Repairing Failed Epoxy Flooring

[CosmosMpower]

I put down the basic grey Epoxy coat kit before I moved into my house in July 2010. The house was built in 2007 but never sold/lived in until I bought it in May 2010. I did the proper etching, prep and laid the floor down.

It looked great for about a year when some spots started to come up. I contacted Epoxy-Coat and they were kind enough to send me a patch kit. The problem was it was from a different batch and was more or less blue instead of grey. Not ideal but I didn't really care since I just wanted the floor repaired.

A year later in 2012 I had some patch spots and new spots flake off again. What procedure do you all do to repair spots that come up? Should I try a different product? Previously I just acid etched the repair spots and applied like I did originally.

 

[bdamico]

I put down the basic grey Epoxy coat kit before I moved into my house in July 2010. The house was built in 2007 but never sold/lived in until I bought it in May 2010. I did the proper etching, prep and laid the floor down.

It looked great for about a year when some spots started to come up. I contacted Epoxy-Coat and they were kind enough to send me a patch kit. The problem was it was from a different batch and was more or less blue instead of grey. Not ideal but I didn't really care since I just wanted the floor repaired.

A year later in 2012 I had some patch spots and new spots flake off again. What procedure do you all do to repair spots that come up? Should I try a different product? Previously I just acid etched the repair spots and applied like I did originally.

maybe it's time to dump the whole thing since you're having so many problems already.

 

[e-tek]

Are they the same tire spots every time? Might need to park on carpet (or ?) pieces...

 

[pauloman]

could be the prep (did you wash off the acid completely?), could be additives in the cement, could be dust or dirt on the surface of the cement, could be a moisture issue in the cement (maybe no vapor barrier or damaged vapor barrier).

color not a batch issue. all epoxies yellow in UV and time, color today is not the color tomorrow.

paul progressive epoxy polymers inc

 

[CosmosMpower]

No it's not where the tires are (hot tire pickup) they are random spots. I acid etched the concrete and cleaned the hell out of it and let it dry. I did not detect any moisture, I installed it in summer in TX when it was 90F, it's really dry that time of year. Everything evaporates nearly instantly.

As far as the color I think it was just a different batch. The stuff I poured originally is still the same color more or less. The patch material had a blue tint from the get go and a year later it's still the same color as it was when I laid it down wet.

Let's say I want to strip it all off and re-do with a different kit. What would I need to do? Diamond grind the whole floor?

 

[bdamico]

No it's not where the tires are (hot tire pickup) they are random spots. I acid etched the concrete and cleaned the hell out of it and let it dry. I did not detect any moisture, I installed it in summer in TX when it was 90F, it's really dry that time of year. Everything evaporates nearly instantly.

As far as the color I think it was just a different batch. The stuff I poured originally is still the same color more or less. The patch material had a blue tint from the get go and a year later it's still the same color as it was when I laid it down wet.

Let's say I want to strip it all off and re-do with a different kit. What would I need to do? Diamond grind the whole floor?

yep. remove coating and prep. maybe remove coating and take opp to switch to porcelain tile... search for it here. I wouldn't waste time patching. sounds like you have prep problems and you'll be polishing that turd until you take it off. or, if you don't want to work, racedeck.

 

[CosmosMpower]

How much work is it to remove all the coating? I looked into Racedeck but it was expensive and I like to work on my car in the garage so spilled oil still soaks through and stains the concrete.

 

[Shea]

The fact that your epoxy is failing randomly and in different locations is a good sign that your floor was not profiled well enough for the epoxy to adhere to. You most likely will continue to have these issues as time goes on.

More than likely you will need to grind your floor to remove all the epoxy and profile your floor correctly if you want to continue with epoxy. If not, then you may want to consider a different flooring system as others here have suggested.

 

[CosmosMpower]

What are some alternatives to epoxy if I need the floor to be resistant to oil spills for working on the car etc?

 

[c7fx]

I would contact Racedeck they have a sweet deal here and it might solve your issue. Oil isn't an issue with the floor it will wipe up like on your epoxy. I actually epoxied my floor originally and looks good. My issue is that epoxy chips when I drop something like a hammer. I also have two handy lifts that would tear the floor up after a few up and downs.
So needless to say, I have 1/3 of my garage now with the freeflow tiles. I like it because they handle the abuse and if something happens to a tile its easily replaced for cheap. Also an added bonus since I epoxied my floor water doesn't stick around and flows to the drain.

 

[slickgt1]

What are some alternatives to epoxy if I need the floor to be resistant to oil spills for working on the car etc?

Porcelain tile. You would still stuff up that epoxy and remove the peeling stuff. Yes I have tiled over epoxy before. I really need to take some pics of that project.

And it will be oil proof, not just resistant, especially when combined with epoxy grout.

 

[AlphaGarage]

What are some alternatives to epoxy if I need the floor to be resistant to oil spills for working on the car etc?

A quality epoxy system will easily handle oil and most all other common shop liquids. In fact that's one of the primary benefits a well coated floor, which is why many chemical tanks and secondary containment systems are generally coated.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

For that matter a good acrylic sealer will resist oil.

 

[retrobuilder]

Have any concrete moisture problems? Often a problem for flaking of industrial epoxy floor coatings.