Epoxy Finish on concrete – my experience
I have just finished applying an epoxy finish to my shop floor and I thought I owuld share my experience in case anyone else was thinking of taking the plunge.
First of all I had 350 sq. ft. of brushed concrete. This slab was poured so no oil stains or other “stuff” but quite a lot of drywall mud and dust and dirt.
I used beige Shield-Crete by H&C from Sherwin Williams. Cost about $65 per kit. Advertised coverage of 250 sq. ft.
I cleaned all the drywall mud off the floor and vacuumed the dust to get the floor nice and clean. I did not use the enclosed cleaner because I didn’t want to get the floor wet. After a lot of stirring, I applied the epoxy using a throw-away roller. It took quite a lot of effort to work the epoxy into the brushed concrete. As a result, the coverage was about 20% less than advertised.
I applied the “sprinkles”, and after leaving it for 24 hours, put on a coat of the glaze.
It has made a huge difference. The shop looks brighter and has a much better atmosphere. Much easier to sweep and keep clean. I had to do this in two stages as I moved the tools around. If you look, you can see the join but nothing that sticks out.
The big effort is in the surface preparation; the application was easy and straightforward.
Replies
Sounds like it came out nice. I am thinking of doing the same thing but like you I will need to move my equipment from one side to the other during the process. It's good to know that you can do it this way without much of a contrast from one side to the other. Thanks for sharing this with us. What colors does it come in and how much did you use?
RGJ
RGJ:The Shieled-Crete product only comes in beige and grey. There may be other colors available with other brands, but I don't know.I used two "kits", approximately 2 gallons.Hastings
The Shieled-Crete product only comes in beige and grey.
I used Shield-Crete to do my garage last summer and bought white (or ivory?). It really brightened the place up.If you build it he will come.
Interesting… Sherwin Williams were adamant that it only came in the two colors!Hastings
Looks like there's another color they dont know about as well. I just googled to their site and noticed a firebrick red as well.
http://www2.sherwin-williams.com/Apps/Product_Catalog/index_H.htm
Here's a pic of the ivory while waiting for the 2nd side to cure so I can move things back. I had to do mine half at a time.
If you build it he will come.
Hastings
Your interior floor should not have had a brush finish. Was this a floor you poured yourself, or was it done by a contractor? Interior floors like garages and shop floors are trowel finished almost without exception.
Also, I hope you don't pay the price for not using the cleaner to clean, or better yet, etch the concrete surface. My "other" business is as a concrete contractor for 20+ years, specializing in mudjacking, which is raising concrete, and decorative concrete surfaces, such as stamping and epoxy coating. I can tell you from experience that epoxy fails a year or so down the road, sometimes much sooner, if the floor is not prepared properly, with no steps skipped.
I am not trying to be a smart aleck here, but simply trying to let others know who read this that the #1 source for failure with concrete epoxy coatings is surface preparation. I hope, sincerely, that this isn't the case for you. It's a lot of work to undertake only to have it fail during the first winter.
Jeff
Jeff:No you're not being a smart aleck - it is important that others know. But, as they say in poker, I'm now pot-committed! No, I didn't pour this myself, on the other hand, the whole construction was very reasonable about $45 per sq. ft. for fully insulated, drywall, including A/C and electric.I would have taken your advice about the etch so we will have to see! We live on the Gulf Coast so no hard winters. Is cold weather the primary issue? And exactly what does the etching do?Plan B was a wooden floor so that may be in the cards.HastingsPS Isn't nice to share life's little mistakes
Hastings
Etching gives the concrete surface a thorough chemical cleaning, as well as creating a surface which gives the floor something to bite to. Fortunately, the brush finish, which is unheard of for interior floors in my neck of the woods, is going to give the surface a little extra to grab onto, as long as it doesn't fail.
I wish you the best with your floor (and new building), and I hope it holds up for you.
And I agree, you're definately not "all in!"
Jeff, frequently spotted at the Friday and Saturday night no limit game!
Absolutely Jeff,
And I might add, your statements about preparation are as important no matter what flooring type you're dealing with, especially wood. When you think about it preparation of anything is almost always a great percentage of the total work involved!
I used to work for a commercial flooring company and there was always a strict adherence to floor preparation, whether it was solid wood or engineered flooring. In addition, we followed the NOFMA standards, primarily for warrantee purposes.
See http://www.nofma.org/ for all the details about installing wood flooring.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 3/17/2007 9:04 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Bob
You don't know (well, maybe you do!! <g>) how many times I've gotten calls from customers who I gave an estimate to the previous year who call back wanting me to come "back out" and re-estimate an application because they tried to do it themselves, and the product is failing miserably. They always want to blame the "inferior" product, but when I start asking questions about how they did it, it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that the failure is due to improper surface preparation, 95% of the time.
Now, the bid is 50% higher to undo what they did.
Jeff
I read your comments here with interest because the exact same dynamic holds every bit as true in my world as a finisher/painter. Prep can make or break a job. I don't care how good of a finisher or painter you are, if the prep isn't done right the overall job is going to reflect that one way or another. And of course it definitely does always cost more time and effort to undo a previous mistake in prep than it would have to have just done it right the first time around.
It's very interesting to see some of these principles that in my realm are well established facts of life every bit as real as the laws of physics also hold true in other realms too.
Kevin,
You know, preparation almost always is necessary in all that we do.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Very true. Reminds me of a saying that a former employer treated as the 11th Commandment: Good enough is never good and seldom enough.
I did my shop floor 3 years ago. It still looks great, no more continual 'dusting' and much easier to sweep and wipe up glue spills/drips.
I think it was a Rustoleum Kit (i'm not sure) but I follwed the letter of the law with the prep; two scrubs with the citrus cleaner, then the appication. No problem with previous oil drips from mower etc.
Follow the directions!
Frosty
Frosty
I'm walling off my third bay in garage for a small woodwork shop and interested in how your Rustoleum epoxy floor has held up to moving machinery, scrapes, etc. I have my equip. on movable platforms. My powermatic table saw has retractable wheels, 600 lbs and the wheels are bound to be small. My design is to be able to move equip to the garage when not in use, freeing up 3rd bay woodworking space. Rolling a 700 lb planer, etc. You should be about 5 years into your epoxy floor.
How is it holding up? Can you patch any bad scrapes? i'm looking at Rustoleum floor epoxy at Lowes. My house is 10 yr old and the concrete floor is stained from previous owner.
Charlie (aka Jeptha)
I'd be interested to hear as well.I installed it last summer on my entire garage floor including shop. Both side saw significant moving of equipment over the winter and there is no damage that I can see. As well my third bay is my parking bay, so it had my Jeep in every day. Including all the snow melt and rocks and junk that come with it. I'm pretty pleased with it.Like you my garage was pre-stained for me. It took some really careful cleaning, not a step you want to rush.
Man! You have a good memory - or are a knowledgeable search person.My epoxy floor is unmarked - and I move all of my equipment: bandsaw, MiniMax jointer/planer combo and very heavy Unisaw/outfeed table/router table. Nary a scratch. I ought to modify the 'unmarked' statement because I do have some stains from spilled items. (I'm thinking about giving it a good mop-down.)The year following the shop application, I did the garage bays. It has held up just as well, EXCEPT where the floor was previously "sealed". The labels warn about this but I tried anyway. When I rolled the epoxy on, it went well in the unsealed areas, just like paint on a wall, . But in the four locations where I had applied sealer (where salty water would drip from the cars) the epoxy simply would not stick when I rolled over the area. I don't think stain is the same as a "sealer" but you might try a test with paint to see if there is a problem.Good luck.JerryFrosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Charlie,
I have had my epoxy in my dedicated 2 car garage shop since mid 2004, and to date have only suffered from the stain that I have accidently dropped on the floor. I have an 8" Delta Jointer, a Jet cabinet saw with 52" table, a router table, Rikon 14" bandsaw and a Shopsmith that are all on mobile bases and moved constantly. No scrapes, no dings. I am very pleased with the overall performance. I purposely had them NOT seal the floor and I cleaned and etched in accordance with the directions of the product you are looking at. I haven't tried in my attached garage, but know from friends a good etching with acid is essential.
Bob
Don't throw that cleaner away! It's probably citric acid, my fellow neanders know that it's excellent for removing rust.
-Ryan C.
For all those contemplating epoxy floor. In addition to surface prep mentioned by others- air temp is a factor-
The directions want air temps to be 70-80's for ideal working conditions- I did it during the hot summer- It worked out beautifully but .... I had to hustle.Find a beautiful spring weekclean it, etch it, rinse it, tape it, paint it, "sprinkle" it- You'll love itDave
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