clear on Monday. Doing the final coat today. I'm going to scuff up the surface with 150 grit sandpaper and put down the final coat.

I did some minor repair work yesterday. I had a few spots where my color chips were mounded a little. I must have missed that area with the shop vac before the clear coat. I thought that might make for a weak area on the floor. I got a scraper and attempted to level out the raised spots. Holy ****. I almost died trying to put a dent in this stuff. It's really hard. I think I was worried about nothing.

The big thing that you are working towards here in not having inter-coat adhesion issues. If it was my own floor, I would lightly sand as described, wipe down with solvent and then dry-wipe . I would make sure I did not introduce any water. I have seen issues with MCU where people wash the floor off and allow it to 'dry' but water is actually in joints or not dry and causes issues.

 

[b-boy]

Went out to check my floor, and there's a mouse stuck in it. Poor little guy is up to his knees. Apparently I've created the world's largest glue trap.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Went out to check my floor, and there's a mouse stuck in it. Poor little guy is up to his knees. Apparently I've created the world's largest glue trap.

patent it

 

[b-boy]

Just to close out this thread - I completed the other side of my garage using the Duragrade clear coat.

As mentioned previously, I had to split the garage into 2 areas.

75% was completed using the original concrete paint and 1 coat of the original clear coat , followed by a final top coat of the Duragrade clear 2 weeks later.

I just finished the last 25% this weekend. For this section I had to use the original concrete paint and 2 coats of the Duragrade clear. There's definitely a difference between the two sections. The original clear coat had more of a yellowish tint to it. The duragrade is much clearer. You can easily see the difference between the 2 sections.

I assume that as the floor gets more use, it will be difficult to tell the difference.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Without pictures, it never happened!