Virgin concrete prep?

[Marty256]

Does anyone here know what has to be done to virgin concrete prior to expoxy coating? The slab has been down for thirty days. There are no stains and I haven't driven on it yet. I wouldn't think I'd have to use cleaner maybe just light etching?

 

[z28toz06]

Do you have a super smooth glass like finish? Iwould figure out which product you are using and check their recommendations. If it is super smooth you will probably need to diamond grind it to rough up the surface. Then just clean it with muriatic acid. You should let it dry for at least 60 days before epoxy. MAke sure there is no moisture coming up befor you epoxy. PLace a 2 or 3 square foot piece of clear plastic on the floor and see if any moisture beads up underneath. If it does its not dry yet. if you do it too soon it will not adhere and waste a lot of money

 

[boiler7904]

I was in the same situation last year. 28 days is the absolute minimum before coating new concrete - the longer you can wait the better. My slab ended up curing about 3 months before it got coated.

You likely have a sealer which has to come off to let the epoxy penetrate the concrete. Prep for your slab will depend on the product you decide to use.

For Rust Oleum EpoxyShield Pro, I scraped and swept the floor before scrubbing with Simple Green and water to get rid of loose dirt and drywall compound. Then I scrubbed twice with a 4:1 mix of muriatic acid and water. I let it dry for a week before taping a couple pieces of plastic down to make sure I wasn't getting moisture through the slab. Then it was filling cracks / holes, and applying per instructions.

 

[Marty256]

What is involved in diamond grinding the floor? There is a shine on parts of the floor indicating too smooth of a surface.

 

[Skinny_Blinky]

What is involved in diamond grinding the floor? There is a shine on parts of the floor indicating too smooth of a surface.

This super slick shiney floor comes from a curing compound / sealer, which is what you do not want. I think the fine folks here are indeed saying you got a trowel or a machined finish in lieu of a broom type looking finish (thus the shiney look). If you have a slab placed with no surface curing compound or sealer (no matter what type of finish), there is no need to do any scarifing. Concrete is porous enough to adhere a top coat. With any liquid compound, it will adhere and penetrate to a degree through capillary action. In my opinion, I'd not worry a bit about prepping the floor, other than to clean it and make sure it's dry to air. Concrete will always be in a hydration process (curing), for many years to come. After 30 - 90 days, most of the hydration has served it's purpose. The continuing hydration is just the chemical process itself (by design), serving no further significant purpose.

By the same token and topic, it would not hurt the floor at all to scarify it. I say this only from working as InJunere for more than several years in the power industry in construction of concrete floors and walls. $0.02


To answer your question, diamond grinding is renting a floor grinder with diamond (or hard embedded grains of material) impregnated discs (for the hardness of the disc) and roughing up the surface.

Everyone here has good information. It's a matter of preference and decision.

 

[mjohnson327]

I cannot get the Rustoleum brand concrete patch and repair locally.What else can i use to repair these small imperfections

 

[boiler7904]

I cannot get the Rustoleum brand concrete patch and repair locally.What else can i use to repair these small imperfections

I'd call R.O. tech support to see what they recommend as a compatible product. The number is 800-323-3584.

 

[Marty256]

Well I placed my order yesterday with Epoxy-Coat, one and a half kits. I also ordered three extra pounds of flakes. I know its probably too much but I’d rather be over than under. I spoke to a young lady, Nicole, who seemed very knowledgeable. She recommended grinding the floor first, a thorough washing then drying with a leaf blower prior to application. This really blew me away, Nicole told me the order would be shipped the same day and I would have it in two days. I received an email this morning with my UPS tracking number. I went to the UPS web sight and scheduled delivery is tomorrow. If the stuff works as good as the customer service I’ll be more than pleased.

 

[V-10 Killer]

I just picked my Epoxy-Coat up last week and will be applying it this weekend. Good luck to us both!

 

[Tim3927]

Yes, good luck to both of you, Marty256 and V-10 Killer. Please let us know if you discover any additional nuggets of knowledge!

I pick up my Rustoleum Epoxy Pro tomorrow, and plan on doing the cleaning, prep, and finally 2 coats, 1 layer of chips, and at least on coat of clear (most likely 2) in a couple weeks.

Tim

 

[Skinny_Blinky]

.........She recommended grinding the floor first, a thorough washing then drying with a leaf blower prior to application.

Based on the facts that you have left assumed, your floor does not have a sealer or curing finish. Why in hecks name would you want to scarify a perfectly good porous surface only to achieve the same man-made porous surface, both in any manner serving the same purpose?


I quit.

 

[Marty256]

I tried the water experiment allowing a drop of water to sit on the surface and its soaked right into the concrete. Therefore I must agree with Blinky. I do have some trowel marks that I’d like to clean up so I may rent a small grinder just to knock them down prior to coating. That’s why I love this web sight. I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m relying on those who have gone before me for insight.

 

[Marty256]

Floor all prepped and ready to go for this weekend. The instructions make it seem simple to apply but I must admit I'm a little apprehensive. Hope it comes out like some I've seen here.

 

[ChargedGN]

I'm in the same boat as you, nice new shiney floor that I need to scuff up this weekend. I'm also going with Epoxy-Coat, what color did you go with? Post pics and how the procedure went.

 

[Marty256]

I went with the gray. Its raining like hell here in S. Jersey today with humidity near 100%. I called the 800 number for Epoxy Coat and they told me no way should I put the stuff down with that kind of humidity. Something about bubbles forming on the surface. I think I'll put it off til next weekend. Its not worth taking a chance.

 

[comp]

I went with the gray. Its raining like hell here in S. Jersey today with humidity near 100%. I called the 800 number for Epoxy Coat and they told me no way should I put the stuff down with that kind of humidity. Something about bubbles forming on the surface. I think I'll put it off til next weekend. Its not worth taking a chance.

good idea ,,don't forget pics of the work

 

[Skinny_Blinky]

I went with the gray. Its raining like hell here in S. Jersey today with humidity near 100%. I called the 800 number for Epoxy Coat and they told me no way should I put the stuff down with that kind of humidity. Something about bubbles forming on the surface. I think I'll put it off til next weekend. Its not worth taking a chance.

Yes Sir, good decision. It's like anything else needing to dry, the mositure content has to have a place to go. At 100% (or thereabouts), that leaves little room in the air for evaporation. Thus the bubbles......

As they say in East TN, "You dun good!"

 

[Skinny_Blinky]

I'm in the same boat as you, nice new shiney floor that I need to scuff up this weekend.

Only if you have a curing sealer or finish sealer on the concrete. If the concrete is still virgin, it can have a nice finish and still not need any extensive preperation.

However, your mileage may vary and it would not hurt the process with any preperation, but man it's a lot of work grinding / sanding, or etching.

 

[Marty256]

Well I finally got around to putting down the epoxy coat on half of my garage floor. The ambient temps were around fifty five to sixty but I think the concrete may have been a bit cooler. Temps dropped to around forty here last night. I mixed the half kit as per instructions and spread it on the floor at the door end of the garage. I cut in around the garage door tracks and the corners and began pulling the mixture back with the squeegee. The stuff was as thick as molasses and I had a hard time spreading the stuff. I had to keep going back over the pour area with the squeegee and still it seemed too thick. I used the roller to try and move the stuff back to where I hadn’t been able to spread the mixture and managed to thin it out a little but I still think it left the thickness greater on one end than the other. The instructions say you can thin the mixture but only below 70 degrees. I guess I’ll thin the next batch before trying to spread it. Where the mixture is thickest I noticed some bubbles forming about two to three hours after the stuff was down. The instructions said to take a leaf blower and blow across the surface to remove bubbles. They did pop but left small craters behind. Really not too noticeable with the flakes on the floor. I had a set of the spiked shoes that I use to surf fish the jetteys here in Jersey they really came in handy as I had to walk on the floor to try and spread the epoxy. Photos to follow.

 

[Marty256]

here is a photo

 

[ChargedGN]

So you would say to thin it out a little with the colder temps? Just ordered my kit and am in the same boat with temps between 40-65. Will probably start next week sometime as I just got done etching it last weekend now waiting for the kit to show up in the mail.

 

[Marty256]

yes thinning would be my recommendation. also i tried to pick up one of those driveway coating squeegees but HD and Lowes were out of them and wouldn't be getting any more in this season so I went with the whimpy squeegee that came with the kit. It seemed too small and some of the coating would run over the top in areas where it was too thick. I'm going to try and pick up one of those driveway squeegees at a smaller hardware store before I do the other half.