Set me straight about SW Epoxy Options

[Chicago Jeff]

Hi everyone!

New to the forum and I love what I have found so far! So much great information to be had!

Anyway, I was hoping I could get some feedback from people who have DIYed their garage floors with Sherwin Williams Products. I have a 2 car gargage, roughly 500 SF. I am finishing up the drywall clean up (fixing holes and redoing seems) and will be ready for paint hopefully in a week. After that, it is on to the floor and I am looking for any past experiences that members may have.

I have done the big box store epoxy kits in the past on old houses. They are simple enough, mix parts a and b, roll on, flake, and apply clear afterwards. Same result, after a year I always end up with tire peel or something.

I am looking into the SW brands of flooring that i have seen used here and there through out the forum. SW has a good broucher that is located here:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&allowInterrupt=1&dDocName=SW-PDF-ARMORSEAL

Can anyone help with what they have had success with in the past? Do I need a base, not need a base? How many coats of what type? Does any base go with any top coat? Do you have to use a clear coat?

I know that I want to flake the finish, not sure if it will be 100% or not. I appreciate feedback on what SW products you might have installed and how they are doing.

 

[bdamico]

spend an afternoon reading some epoxy threads and try a search. I can guess why your other attempts failed right off the bat unless you are oversimplifying how you applied them and the same thing will happen again unless you spend a little time reading up on "prep."

 

[Chicago Jeff]

Indeed I oversimplified my prior attempts. No need to hash out why they may or may not have worked, but I plan on doing it "right" this time. Doing a lot of reading on the prep here, and I think acid etching will be the way to go for my situation.

Still having a hard time getting a straight forward "this is what I used" when it comes to SW epoxy products. If someone can give me more than "search the forums" it would be appreciated. Maybe I am not looking for the right words but not seeing a lot of clear cut information on SW product combinations.

 

[shaun oriold1]

I'm just guessing that the majority of the people on here are not using SW product ( though they do have a great moisture primer) Guys like Legacy or Armour Coat, promote their product - And they're willing to help out with trouble, and stand behind it too. Your local SW probably wont. I know the SW near me has students working there -I dont think they can help me if needed.

IF you're re-doing your floor You're better off to grind the floor, than acid wash it. IT will give a more consistent profile so the epoxy has the best change of "biting" into the concrete.

You're going to want an epoxy basecost - Ideally with a primer- though not necessary. From there you can put a decorative flake into the floor. Buy the flake from Torginol. Then put on a top coat. Either a Urethane, or a Polyaspartic. Epoxy top coat will yellow over time. Polyaspartic will be a nicer, and stronger top coat. Urethane is thin, so you'll want a couple of top coats. SW probably has a base/top coat combination which they can tell you about. I dont know their product offerings that well.

 

[2thdoc01]

I have a garage floor that is 3 years old, which had a concrete stain applied. The stain lifted and then the guy doing my driveway drove a small steam roller in the garage and messed up the surface even more.

Fast forward to now.

I rented a diamondbrush from HD and tried to strip the floor that way. See Pics. It worked ok, but not great.

Then a friend of mine, who owns a commercial painting company sent over guys with a shot blaster. That did the trick much better. see pic

Now, they didn't get all of the stain off, but the surface is definitely rough. And they had to hand grind the edges.

He chose to use SW Macropoxy 646, color chips, then two coats of Armourseal Rexthane I

I hope this stuff sticks, but it is meant for heavy industrial use and is chemical resistant.

I will post pics when it is done.....

 

[Chicago Jeff]

Thank you for your help guys. I am interested in more information on the Legacy products now, so I am going to be looking into that closer.

 

[Ainsley]

I work at an industrial facility and we use SW products exclusively. The rep is in at least once a month. I've had my guys apply the macropoxy 646 as a primer then the Armorseal 1000HS top coat and we have not had any problem with it. We use it in a foot traffic area, so its not like we're driving the solid tire lift trucks over it all day.
The rep suggested the macropoxy 646 over the armorseal 33 primer simply because of cost and similar performance.
When I get my floor prepped I'm going to use the same system.
As a side note I've also used the armorseal tread-plex water based coating in the basement of my house and it works quite well... I would definitely go with a two part epoxy for the garage though.

 

[falcon64]

At my work they put down rexthane over bare concrete after a diamond cut. A drain leaked on it and it peeled off the floor. Because of that incident alone i wont use their products

 

[benwah]

Sherwin-Williams has some great products, and some not-so-good ones.

Macropoxy 646 is an OK coating for a primer, if I remember correctly it's around 66-70% solids by volume. You'd prob still want to thin it down a bit before applying it. I personally would never use them, but I have a bias towards SW so that doesn't matter.

I've seen the same with Rexthane out here in the desert. You have to be in the correct environment with moisture cured urethane's . They can definitely be a hassle if they're not applied at the correct mil thickness and in the correct environment.

In all honestly, I would use Legacy. I don't think I've seen a failure on this site, products seem quality and you have great customer service right on this forum.

 

[Chicago Jeff]

I think I am starting to lean to Legacy, thanks so much for everyone's recommendations.

Does anyone know the temperature specs for Legacy? It is getting cold here in Chicago, only 41 for a high tomorrow....brrr. I imagine there will be more temps in the 60s, which is when I would be looking to do the primer, epoxy, and clear. I seem to understand there needs to be low relative humidity and no large temperature swings, so 60 during the day and mid-40s at night ok? My garage is attached to my house and I can use a propane heater to keep the room warm. I know the ground temperature isn't varying a ton, so I hope to be able to do the epoxy before the snow flies here.

 

[benwah]

check with Legacy on cure time and temps.

A propane heater emits carbon monoxide and would not be recommended during the curing process

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I think I am starting to lean to Legacy, thanks so much for everyone's recommendations.

Does anyone know the temperature specs for Legacy? It is getting cold here in Chicago, only 41 for a high tomorrow....brrr. I imagine there will be more temps in the 60s, which is when I would be looking to do the primer, epoxy, and clear. I seem to understand there needs to be low relative humidity and no large temperature swings, so 60 during the day and mid-40s at night ok? My garage is attached to my house and I can use a propane heater to keep the room warm. I know the ground temperature isn't varying a ton, so I hope to be able to do the epoxy before the snow flies here.

You still have time to go and we supply coatings 12 mos a year lol.
Yes, warm it up, gradually. Brought up too fast and too warm and you can cause a sweat.

The cooler temps will extend your cure times.

 

[Chicago Jeff]

Ok, this forum and all your information has me going Legacy now. Scotty, what is the best way to get a quote for you? Call, email or pm?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Jeff:

email is great:
[email protected]

 

[2thdoc01]

2 coats of Macropoxy with chips. 2 coats of Rexthane to come next.

 

[jaye944]

I'm just guessing that the majority of the people on here are not using SW product ( though they do have a great moisture primer) Guys like Legacy or Armour Coat, promote their product - And they're willing to help out with trouble, and stand behind it too. Your local SW probably wont. I know the SW near me has students working there -I dont think they can help me if needed.

IF you're re-doing your floor You're better off to grind the floor, than acid wash it. IT will give a more consistent profile so the epoxy has the best change of "biting" into the concrete.

You're going to want an epoxy basecost - Ideally with a primer- though not necessary. From there you can put a decorative flake into the floor. Buy the flake from Torginol. Then put on a top coat. Either a Urethane, or a Polyaspartic. Epoxy top coat will yellow over time. Polyaspartic will be a nicer, and stronger top coat. Urethane is thin, so you'll want a couple of top coats. SW probably has a base/top coat combination which they can tell you about. I dont know their product offerings that well.

^^^^ what he said

 

[Chicago Jeff]

Thanks Jay and Doc for the input, I will look at those options!

 

[atldjm]

2 coats of Macropoxy with chips. 2 coats of Rexthane to come next.

First timer here..
I work for SW so I would like to use the Macropoxy and Rexthane.
Did you get it tinted, or is that the Macropoxy color? How long did you wait to dry between coats? How long did you wait to drive on it? Did you get the flakes from SW or somewhere else? How do you apply the flakes?

Thanks,
Don

 

[Toomanytools?]

First timer here..
I work for SW so I would like to use the Macropoxy and Rexthane.
Did you get it tinted, or is that the Macropoxy color? How long did you wait to dry between coats? How long did you wait to drive on it? Did you get the flakes from SW or somewhere else? How do you apply the flakes?

Thanks,
Don

You know the post is like 3 years ago?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You know the post is like 3 years ago?

HE DUG DEEP!!!