roller marks in polyaspartic

[millerbjm]

Hello everyone - I had a contractor finish-up the installation of the Graniflex system on my 800sq ft patio last night by applying the final polyaspartic topcoat. This was an expensive process from removing the previous surface to prep and then application of a primer, liquid rubber flood coat, base, flakes and top coat. In the end it looks pretty good but there are a number of pretty obvious roller marks in the topcoat - especially when viewed from an angle or in lower light. Am I crazy to think this in an unexceptable final product? Are these types of roller marks always present?

 

[grant00]

It kind of looks like they backrolled the sides towards the end from the two sides and completely missed the middle. Not sure if it's normal though per your original question but I would say no for the reason I said before.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Some marks will be present regardless of your skill level. However it looks a little helter-skelter.
Talk to the contractor about it.

 

[BadDogPSD]

I agree that it will never be perfect, but it should look better than that. The back rolling does look a little random, they should have walked the roller from one end to the other in a straight line. Polyaspartic sets up fairly quickly and they may have lost the battle against the clock.

 

[millerbjm]

Thanks for the info everyone! The contractor came highly recommended and he specializes in these exterior coatings so I was a little surprised. The whole thing was a bit strange from a communication standpoint as the employee who bid the job was fired or left before the work began and once I was dealing with the owner he was discussing shot plasting the old paint vs the guy who bid it talking about grinding off epoxy etc. I asked the owner to come out before starting to make sure we were on the same page and he then realized it was about 3 layers of paint/epoxy and about 800 sq ft so the prep price went up but he honored the previous application bid. Once he got started he seemed to just show up and leave without any real notice and was not talkative when I asked questions etc. I sent hima photo and just asked if this was normal or if it would look better after full cure and am waiting to see if/how he responds.

 

[FMB4]

I wonder if the "roller marks" will show much, if at all, once you have all of your patio furniture and BBQs, etc, etc, in place.

 

[millerbjm]

The contractor got back to me and said "as you put stuff on it and it gets some use, should become less noticeable. I called this morning and they changed some of the raw materials in the product due to shortages It doesn't flow out quite the same. Otherwise we can try sanding it and doing a coat of Ballistix" Does anyone have experience with Ballistix? Sounds like a spray-on ceramic coating?

 

[Walkers]

I would have a tendency to agree with him about it being not noticeable once you put all your stuff on it and start using it.

 

[millerbjm]

I would have a tendency to agree with him about it being not noticeable once you put all your stuff on it and start using it.

I agree but there is a part of me that says I shouldn't be paying $10,000 for a job not done to the promised level of visual appeal. I think if he offered a discount of some sort it would make me feel better about going with the higher cost bid that promised top quality. At this point I'm not sure though as sanding and spraying might loom better bit not last as long? Guess I'll have to think on it.

 

[millerbjm]

Update: contractor says he'll be out tomorrow to look at it and has a plan to fix it.

 

[Walkers]

I agree but there is a part of me that says I shouldn't be paying $10,000 for a job not done to the promised level of visual appeal. I think if he offered a discount of some sort it would make me feel better about going with the higher cost bid that promised top quality. At this point I'm not sure though as sanding and spraying might loom better bit not last as long? Guess I'll have to think on it.

Wow, that is quite a bill. I would expect perfection for that!

 

[Llws_2004]

How many topcoats of poly did they do? 1-2 topcoats you shouldnt see roller marks if done properly. As it gets some foot traffic it will be way less noticeable though.

 

[millerbjm]

How many topcoats of poly did they do? 1-2 topcoats you shouldnt see roller marks if done properly. As it gets some foot traffic it will be way less noticeable though.

Just 1 top coat. Maybe I should just leave it alone and let it age instead of allowing him to and it and re-apply..

 

[Llws_2004]

If they are willing to lightly sand and apply another topcoat free of charge I'd go for it. I always recommend a minimum of 2 topcoats. Poly is so thin 1 coat is just not enough imo. And hopefully they do a better job of rolling it on with another coat.

 

[Andy Smith Jr.]

That looks horrific. I would ask them to sand and apply another finish coat of clear at their expense.

 

[millerbjm]

Happy to report they came back and did a light sanding and applied a spray on coating of ballistix (he claims this coating is normally $6/sq ft) and it looks much better. I can still see the marks under certain conditions but I'm happy he made an effort.