The old Boston Herald was sold and torn down, they kept the spectacular aggregate floor and built a huge super market there. When they buff the floor it is just beautiful. The process is painstaking. I really appreciate the lesson. Thank you. I always wanted to slide in my socks down an aisle.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. As far as a shotblaster (as used to remove fine dust), an auto-scrubber or wet vac will get the floor almost as clean. The floor would need extra time to dry, but the results would be similar.
Can I use an 17" orbital floor sander instead of a square sander? Also can i skip the grinding part if i scraped and used the sander to flatten the profile?. Thanks for all your help with answering my questions.
I’m happy to help. That’s a good question about the orbital. Yes, it should produce basically the same profile result. You might need a dust collection system because a 17” generates more air movement, but the abrasion process should be similar. As far as the scraping/sanding versus a grinder to flatten, I think the result would be less flat. The epoxy and flake are very hard. A grinder will chop both of them flat. A sander is likely to smooth but not flatten. It may be possible, but the time to do it would be much more.
Hi Josh, Can you tell me what product I can use to polish my epoxy garage floor that has a polyspartic topcoat? It is dirty and has lost its sheen. I have a buffer and pads I can use, but not sure which product I should really used to buff or polish it.
That’s a good question. There’s really no way to rejuvenate a coating. It’s possible to thoroughly clean it, sand it, and re-coat it. There’s no way to polish it, though.
That’s a good question. When building a floor with multiple coats, each coat can be calculated by consumption and coverage. The formula is 1604SF @ one mil thickness per gallon. As an example, if a gallon of material is used to cover 100SF, then it would be a thickness of 16 milsWFT (1604/100=16 mils). This works for pretty much any liquid when measured by its volume.
Thanks for the request. The blaster is an IMPACTS S210: substratetechnology.com/product/impacts-s210e-shot-blaster-8-inch/ The diamond used was an 80 grit eight segment also called “EGT #2”: substratetechnology.com/product/egt-diamond-system-concrete-polishing-dry-process/
The tools to remove the first coat were the PCD (bulk removal) and two segment 25/30 (cleaning of all residues). The grout coat was smoothed using an 80 grit six segment tool.
Hello, I need some help. A crew applied a polyaspartic coating on my 2 car garage floor yesterday. It’s way too glossy for my taste. Do I have any options at this point to somehow make the floor be less glossy? Please help. Thank you so much!
@@YouDontTalkAboutFightClub that’s a good question. There is a way to make it less glossy but I only know how to do it with another product. The options would be another coat of Polyaspartic with anti-slip additive (to reduce some of the gloss) or a water based urethane that is rated a semi-gloss or satin. I have some shiny flake floor at the shop. Tomorrow I’ll throw a coat of water based over it and share the pics here on Monday.
@@YouDontTalkAboutFightClub this morning I finished a video comparing satin urethane to a Polyaspartic. It shows the difference in clarity and the plastic look. The flake I have here isn’t as shiny as yours probably is, but I’ll post those pics shortly. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wPZxZWxCHg0.htmlsi=GReZ4s-M7SEeF2th
Great video. I really like the smoother finish. We have a problem with our freshly installed (still curing) epoxy/polyaspartic install. After grinding the garage floor to help make it more level (not 100%) and putting a moisture vapor barrier, one coat of primer was applied/cured, then epoxy and a hybrid flake was added. It was scraped and vacuumed, (no sanding) and the next day, a final top coat was added (Crown Polymer 320). However as it is curing, the top coat puddled and has areas of foamy/cloudy bubbles. Maybe the top polyaspartic coat was mixed at too high a speed to cause bubbles, and not rolled tightly enough (puddling), and the temperature was of the material was possibly too cold (50-60s). What can we do to remove/fix the top layer and also get a smoother feel? Could the applicator either grind or sand the top coat to remove all of it, or at least the cloudy areas of the top clear coat (what grit should that be?) and then add another complete top coat? Or, since we only have one layer of flakes, should he grind or sand it down, apply another mid-coat with a second coat of flakes, sand or scrape, and then a top clear coat again? What can be done to avoid the foamy bubbles on the top coat? The floor is not perfectly even but is much improved. Thank you!
Thank you again. I see this is the comment I should have read first. 😁 According to Crown’s website, 320 is an epoxy. It says the best temperature to apply is between 60 and 90. The bubbles could be trapped air made during mixing. Their data page is linked below. To fix this properly, I’d sand the floor and clean it. Then I’d repeat the process of flaking and top coating. There is no way I know to correct a topcoat other than to cover it with a new opaque application. It’s like starting over without going all the way back to the base slab. crownpolymers.com/pdfviewer/?pdfName=320-CrownShield-General-Purpose.pdf
@@joshjones8047 Thanks for your quick reply! What grit for sanding? What will happen if he tries to only sand off and reapply just the top coat? What is the risk? I can request a second layer of flake. Do you think it needs the colored epoxy with the flake again or can the second go of flake be with a clear epoxy? Is a shot blaster required or what happens if only scaping/vacuuming is done?
@@pamelacohen6525 there’s a method to abrade the topcoat using a buffer and coarse sand. Though not endorsed by any manufacturer, it does scuff the irregular surface pretty well. As far as the resin to bind the new flake, I’d go with a clear coat to have some benefit of the flake that’s there. If trying to preserve the clear coat and simply re-coating with another clear, the cloudy areas will likely be visible. Maybe this will be acceptable or maybe not. The only way I know to fix a defect in a clear coat is to fully remove it or mask it.
@@joshjones8047 Interesting! The applicator wants to use his grinder on Day 5, Monday, to try to remove the patches where it may have pooled causing the cloudy bubbles, wait for more curing, and then reapply a clear coat. There is one spot the size of a marble that looks like a little micro-volcano. Is there a way to tell if too much flake has been removed by the grinding? I do like how smooth you made it by having a second layer of flakes. Can this method be done with epoxy Crown Polymer and the 320 epoxy also?
@@pamelacohen6525 good questions. It’s hard to say if the fix will blend the trouble spots. There are many tricks installers use when fluid applied flooring doesn’t behave as expected. As far as the 320, I’ve never used the product. The suggestion I usually offer about any product is to contact its manufacturer. They are best able to answer application and performance questions.
Question. I have some spots that are darker than others (from the clear coat not being evenly distributed). Should I just add more clear or should I sand down the darker spots of clear with a fine grit sand paper?
That’s a good question. I haven’t had any success trying to touch up areas that have a different texture/gloss/reflection. The only way I know to help make the overall result more uniform is to apply another full overcoat. If there is a concern that elevation inequalities from flake concentration variation will still be an issue, then spot sanding these areas in advance of over coating would help.
Thank you for making these videos and sharing your knowledge. It’s crazy how much of a difference there is after shot blasting in comparison to vacuuming! Is the key to a smooth polyaspartic the thickness it can be applied (after applying to a smooth surface)? Is a slow drying poly necessary in this case? It looks fantastic.
Thanks so much. The polyaspartic is used here as the traffic coat. It is known for being a high gloss finish. The bulk of the flattening takes place as the result of the 100% solids epoxy. Polyaspartic isn’t usually good for build coats and it’s more pricey than epoxy. This is the poly I used: www.smithpaints.com/?ae_global_templates=45-minute-pot-life
That’s a good question. It may be possible, but I’m not sure about the chemical resistance of this system to pool chemicals. If you need a contractor locally that might be able to speak more to pool coatings, feel free to email me your city/area. Be happy to connect you with a professional.
That’s a good question. I don’t have a trick to fix surface defects in a resinous coating. It’s easy enough to prep and fill them (sand, solvent wipe, and chip brush resin to fill the void), but making the patch seamless is pretty much impossible.
