To sprinkle or not to sprinkle

[Larry Nall]

The new shop is coming along slowly but surely. The time to paint the concrete floor is approaching. Based on threads in SMC I'm going with the RustOleum two part epoxy, light brown color. I'm pondering whether or not to use the included sprinkles. They look kind of nice in the pictures but I've never seen any in person. I'm also thinking they might provide nice camoflage for small parts, screws, etc. that get dropped.

For those of you that have used the paint, which way did you go -
sprinkles or not?

Thanks

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
While I've never used it myself - I've sold rivers of "sprinkle" & "splatter" coatings.

You're correct, the sprinkles and/or other forms of "splatter" do hide small dropped articles.
That's why they are used.
Sprinkles & splatters hide imperfections in the substrate by breaking up the continous appearance.

If the substrate is smooth, then using the sprinkles is a simple matter of taste & what you like. If the surface has any irregularities, then the sprinkles will hide them.

[Ken Shoemaker]

I used it on my floor. Durability is great. I used the "sprinkles" but would not recomend it for the reasons you speak of. Two big benifits: 1) sweeping is great. You'll get the floor very clean. 2) let yellow glue harden and simply chip it and it pops right up. Not too many finishes will stick to it either.

As a side bar, the garage product is worthless. It started to fail after 1 year. If I had a "do over", I'd stain the concrete and Thompson Water Seal it. I think the look would be fine and the repair would be a snap.

Pictures when your done.... Ken

[Evan Shea]

I used it and it works great, I put the sprinkles in just because it looks nice. I does give it a little more texture also.

[Greg Shields]

I used the sprinkles on mine and I would do it again. One tip is to spread them with a handheld lawn fertilizer applicator. That way they get spread evenly...

[Mitchell Andrus]

Sprinkle sawdust... HAHAHAHAHA.

Really, I vote for the sprinkles.

[Dan Lawson]

I used the sprinkles, but do find that removing dirt and moisture (I live in a snowy area) with a squeegy a little more challenging. If I had it to do overagain, I would add a little sand because a wet epoxy floor gets a little slick for foot travel. It depends on your situation with casual water. Not a big deal either way in my estimation.

[Rick Levine]

Not to sprinkle. Just try to find a small screw you've dropped on the floor while repairing a motor or something.

[Rob Damon]

Ken Shoemaker quoted " I'd stain the concrete and Thompson Water Seal it."

Just wondering if anybody here has tried using the Thompson water seal or other concrete sealer other than the epoxy coat?
The concrete floor slab in my new shop has cured for about 60 days nows.
Any recommendations on how long one should wait before sealing it.


Thanks.

Rob

[Larry Nall]

So far three vs three.
Sounds like a matter of taste.
I have a small storage room.
Maybe I'll do a test patch before I decide.
Thanks for the fertilizer spreader idea.
I was wonder how to spread it evenly.

[Jeff Clow]

I painted my shop floor before this product came out. I used a 2 part epoxy masonary paint. The floor was new, cured about 2 months, then i washed & acid etched it before application. I have had no peeling in 15 yrs.
I was advised to add sand but did not. The surface is not a high gloss, but is smooth. It can get slick when wet, but the biggest problem I have is with sawdust, especially micro dust. I have slid and almost fallen several times. I have to wet mop from time to time to get up the micro dust that still seems to be there even after sweeping or vacuuming.
I would vote for sprinkles (or sand) just for the friction value.

[Amy Leigh Baker]

As far as appearance goes, I worked onsite for a general contractor who placed a snow white epoxy floor with royal blue sprinkles on about 60% of the 170,000 square foot pharmeucutical manufacturing plant we built. It was absolutely gorgeous. The majority of the plant was a clean room environment (particle-free), so once the owner came in they kept it
immaculate.

As far as slipping, I can see it getting pretty slippery when wet. I definitely would go with at least the sprinkles and maybe even sand if it's going to get wet often.

I probably have pictures of the floor.

[Ed Bamba]

Not to sprinkle. Just try to find a small screw you've dropped on the floor while repairing a motor or something.

A trick to finding small parts on the floor; get on all four, look across the floor with one eye about level with the floor (bug-view):eek:, scan the floor until you find said missing item. It looks funny, but it works.

I used the flakes and sand on my floor. It was tricky using the method described in the instructions. As a matter of fact, I screwed up in a few palces (way too much flakes). If you decided to use it, just throw the sprinkles up in the air and let it rain down onto the wet paint.

Ed