Garage Floor Epoxy Coating.

[Ian Parish]

Ok, So here is my story. Over the past two months I have been trying to get my garage floor epoxy coating done. I researched it on here and went with the Rustoleam Professional 2 part epoxy coat in gloss silver and gray.

I didn't really want the gloss or think I was getting it until I got the stuff.

I spent about 2 months cleaning out the garage of all the new construction supplies and power washing the floor. I then acid washed the floor with muriatic acid. I left it dry for 1/.5 weeks. It is cold here in Utah but the garage is closed in and I have a double heating system and have have kept it at 50 degrees or higher.

So I put down 8 gallons of this stuff from 4 kits. This actual application took 8-12 hours about 2-3 hours for start, mix, wait, paint cleanup, relax.

AND NOW FOR MY DISAPPOINTING results.

Each kit did the same thing. The floor came out Blotchy, or streaked, or 1/2 really glossy and nice then lines all dull and matte finished. It looks like the streaks where I pour the paint out of the bucket, or where I poured the acid on the floor to etch it.

I am thinking I will put a clear coat over it, I will try this on one section to see what kind of results I get. But this will double my cost and add to my efforts.

Anyone else have this result?

I know it is just a garage or shop floor, but man I have worked hard[IMG]file:///F:/DCIM/100MSDCF/DSC05056.JPG[/IMG] to see a mixed result.

[Adam Strong]

That looks like the result of the acid treatment... Not sure one coat of the clear will go on thick enough to fill the porosity and give a nice smooth sheen.

[David Hawxhurst]

when i did my floor the directions said to paint the floor while it was still damp and apply a second coat 24 hrs later. i am not familiar with any floor coatings that are one coat coating. i believe the temp needs to above 50 degrees (concrete temp) not just ambient air temp. before adding a clear coat i would contact the manufacture and see what they have to say. i think that a second coat when the floor is above 50 degrees would probably even out the look.

[Ian Parish]

when i did my floor the directions said to paint the floor while it was still damp and apply a second coat 24 hrs later. i am not familiar with any floor coatings that are one coat coating. i believe the temp needs to above 50 degrees (concrete temp) not just ambient air temp. before adding a clear coat i would contact the manufacture and see what they have to say. i think that a second coat when the floor is above 50 degrees would probably even out the look.

Thanks for the input.
I did keep the floor temps above 50 by just a little bit, the room temp was above 70. I turned on the big heater. I was not planing on more than one coat. I was hoping the commercial solvent based coating was thick enough for one coat. Now I have the coat and flakes down another coat may or may not help. Another coat of paint over the paint and flakes woudl not be to good.

I will call the company tomorrow, I just missed the east coast, west coast time zone today. I'll keep you posted.

I am agree that the acid coat is to blame and maybe the temps. I am trying to understand not just complain that I did a bad job or the product is to blame. I did this to myself. My wife just said "You are too critical I think it looks great"

Thanks,
Ian

[Jamie Schmitz]

Sorry to see the problem you are having, however I think you can fix this w/o to much trouble. Think about maybe taking a floor polisher to cut through just the sheen. You can hopefully find a tool rental place to pick up a polisher and throw a scotch brite pad on it. One nice thing is the floor has breaking points where the relief joints are for experimenting. I do not think that another coat is worth it however it would certainly add more protection.

The main problem with this type of coating is moisture coming up from the ground. The test that is commonly done before applying epoxy is to tape a piece of plastic to the surface and leave it for 24 hours and check for condensation inside. Also used for basement walls.
By the way what was your dilution ratio for the acid?

[Phil Thien]

When I got a quote for having my basement floor done by a professional epoxy outfit, they said they do three layers: A primer layer, a color layer, and a clear layer.

So I'm wondering if it would be possible to add some sort of clear layer that would even things out?

[Ian Parish]

I can agree that the acid coat is to blame and maybe the temps.

Thanks,
Ian

I called the company this morning, the information I received was that the porous nature of the concrete is to blame. The areas where the coating can soak in more are the areas that are dull. This maybe be a direct result of the acid etching. I used Muriatic Acid at a 4 - 1 ratio one gallon acid to 4 gallons of water in some areas, 1 gallon to 3 gallons of water in other areas. When you splash the acid on the floor it foams like crazy in the initial contact area then as you broom it around the acid fizzes out pretty quickly.

I asked about temperatures, and my temps of 51 on the floor and 70 in the air are ok. If it was too cold the stuff would not dry or cure. Mine did dry just fine.

So I am going to get a gallon of top clear coat and apply that in a test area. This should fix my problem and make the floor has a consistent glossy finish. If the test area look good I will do the rest.

Thanks for the help.
Ian

[Prashun Patel]

I think yr just experiencing what happens when you put an opaque covering on any new surface: it takes several coats.

Why can't you just put down more epoxy? I did my dad's garage about 5-6 years ago and the first coat or two went on blotchy. The last coat looked great. We never clearcoated it. Epoxy is a resin - and a darn tough one - just like any clearcoat would be. Im no pro, but IMHO, the clearcoat is not necessary.

I'll ask the obvious: your floor is properly cured, right? How recently was the slab poured prior to application of the epoxy.

[David Hostetler]

FWIW, I have seen 3 garage floors done in my area, each of them using the Epoxy coat from Home Depot (Rust Oleum, or Krylon or whoever, some spray paint MFG has the kits out now...) Long story short, they were all done in 3 coats... And planned that way from the beginning on the advice of a couple of professionals... It is the porosity of the concrete that is sucking up the coating... And very often even a second coat won't fully even it out, it takes a third coat...

[Ian Parish]

I think yr just experiencing what happens when you put an opaque covering on any new surface: it takes several coats.

Why can't you just put down more epoxy? I did my dad's garage about 5-6 years ago and the first coat or two went on blotchy. The last coat looked great. We never clearcoated it. Epoxy is a resin - and a darn tough one - just like any clearcoat would be. Im no pro, but IMHO, the clearcoat is not necessary.

I'll ask the obvious: your floor is properly cured, right? How recently was the slab poured prior to application of the epoxy.

The slab was poured in june, so it is past the 30 days to cure. My thoughts on another coat of Epoxy, are the pretty flakes I added over the top. If I coat it with gray again the flakes will turn into covered bumps, and then to get traction and the flakes pattern I would need to add more flakes. I put the flakes on heavy the first time around and like the look and grip. So I think I will opt for a clear coat.

I guess I should have done more research, and done 2 or more base coats. I am learning as I go.

The clear coat I am planning to use is a solvent base epoxy coating from the same company and intended to be a top coat. It also claims to cover twice as much area.

Ian

[Prashun Patel]

If you add a clearcoat on top of yr flakes, they'll still not provide any traction.

Again, I'm no pro, but I don't believe a clear coat will help you. It might gloss up the sheen a little, but it won't help cover any lapmarks or streaks.

If it were me, I'd put more epoxy down and live with the grey bumps as the lesser or the two evils.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Personally I thought it looked good Ian. You just don't have the right perspective. You will never really see those streaks... Because within just a few days you will have tools and cabinets and bins and other stuff all over the place. And then within a few days after that there will be sawdust and chips everywhere and you will probably never ever actually see the floor again.

Joshua

[wes murphy]

if your floor turns out like mine, with a little dust it'll be slicker than a sawdust dance floor