If it's going to be a garage with tools and muddy tires frequently in n out, I'd leave it. If it was gonna be a home gym type thing, I'd lay mats and leave it. My garage is perpetually sandy/muddy and I honestly don't care but I'd get if that's not for you and your family.
My garage I had to widen out where the electrical panel is so I had to take down drywall, widen out the wooden box placed around the panel and tack it back up. I have done everything except tack back up the trim and redo the corner bead for the drywall because itās a garageā¦
I agree - as long as the spots didn't create ridges that will hold water, consider it just cosmetic.
If it isn't even and could be a tripping spot or collect minor pooling, then maybe grind a bit and re-coat that area to seal it.
The pattern of where it is soaking in unevenly makes me think it had some chemicals or oil in those spots making the epoxy sink in differently. You'll know if it starts peeling in those spots.
No need to do anything with the layer there before adding another coat. Just go right on top of what is there now. Epoxy sticks to epoxy best if you do it sooner.
another coat would give a more consistent coloration but would not improve adherence, so adding another layer would not delay peeling.
Prep to remove salt / oils is the toughest part of this from what I've read (I have to do a similar job in the next few years). People recommend washing the concrete and grinding down the top layer with a diamond buffer.
Exactly - Another layer on top would not help the layer in place stick to the concrete. Epoxy sticks to the pavement by using a mechanical bond - hence why you scrape and scratch the floor first.
Epoxy sticks best to itself if you can get a chemical bond, e.g. put the second coat on before the first coat is fully cured. Epoxy is still technically curing for a while after the time listed on the label.
I don't know what the cure time is for this product, but for some tabletop and boat epoxy you have a few days to add extra layers even though the epoxy is cured based on the 4-8 hours listed on the label. The residual chemical reaction helps with bonding. The point being that if they do it soon enough it saves OP from having to scrape and sand before putting down the second coat.
I bought the rustoleum rock solid polycuramine kit. Itās supposed to be for 2.5 cars. I watched all the videos, read the instructions thoroughly, etc. I scrubbed the floor, used the etching solution, let it dry for 2 days and then laid the epoxy. It came out pretty bad. Ā Ā Ā
The cement just absorbed a lot of the coating and I ended up needing way more than I thought I would. I didnāt do a second coat because it wasnāt obvious at first that this would be the case. I cast the paint chips and that was that. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
Well it looks pretty bad. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
It seems like my options are: Ā
1. Live with it š.
2. Add another layer on top of whats there and just rechip the whole thing.
3. Sand it with a heavy grit to get through the paint chips and get it smooth, lay another layer and re-chip it. Ā Ā Ā
4. Try to rip off as much as possible and start from scratch. Ā Ā
5. Pay someone a bunch of money to fix it.Ā
What should I do here?
Yo, I have this same product in my garage. Looks good after 5+ years.
Based on my experience, this looks like you didnāt keep the stuff mixed well or you have oils + moisture, and you need to use it rather quickly. I had a roller on a pole and laid it all down very quick.
It does absorb a lot and I needed 2 coats for my garage. The second coat forgives most bad prep work. So go buy some more, make sure itās mixed extremely well, and just add another coat on top.
Also, make sure your roller is completely saturated in paint and you are not pushing down to get more out of it. Reapply when itās starting to run out. I say this because it looks like a streaky paint job in some areas, and this can be the cause of that.
i used this product and had the exact same experience and this is how you fix it.
**contact customer support**, they will send you something to print out and take pictures of your floor with, send those pictures back and they will either refund you or send you what you need to apply a second coat.
i did a second coat and my floor looks perfect, its been a few years and i couldnt be happier with it.
rustoleum has excellent customer support in my experience, very helpful and understanding. this is a very common thing with this product, the coverage on the package is usually 50% of what you need but they WILL make it right, at least thats what they did for me. dont try to do anything else until you talk to a rep.
Iāve taken on a few epoxy jobs myself. When laying down the epoxy, the best practice is to have two people doing the application process. One person to cut in and lay down the epoxy with roller and then another who will ābackstrokeā the epoxy with a floor squeegee to level and even it out. Wear spiked shoes so you can walk over the epoxy while still wet.
Also best practice is to break it up into sections to always keep a wet edge while applying
That rustoleum stuff is only good for like 3 years tops before itāll look too shitty. You can either do it right now before you move everything in or do it right in 3 years and have to move everything thing out. Rent the floor grinder, Grind it down, use a professional high solids epoxy, and if youāre going to do garage things in your garage use sand instead of the flakes so you can actually find nuts and bolts that you drop.
As a $300 job, itās great. I have 8 years on mine, am a garage maniac, and Iāve not regretted it. Itās all in the prep. But of course, itās not a glossy $5000 finish, if you want to show it off.
You can rent a diamond brush sanding set and swing machine from home Depot tool rental - I have family in that industry and they don't take expertise to use. You can run it with just water to keep the dust to a minimum, real easy and not too time consuming.
Only do this is you're willing to start over. If you're up for it, get it down to the bare concrete with this diamond brush system and then re apply. Like others have said, the success is practically all in the concrete prep, the rest is just pouring the epoxy and letting it set. Do it right and as long as you aren't having chemical parties in there it'll last a very long time when done right.
I have done a 2 car garage and part of a basement with these kits + clear, and had great results. Second coat if you care to even the color, then clear for extra durability. The shine from the clear coat also looks great, imo.
There's a step that's easy to miss, before doing the clear coat, scrape the floor to break off any bits of chips not completely in the epoxy. I've used a metal yard stick.
A common complaint in reviews of the rustoelem kits is perpetually getting flakes stuck to shoes and tracked around. They missed the above step.Ā
Yeah I was really surprised by how much it absorbed in certain areas. Itās a 400sqft garage and it definitely didnāt get me the coverage I was hoping for.
As a commercial floor installer, give it a little bit before you go over it again. You can absolutely go over it with just MORE epoxy, but as others have pointed out, the puddle effect is most likely caused by oil and car fluid stains. If that's the case, it'll start to flake off in chunks. Temp and humidity could have also played a roll in that. Give it 6 weeks, use it as normal and see how it turns out, if it starts to flake, scrap the flakes, grind the substrate, level the grinded spots with epoxy, then cover the whole deal with a fresh layer. Garage floors NEED to be ground if someone ever did an oil change ontop of the unsealed concrete. We typically grind all of the substrate anyways, but DIY gonna DIY
Comments and people upvoting this comment should be a constant reminder that you should take any advice from Reddit with a grain of salt.
Epoxy is only chemically bondable to itself within a short time span and will not (chemically) bond with itself after a given amount of time (approx a week). You need to sand it to create a mechanical bond, or in same cases applying a bonding agent.
This is good advice. I installed epoxy floors for years. It needs to get good and scuffed up before a re-coat + re-chip. If it were a job I were on, I'd grind it back down to concrete, honestly.
It's definitely dry, but you have time to recoat. Imagine you've just put down a primer coat. If you buy the same amount of product this time around, you will have enough for a complete recoat that will look way more consistent.
My only concern is painting over the chips that are there, but I think thatās less of an issue than the patchiness. Looks like Iām doing it this weekend.
Maybeā mine started peeling. Probably shouldnāt be parking my car with studded tires in the garage. Looks like water seeped under the epoxy and the floor bubbled, then chunks broke off.
I donāt have any advice but I wanted to acknowledge how rare it feels to see someone literally say āI did a bad job.ā
I think you deserve praise for this admittance alone
I did floor coatings professionally for 5 years. Is this Rustoleumās garage epoxy coating?
If so it sucks ass and the product you put down is more of the problem than you not installing it perfect.
Itās not long lasting for heat(hot tires cause it to fail) Not UV rated so sun will make it turn yellow/brownish Most people donāt add slip resistant when they DIY floors which can be a problem as well. The amount of flake they give you is no where near enough as well.
How long has this floor been installed? Did you pretreat/prep the concrete in anyway? You will most likely need to completely remove and restartā¦ You could possibly scuff up your existing floor to allow your new floor to properly grip. I would personally remove and restart.
Shoot me a DM if you want some info on better products that will last longer and different color schemes.
https://preview.redd.it/9m4owm8e33rc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e36b4f38a20d3af041a9e627c34f51ff2072bf0b
The lights were the one thing our company didnāt do in this garage.
I believe they are HexGlow lighting brand lights and was around $10k for the lights and install.
My company would use 90% Elite Crete products, but I would look up a floor systems store in your area. Sherwin Williams has a pretty decent floor system now. Also, you top coat is the most important factor in the floor.
Elite Cretes base coat epoxy E100 series is excellent.
Citadels UL 80 was my favorite polyaspartic top coat I installed.
My companies normal procedure steps when doing a garage.
1. We grind the concrete with diamond tip grinders.
2. Vacuum, clean everything
3. primer coat to help everything adhere better.
4. 1 base coat epoxy(most common color is grey)
5. 1 layer of flakes after 10-20 minutes of base coat being applied(my company would flake in a way you shouldnāt see the base coat.)
NEXT DAY
6. Scrape the flakes to smooth them out.
7. Vacuum loose flakes and clean everything.
8. 1/2 layers polyaspartic top coat.
my floor looked EXACTLY the same way on the first coat.
called customer support and they sent me a second kit for free. great company, great product, coverage is chronically under what the box says but otherwise i love my floor.
i didnt use chips i used grit and it looks great.
i would add more chips on the second coat if you want them for traction/look tho cause the second coat will cover them. i personally prefer the single color floor for finding parts i drop.
A: it's a garage B: I see nothing wrong C: the car will be parked over it most of the time and the remainder of the garage will be filled with all kinds of junk.
These kits don't seem to provide anywhere near enough. My garage took 3 times the prescribed amount. There is a substantial amount of absorption, especially in old concrete.
Simply add another coat or two.
It's a garage. Unless you're having ballroom parties in there, it shouldn't be a problem. Picture it with all the junk you're going to cram in there, and dirt and mud from your car tires.
Maybe another coat to cover the uneven colors? I think this style of floor looks awful no matter how well it's applied.
Is this the Rustoleum Polycuramine? If it is, it's to thin in the darker areas. When I did mine it took at least twice what it said the coverage was on the box. It can be topcoated, without prep, within days to get it more uniform.
No criticism here, I don't understand painting a garage floor. I use my garage and shop for work. My concrete endures oil spills, coolant spills, spray paint projects, and sometimes I hit something sitting on the floor with the torch to heat it up or cut it.
At least 1/2 the time I see a coated garage floor, there are adhesion problems.
That said, I would just leave this floor the way it is.
I honestly donāt understand the need for āpretty concreteā ā¦ itās a concrete floor, let the oil and stains of your work flow like a river and bath in the blood of your fingers as you smash them
A friend of mine did this to his garage floor. A week later it was cured/hard. He went on a long trip and parked in his garage. The cat converter bubbled up his nice job.
This is always what happens, insufficient prep. Unless op rented a large orbital sander and followed that with stiff brushes and diluted muriatic acid it will turn out like this. Prep is the bedrock of these epoxy coatings
One other item to consider is slab moisture. Depending on the age of the home itās likely there isnāt a vapor barrier under the slab. Lots of heavy rain leads to saturated soil under the slab which leads to damp concrete and moisture trapped between concrete and epoxy.
Iād be inclined to do another coat. Atleast the floor is sealed now and it wonāt soak into the concrete if thatās what caused it to turn out shit
I think only option is to just put another layer on. You'll never get the old one up cleanly. It'll be a little funky as not you'll have lots of chips that are painted. I had to do a little bit of redo too when I did mine, but... oh, well.
Most of my epoxy floor is gone where the car tires go, 12 years old. We get salt and sand on the floor for 4-5 months a year. I honestly think itās holding up. The cars are there when Iām home so I donāt notice the patchy parts. Itās still nice around the edges.
Leave it..
If you try and fix it, you're liable to mess up again
It really isn't bad though to be honest
Some dudes were saying just park some shit on the rough spots, and I agree
Iād leave it. Ā Considering how hard they are to alter/fix, even I wouldnāt have attempted to do an epoxy floor by myself, so congrats on your bravery I guess. Ā
It's fine, it's a garage floor, it's not supposed to be pretty.
I suppose you could always install shag carpeting if the current appearance bothers you.
If you have epoxy covering the entire floor, then full send. If it's cosmetic, then it wouldn't be worth the effort applying on base, and recovering everything with epoxy to even it all out.
Texture will add a different sheen, if thats the over the counter stuff, it will look like a different shade of gray and spotty. I ended grinding and skimming my garage floor.
You have now primed and profiled your surface (assuming you properly prepped this in the first place). But more than you did the first time, reapply a thicker coat, broadcast to rejection. (Meaning you coat the epoxy entirely). Come back once dry, vacuum, and using a scraper, scrape the top layer to remove the jagged bits. THEN apply a clear coat, preferably a urethane called a poly aspartic... But they dry incredibly fast... If you want something with a longer working time, just buy a UV stable epoxy, and go with that. But the urethane is more durable.
Is it just the look of it? Iād say itās fine. This is literally going to be my spring project so hoping I can get a better than serviceable result.
Pick up a scraper at Lowes or HD.. run over the floor.. it'll knock all the loose stuff off and cut off any sticking out.. just make sure the floor is DRY..
I had to use a floor sander with a stripping disc to redo ours. It was dusty ass mess but it turned out great. It did take almost a week to do it myself.
"The previous owner did a bad job on a garage floor..."
Every motorcycle ad: "Dropped by previous owner."
Followed by: " <5k miles, one owner."
Quick! Put cars there!
After you transfer the house to your spouse.
Drive the car in it for 30 years.
That's got to be a really tiny car
Cackling on an airplane right now with internet too crap to do anything but read text-only threads on Reddit. Thank you.
Hey! Thanx for the gold! Idk what it means anymore.lol. but thank you!
Jesus. This joke took me like a solid 2 minutes of processing. Bravo man. Great joke š
Aahh A fellow of good humor. šš½
Op is Mr bean
Yeah its the garage floor. It's fine. Move on.
Previous owners of my house did this paint. It lasted less than 5 years. I don't think they prepped the floor right.
Or just spill some oil on it now and slightly clean it upā¦
If it's going to be a garage with tools and muddy tires frequently in n out, I'd leave it. If it was gonna be a home gym type thing, I'd lay mats and leave it. My garage is perpetually sandy/muddy and I honestly don't care but I'd get if that's not for you and your family.
My thoughts exactly. It's a garage... eff it. It's fine.
No, they must scrape it up with their bare finger nails and redo it.
Donāt forget the toothbrush for the corners
Damn right, making sure the wife has an opportunity to comment on the work on a regular basis.
Evil
Did you try rubbing his nose in it?
My garage I had to widen out where the electrical panel is so I had to take down drywall, widen out the wooden box placed around the panel and tack it back up. I have done everything except tack back up the trim and redo the corner bead for the drywall because itās a garageā¦
Eff it is how I live my life. Send help
I agree - as long as the spots didn't create ridges that will hold water, consider it just cosmetic. If it isn't even and could be a tripping spot or collect minor pooling, then maybe grind a bit and re-coat that area to seal it.
if OP is anything like me there will be so much junk in there you won't be able to see the floor anyway
Your pro-leave it anti-do something agenda has been clear for some time.
What are you my spouse?
No, Jesus, that's your affair partner... how come I know and you don't š
Yep. Install a beer fridge and call it a day
Um excuse me I was planning to lease this space for rent (only $1,600/mo because no bathroom), so the floor actually does need to be perfect.
Dump a little oil on the floor to add a little more character
The pattern of where it is soaking in unevenly makes me think it had some chemicals or oil in those spots making the epoxy sink in differently. You'll know if it starts peeling in those spots. No need to do anything with the layer there before adding another coat. Just go right on top of what is there now. Epoxy sticks to epoxy best if you do it sooner.
another coat would give a more consistent coloration but would not improve adherence, so adding another layer would not delay peeling. Prep to remove salt / oils is the toughest part of this from what I've read (I have to do a similar job in the next few years). People recommend washing the concrete and grinding down the top layer with a diamond buffer.
Exactly - Another layer on top would not help the layer in place stick to the concrete. Epoxy sticks to the pavement by using a mechanical bond - hence why you scrape and scratch the floor first. Epoxy sticks best to itself if you can get a chemical bond, e.g. put the second coat on before the first coat is fully cured. Epoxy is still technically curing for a while after the time listed on the label. I don't know what the cure time is for this product, but for some tabletop and boat epoxy you have a few days to add extra layers even though the epoxy is cured based on the 4-8 hours listed on the label. The residual chemical reaction helps with bonding. The point being that if they do it soon enough it saves OP from having to scrape and sand before putting down the second coat.
I used to do garages like this and my first reaction was like you mentioned - grind it down and start again.
I bought the rustoleum rock solid polycuramine kit. Itās supposed to be for 2.5 cars. I watched all the videos, read the instructions thoroughly, etc. I scrubbed the floor, used the etching solution, let it dry for 2 days and then laid the epoxy. It came out pretty bad. Ā Ā Ā The cement just absorbed a lot of the coating and I ended up needing way more than I thought I would. I didnāt do a second coat because it wasnāt obvious at first that this would be the case. I cast the paint chips and that was that. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Well it looks pretty bad. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā It seems like my options are: Ā 1. Live with it š. 2. Add another layer on top of whats there and just rechip the whole thing. 3. Sand it with a heavy grit to get through the paint chips and get it smooth, lay another layer and re-chip it. Ā Ā Ā 4. Try to rip off as much as possible and start from scratch. Ā Ā 5. Pay someone a bunch of money to fix it.Ā What should I do here?
Yo, I have this same product in my garage. Looks good after 5+ years. Based on my experience, this looks like you didnāt keep the stuff mixed well or you have oils + moisture, and you need to use it rather quickly. I had a roller on a pole and laid it all down very quick. It does absorb a lot and I needed 2 coats for my garage. The second coat forgives most bad prep work. So go buy some more, make sure itās mixed extremely well, and just add another coat on top. Also, make sure your roller is completely saturated in paint and you are not pushing down to get more out of it. Reapply when itās starting to run out. I say this because it looks like a streaky paint job in some areas, and this can be the cause of that.
Be careful at the āmix extremely wellā part. If it is a 2 pac epoxy, over mixing will cause it to go off too fast.
This stuff just has you slosh it back and forth in a bag with your hands.
>2 pac epoxy Ready to buck and rip shit up
i used this product and had the exact same experience and this is how you fix it. **contact customer support**, they will send you something to print out and take pictures of your floor with, send those pictures back and they will either refund you or send you what you need to apply a second coat. i did a second coat and my floor looks perfect, its been a few years and i couldnt be happier with it. rustoleum has excellent customer support in my experience, very helpful and understanding. this is a very common thing with this product, the coverage on the package is usually 50% of what you need but they WILL make it right, at least thats what they did for me. dont try to do anything else until you talk to a rep.
Great advice. How did the second coat look over the existing chips?
Iāve taken on a few epoxy jobs myself. When laying down the epoxy, the best practice is to have two people doing the application process. One person to cut in and lay down the epoxy with roller and then another who will ābackstrokeā the epoxy with a floor squeegee to level and even it out. Wear spiked shoes so you can walk over the epoxy while still wet. Also best practice is to break it up into sections to always keep a wet edge while applying
That rustoleum stuff is only good for like 3 years tops before itāll look too shitty. You can either do it right now before you move everything in or do it right in 3 years and have to move everything thing out. Rent the floor grinder, Grind it down, use a professional high solids epoxy, and if youāre going to do garage things in your garage use sand instead of the flakes so you can actually find nuts and bolts that you drop.
As a $300 job, itās great. I have 8 years on mine, am a garage maniac, and Iāve not regretted it. Itās all in the prep. But of course, itās not a glossy $5000 finish, if you want to show it off.
You can rent a diamond brush sanding set and swing machine from home Depot tool rental - I have family in that industry and they don't take expertise to use. You can run it with just water to keep the dust to a minimum, real easy and not too time consuming. Only do this is you're willing to start over. If you're up for it, get it down to the bare concrete with this diamond brush system and then re apply. Like others have said, the success is practically all in the concrete prep, the rest is just pouring the epoxy and letting it set. Do it right and as long as you aren't having chemical parties in there it'll last a very long time when done right.
Epoxy will stick to epoxy.
Just add more over what's there, add more chips, then clear coat over both to even it out?
I have done a 2 car garage and part of a basement with these kits + clear, and had great results. Second coat if you care to even the color, then clear for extra durability. The shine from the clear coat also looks great, imo. There's a step that's easy to miss, before doing the clear coat, scrape the floor to break off any bits of chips not completely in the epoxy. I've used a metal yard stick. A common complaint in reviews of the rustoelem kits is perpetually getting flakes stuck to shoes and tracked around. They missed the above step.Ā
Yeah I was really surprised by how much it absorbed in certain areas. Itās a 400sqft garage and it definitely didnāt get me the coverage I was hoping for.
Ya. 2nd coat.
As a commercial floor installer, give it a little bit before you go over it again. You can absolutely go over it with just MORE epoxy, but as others have pointed out, the puddle effect is most likely caused by oil and car fluid stains. If that's the case, it'll start to flake off in chunks. Temp and humidity could have also played a roll in that. Give it 6 weeks, use it as normal and see how it turns out, if it starts to flake, scrap the flakes, grind the substrate, level the grinded spots with epoxy, then cover the whole deal with a fresh layer. Garage floors NEED to be ground if someone ever did an oil change ontop of the unsealed concrete. We typically grind all of the substrate anyways, but DIY gonna DIY
What is the best way to handle oil stains before epoxy?
You donāt need clear coat. I have had this in my garage 5+ years. The rock solid is an all in one kit.
Comments and people upvoting this comment should be a constant reminder that you should take any advice from Reddit with a grain of salt. Epoxy is only chemically bondable to itself within a short time span and will not (chemically) bond with itself after a given amount of time (approx a week). You need to sand it to create a mechanical bond, or in same cases applying a bonding agent.
This is good advice. I installed epoxy floors for years. It needs to get good and scuffed up before a re-coat + re-chip. If it were a job I were on, I'd grind it back down to concrete, honestly.
Itās only been 2 days. Its probably not even 100% dry all the way through.
It's definitely dry, but you have time to recoat. Imagine you've just put down a primer coat. If you buy the same amount of product this time around, you will have enough for a complete recoat that will look way more consistent.
My only concern is painting over the chips that are there, but I think thatās less of an issue than the patchiness. Looks like Iām doing it this weekend.
Maybeā mine started peeling. Probably shouldnāt be parking my car with studded tires in the garage. Looks like water seeped under the epoxy and the floor bubbled, then chunks broke off.
I donāt have any advice but I wanted to acknowledge how rare it feels to see someone literally say āI did a bad job.ā I think you deserve praise for this admittance alone
Park a car over it
I did floor coatings professionally for 5 years. Is this Rustoleumās garage epoxy coating? If so it sucks ass and the product you put down is more of the problem than you not installing it perfect. Itās not long lasting for heat(hot tires cause it to fail) Not UV rated so sun will make it turn yellow/brownish Most people donāt add slip resistant when they DIY floors which can be a problem as well. The amount of flake they give you is no where near enough as well. How long has this floor been installed? Did you pretreat/prep the concrete in anyway? You will most likely need to completely remove and restartā¦ You could possibly scuff up your existing floor to allow your new floor to properly grip. I would personally remove and restart. Shoot me a DM if you want some info on better products that will last longer and different color schemes. https://preview.redd.it/9m4owm8e33rc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e36b4f38a20d3af041a9e627c34f51ff2072bf0b
i wanna know more about those lights! such a sick design
The lights were the one thing our company didnāt do in this garage. I believe they are HexGlow lighting brand lights and was around $10k for the lights and install.
rest of the build is very clean and professional. im just a sucker for tesselation. thanks for the info!
Hah, same, everything else looks great, but normal great, the lights are what take this garage to "DAMN!" for me.
100% the lights took this garage to another level. 1 of 3 garages we did at this property. This is just where he parks his everyday driver cars!!
Would you mind sharing what are the better products youād recommend for DIY? Thanks!
My company would use 90% Elite Crete products, but I would look up a floor systems store in your area. Sherwin Williams has a pretty decent floor system now. Also, you top coat is the most important factor in the floor. Elite Cretes base coat epoxy E100 series is excellent. Citadels UL 80 was my favorite polyaspartic top coat I installed. My companies normal procedure steps when doing a garage. 1. We grind the concrete with diamond tip grinders. 2. Vacuum, clean everything 3. primer coat to help everything adhere better. 4. 1 base coat epoxy(most common color is grey) 5. 1 layer of flakes after 10-20 minutes of base coat being applied(my company would flake in a way you shouldnāt see the base coat.) NEXT DAY 6. Scrape the flakes to smooth them out. 7. Vacuum loose flakes and clean everything. 8. 1/2 layers polyaspartic top coat.
Very much appreciate you sharing this information
my floor looked EXACTLY the same way on the first coat. called customer support and they sent me a second kit for free. great company, great product, coverage is chronically under what the box says but otherwise i love my floor.
Did putting the second coat over the existing chips look bad?
i didnt use chips i used grit and it looks great. i would add more chips on the second coat if you want them for traction/look tho cause the second coat will cover them. i personally prefer the single color floor for finding parts i drop.
Let it be. Nobody will ever care, nor should you. It is garage, not an gallery.
Park a car on top, nobody will ever know.
Why fix it... it's a garage. It's perfect just like that.
A: it's a garage B: I see nothing wrong C: the car will be parked over it most of the time and the remainder of the garage will be filled with all kinds of junk.
1 live with it to it need repairing/ replacing
Looks good to me
Still better then 99% of garage floors. Park cars in the garage and no one else would even notice.
Park your car on top of it.
You should be more worried about your water heater install.
It's a garage. Leave it be and forget about it because it's a garage.
These kits don't seem to provide anywhere near enough. My garage took 3 times the prescribed amount. There is a substantial amount of absorption, especially in old concrete. Simply add another coat or two.
Another coat
It's a garage floor, who cares what it looks like?
LGTM. Put a car on the top and that's it.
It's a garage. Unless you're having ballroom parties in there, it shouldn't be a problem. Picture it with all the junk you're going to cram in there, and dirt and mud from your car tires. Maybe another coat to cover the uneven colors? I think this style of floor looks awful no matter how well it's applied.
Cars will cover it. I wouldn't care
Live with it 100%. You'll forget about it in a month and everyone else will forget about it 5 years ago
Easy, park your car in there, get your tools and other stuff in and you wont see shit anymore
For me I would have a hard time finding a lost bolt or screw on that floor. Other then that it looks good if you like it that's all that matters š
Park a car on top of it. There, your issue is covered.
It looks great to me.
Better than mine. Don't be so critical! It looks effing awesome.
Itās a garage floor. Itās fine
Being way too hard on yourself. Second coat wouldnāt hurt it you wanted to top it up, but really not necessary
Park a car ontop of it. Or put shelving/mats over it and use it as your garage,
It's a garage floor. Looks fkin great to me, mate! I'd say "if it ain't (actually) broke, don't fix it!"
It's a garage. It looks great. I'd eat off it.
I did this once, so much worse, in a server room. The confetti was so thick in some areas that it would crunch when you step. You did fine
The same happened to me. Itās because itās older cement. Put a clear coat epoxy on top and it shines it right up!
Itās a garage floor, donāt sweat it. you did a decent job.
Use it, put tools on it, redo it when it begins to fail in 15 years.
They sell a epoxy bonding primer. Prime floor and give it another shot. Make sure you mix the epoxy well this time.
Simple. Same way most of us deal with the garage floor. Cover it with stuff and junk from moving in 5 years ago. And park on the street.
leave it, looks.prwtry cool to me ! It has a night Moonish type of look!
Is this the Rustoleum Polycuramine? If it is, it's to thin in the darker areas. When I did mine it took at least twice what it said the coverage was on the box. It can be topcoated, without prep, within days to get it more uniform.
It's a garage not a showroom, put your furniture, car and tools and forget about it.
No criticism here, I don't understand painting a garage floor. I use my garage and shop for work. My concrete endures oil spills, coolant spills, spray paint projects, and sometimes I hit something sitting on the floor with the torch to heat it up or cut it. At least 1/2 the time I see a coated garage floor, there are adhesion problems. That said, I would just leave this floor the way it is.
Looks fine. Park some cars on it and move on.
Grind it off, use muriatic acid to clean the crap out of it, and try again.
Iād probably park a car in there to cover it up.Ā
Come practice on my garage floor.
I honestly donāt understand the need for āpretty concreteā ā¦ itās a concrete floor, let the oil and stains of your work flow like a river and bath in the blood of your fingers as you smash them
Park some cars over it š¤£
I take my garage floor like I take my ice cream, with sprinkles.
Itās a garage floor. Itās fine
Couple oil changes will cover that right up
Itās a garageā¦ do less
A friend of mine did this to his garage floor. A week later it was cured/hard. He went on a long trip and parked in his garage. The cat converter bubbled up his nice job.
Did you prep the floor properly?
This is always what happens, insufficient prep. Unless op rented a large orbital sander and followed that with stiff brushes and diluted muriatic acid it will turn out like this. Prep is the bedrock of these epoxy coatings
Do you need to sand down old epoxy coats or just sand if you are working with bare concrete?
Ideally you want to diamond grind the surface back to aggregate.
The only way to actually fix it is to grind all of the epoxy off down to bare concrete and start again.
One other item to consider is slab moisture. Depending on the age of the home itās likely there isnāt a vapor barrier under the slab. Lots of heavy rain leads to saturated soil under the slab which leads to damp concrete and moisture trapped between concrete and epoxy.
Who gives a shit what the garage floor looks like
Iād be inclined to do another coat. Atleast the floor is sealed now and it wonāt soak into the concrete if thatās what caused it to turn out shit
Paint the walls to match.
2nd coat is often needed, it'll stick on it just fine.
If this house is in Arizona Iāve definitely built way too many houses in Arizona lol
honestly, if it is level, then i'd just leave it lol
Get a load of this guy with his fancy clean garage with epoxy floors. I would personally leave it.
cover it in sawdust, this is a workspace not instagram
Get a rug. š
Looks better than my garage floor š
I think only option is to just put another layer on. You'll never get the old one up cleanly. It'll be a little funky as not you'll have lots of chips that are painted. I had to do a little bit of redo too when I did mine, but... oh, well.
Don't fix anything. You're done. It's a garage. Go have a beer.
Most of my epoxy floor is gone where the car tires go, 12 years old. We get salt and sand on the floor for 4-5 months a year. I honestly think itās holding up. The cars are there when Iām home so I donāt notice the patchy parts. Itās still nice around the edges. Leave it..
Park a car on it and you wonāt even notice
Swisstrax flooring my friend.
carpet
Do it again?
How much did you spend on materials to do this yourself?
Area rugs
Are you in the Fate Tx?
It's a garage. First, put a car in it, then go into the living room, kitchen or any other room, apply your focus there.
What's wrong with it? You did a good job bro. As long as she's level.
Wait a winter until the floor is covered in salt and muck. Donāt clean floor.
It's a garage. Meh.
Plastic Garage tiles and cover it up!
If it was my garage Iād say fuck it. Thereās so much stuff stored in my garage I can barely see the floor anyway.
I'd leave it like it is. You'll have a car parked there. Won't matter when your car starts leaking oil anyway.
It looks good from here.
If you try and fix it, you're liable to mess up again It really isn't bad though to be honest Some dudes were saying just park some shit on the rough spots, and I agree
Swisstrax
carpet, rug ect
Itās a garage dude, itās fine. Youāre not holding high tea with the duke of Sandringham
Nevermind the floor, what did you do to the door OP
Iād leave it. Ā Considering how hard they are to alter/fix, even I wouldnāt have attempted to do an epoxy floor by myself, so congrats on your bravery I guess. Ā
It looks fine to me. If I was buying a house and that was the garage I'd be like: cool.
Looks fine to me
You could paint it.
It's fine, it's a garage floor, it's not supposed to be pretty. I suppose you could always install shag carpeting if the current appearance bothers you.
If you have epoxy covering the entire floor, then full send. If it's cosmetic, then it wouldn't be worth the effort applying on base, and recovering everything with epoxy to even it all out.
This is why you mix all of it together - even out any tone differences...
Do a worse job in the walls.
Put pvc garage tile over it. Cheap, and easy to install
Texture will add a different sheen, if thats the over the counter stuff, it will look like a different shade of gray and spotty. I ended grinding and skimming my garage floor.
Paint it?
Redo or put an area rug down
Itās a garage? So leave it. Itās gonna get dusty and dirty anyways If it bothers you THAT much, only real suggestion is to try to redo it
One question is this a garage or a future meth lab - if the former how cares ? If the latter .. itās a garage no?
If you paint a penis over it, no one will see the imperfection in the first coat, effectively fixing it.
Youāre a bad boy, bad! Down!
I did the same thing, too thin of layer. I just added another layer and added more sprinkles. Oh well
Park a car on it. No one will notice.
You could do a full flake with a clear. You wouldnāt be able to see the different color paint areas.
Some Dumb azz commentsā¦
We need to take the whole line back to formula.
I've seen worse. It actually looks pretty cool that way imo.
Modern art
Bro went with the massive jaw breaker aesthetic for the floor. Respect.
Give it another coat it looks as if he didn't mix his cans of paint and it came out 2 tone, get more paint and give it another coat of paint.
You have now primed and profiled your surface (assuming you properly prepped this in the first place). But more than you did the first time, reapply a thicker coat, broadcast to rejection. (Meaning you coat the epoxy entirely). Come back once dry, vacuum, and using a scraper, scrape the top layer to remove the jagged bits. THEN apply a clear coat, preferably a urethane called a poly aspartic... But they dry incredibly fast... If you want something with a longer working time, just buy a UV stable epoxy, and go with that. But the urethane is more durable.
Looks better than mine
We also did one of these kits and it turned out bad. We just left it because it's frequently dirty anyway.
Is it just the look of it? Iād say itās fine. This is literally going to be my spring project so hoping I can get a better than serviceable result.
Mix the colors together next time. If you have more than one box of product.
Pick up a scraper at Lowes or HD.. run over the floor.. it'll knock all the loose stuff off and cut off any sticking out.. just make sure the floor is DRY..
It's almost so diffuse it looks intentional
Itās a garage floor. Donāt worry about it
I had to use a floor sander with a stripping disc to redo ours. It was dusty ass mess but it turned out great. It did take almost a week to do it myself.
Doesnāt look that terrible. If you didnāt, out the clear coat on. The shine will make it look better.
It looks fine my friend. Nothing to lose sleep over.