Quikrete dumb questions

[samptari]

I'm looking to epoxy my garage floor, and bought the Quikrete kit. But I have a history of making dumb mistakes on home projects, so I thought I'd come here with some pre-install questions in the hope that this can go smoothly for me.

Some background:
The floor was new in 2007. There is some surface staining, but no major cracking. There is brand new concrete (poured a week ago) along the perimeter, due to recent foundation repair.

Here are my dumb questions:
1. How long do I need to wait for the new concrete to cure before applying epoxy? I've been told everything from 72 hours to 3 months.

2. Will there be an issue applying epoxy to a floor made up of both newer and older concrete?

3. Is there a prevailing opinion about the Anti-Skid additive? I think I'd prefer texture to ice-rink smooth, but does it increase the risk of chipping & peeling?

4. Since prep is 98% of a successful install, is what's included in the Quikrete kit enough, or do I need to do something in addition to their prep instructions?

5. What's the most important thing I need to do or not do?


Thanks!

 

[nissan_crawler]

i did valspar (now quikrete) on my 50+ year old floor that was covered in 2" of dirt, grease, and oil.

I spent 13 hours pressure washing (19x23), with 6 gallons of purple power, t boxes of tri-sodium phosphate, and a gallon of acid. I let it sit a week before I put the epoxy down.

It's still on there 8 years of hard use later. I put the first coat down, sprinkled anti-skid on top, then put a second coat on. The floor at work has no anti-skid, and if somebody so much as sweats on the floor, you'll split your sack walking across it. No thanks. I didn't use much, it's still not a big deal to sweep, and I clean up oil spills with blue shop towels with no problem.

I can't answer your question on concrete cure time, but I would be waiting more than 3 days for sure.

 

[pima67]

I think that you should wait for at least 28 days for the new concrete to essentially fully cure. I used Quikrete color epoxy on the wide steps (3 ft & 4 ft) on two sides of my garage and used the clear kit on top of the color coat. The clear kit had a non-slip additive and it gives the floor a sandpaper feel (about a 60-80 grit). If your floor seldom or never gets wet, you may not need the non-slip additive.

 

[mato]

1. How long do I need to wait for the new concrete to cure before applying epoxy? I've been told everything from 72 hours to 3 months.

28 days

2. Will there be an issue applying epoxy to a floor made up of both newer and older concrete?

No, as long as the newer concrete is fully cured and they are both cleaned and prepped

3. Is there a prevailing opinion about the Anti-Skid additive? I think I'd prefer texture to ice-rink smooth, but does it increase the risk of chipping & peeling?

No, will not have any affect on chipping or peeling

4. Since prep is 98% of a successful install, is what's included in the Quikrete kit enough, or do I need to do something in addition to their prep instructions?

I always say/recommend shot-blasting as best prep method, some don't want to go to that measure

5. What's the most important thing I need to do or not do?

I would say Prep!
Also, make sure you are fully mixing part 'A' and 'B' together, common mistake which could cause failure