Questions before my clear coat epoxy

[guyfantastic]

Hello! I decided to take the plunge and epoxy my garage. I went with the Rust-Oleum from Home Depot. To begin, the concrete was in decent shape, being only a few years old. There were no big oil spots, but some rust and occasional stains. To prep it, I did the citric acid from the kit, but that seemed unsatisfactory, so I did two rounds of muriatic acid - first with a 5:1 ratio, and then a 1:1 ratio. That got the 100-ish grit sandpaper texture I've heard to be good. I gave it a few days to dry, and did my first coat of colored epoxy from 10PM to midnight on Day 1. The next morning, I woke to find lots of bugs stuck in it (attracted by the lights while working) and lots of roller marks.

On Day 2, I put down the second coat of colored epoxy (with flakes this time) from 4:30-8PM. This morning, I woke to find roller marks, and what I assume are outgassing bubbles.

Today is Day 3, and I'm eyeing the final coat, which is the clear one with the added grit to prevent slipping.

Now that I made you read all that, here are my questions/concerns.

• I still see roller marks. Is that unfixable? Will it happen with the clear coat? Can I prevent that?
• Do I have to wait until nighttime to do the next coat in order to avoid outgassing? Then I'm going to get bugs again... Is there anything I can do to get rid of the ones I already have?
• When is the ideal time to do the next coat? The instructions say 16 hours-3 days before applying. Of course, I want to do it today if possible.

Thanks!

 

[mnavillus]

don't know why but bugs love garage floor applications!

How did you accomplish the surface preparations? prior to application?

 

[packpride85]

Did you use a primer? There was another thread on here I think about outgassing that was caused by lack of primer. Something like the air in the concrete pours getting trapped in the epoxy (because its thicker) vs being able to pass through the thin primer.

For the roller marks I'd google search. Lots of suggestions on how to avoid those. You could be putting the epoxy down to thin, pressing down, or going back over already dry areas. There are some good guidelines out there on how to roll epoxy and I'm sure others with more experience on here could chime in.

 

[guyfantastic]

To prep, I used, in this order: TSP, citric acid etching (from kit), muriatic 5:1 ratio, then muriatic 1:1 ratio. There was a lot of scrubbing and washing in between. I let the concrete dry for 4 days or so.

I didn't use a primer, but after researching outgassing, I wish I had. As far as pressing down too much, I can't really say. I don't think I did.

At any rate, I did the final coat this morning. I do expect roller marks, which is a bummer, but it's still a whole lot nicer looking than a stained concrete floor!

For people reading this looking for advice, here's what I learned:

• If you apply it at night, close off the area so bugs aren't attracted to your work light.
• Use a thin coating of epoxy primer before you put down the real epoxy coats.
• Consider getting a notched squeege to apply the proper thickness of epoxy.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Good summary Guy.