Technique for rolling epoxy on the floor?

[bmwpower]

So what's the key here? What's the proper technique?...

- Where do you start?
- How do you avoid roller lines where two painted areas come together?
- How big of area do you cover per dip of the roller?
- What sort of downward pressure do you put on the roller?

 

[GearHead_1]

I tried to paint about a 12 inch line next to the walls. I did this with a brush and for lack of better description just kinda slapped/slopped it on. My epoxy flowed pretty well and in seconds you couldn't see any brush strokes. I did this all the way around the tapped edge of the foundation that I was working so as to not have to come back to the brush. I would then start in a corner and work towards the middle. I tried to paint a swath about 10 ft. wide by 4 ft deep. That was about all the further I could throw decorative flakes with any type of uniformity. I tried to overlap the ending and the beginning (the 4 ft. area) by 10 inches or so. I didn't end up with any thin spots so it must have worked O.K. I would cover the roller pretty thoroughly by dipping in a 5 gallon bucket and apply light pressure, just enough to make sure the nap was getting into the concrete. I found that lots of paint on the roller worked well for me.

I'm sure that the pot life varies from product to product but I found that mine would start to get pretty thick after 30 or 40 minutes. I ended up mixing smaller amounts but adding new mix to the same bucket more often. This would thin the thickening mix and made it so that I had fluidity throughout the process.

I think that the line problem would be dependent upon how well your chosen product flows. The stuff I used would just blend and it was never an issue. If you're having a problem with lines maybe the mix is a little thick?

 

[Toolmaker]

I dipped the roller directly into a 5-gallon can of premixed Sherwin William’s 1000HS. Then applied (always in the same direction). Covering an area as far as one dipping would allow with rather heavy pressure on the roller. Immediately followed by a fresh dipping (again in the same direction) with little pressure on the roller. It would take two dippings to cover the first. The only way I found to eliminate “roller lines” and “orange peal” was to apply in very heavy coats. The IM Rep said that the best way to apply 1000HS was with a squeegee. But it takes a lot of experience to get good results and best left to the experts.

Purchase a pair of “spikes” from Sherwin William’s that you ******** your shoes. Pair of old golf shoes works as well. Then you can walk over a painted area for touchup or adding flakes. The small holes left by them will quickly disappear.

The low VOC epoxies are self-leveling and little care is needed to get good results. And results from them cannot be compared to Sherwin William’s 1000HS or similar epoxies. However they are not nearly as durable as the 1000HS.

 

[Toolmaker]

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[bmwpower]

How are you guys dipping a 9" roller in a 5 gallon bucket? Sideways? I've been using a roller pan.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I dipped the 9" roller directly into a 5-gallon can of premixed Sherwin William’s 1000HS. Then applied (always in the same direction). Covering an area as far as one dipping would allow with rather heavy pressure on the roller. Immediately followed by a fresh dipping (again in the same direction) with little pressure on the roller. It would take two dippings to cover the first. The only way I found to eliminate “roller lines” and “orange peal” was to apply in very heavy coats. The IM Rep said that the best way to apply 1000HS was with a squeegee. But it takes a lot of experience to get good results and best left to the experts.

Purchase a pair of “spikes” from Sherwin William’s that you ******** your shoes. Pair of old golf shoes works as well. Then you can walk over a painted area for touchup or adding flakes. The small holes left by them will quickly disappear.

The low VOC epoxies are self-leveling and little care is needed to get good results. And results from them cannot be compared to Sherwin William’s 1000HS or similar epoxies. However they are not nearly as durable as the 1000HS.