# Proper Application of Concrete Floor Coatings



## Craig S. Jones

If you have ever wondered how to prepare and apply a quality floor coating system on your concrete surface this article should help you.  Most people dont have any real idea how to prepare and apply a proper floor coating on a concrete surface.  Its important to remember that there are two necessary criteria when coating your floor.  The first is remove all surface contaminants and second is a suitable profile in the concrete surface for coatings to bond.  

The best ways to achieve this are in order:
1.	Shotblasting
2.	Diamond grinding
3.	Muratic Acid etching
4.	Other forms of etching like Citric acid

There are many different types of coatings which can be coated and you should find reasonable success from a 1 year coating through a 20 year.  The type of coating and thickness will determine the wear resistance and bonding strength of coatings.  
The best primers would typically be Epoxies.  This is due to the great adhesive properties associated with epoxy coatings.  The best top coats would typically be a high grade polyurethane enamel due to the fact that it resists yellowing over time.  
With over 27 years in business Performance Floor Coating Systems, Inc. has used www.epoxy-coat.com for its applications.  Some of the reasons are as follows:

What are the comparable differences between Epoxy-Coat Cycloaliphatic 100% solids epoxy garage floor coating and the other types of epoxies? The most important differences between floor coating epoxies are listed below:

A. Epoxy-Coat is a 100% solids Cycloaliphatic epoxy, making it ideal for garage floor coating, basement floor coating, patios, brick pavers, driveways, pool decks, industrial or commercial concrete or wood floors. 100% solids epoxy is a term used to describe the volume solids in a coating system. It's what is left over after the epoxy floor coating dries. 100% solids will yield 100% dried material after the floor coating fully dries. 50% volume solids will yield 50% of the thickness after the floor coating fully dries. Most epoxies are 30% - 40% volume solids. If you wish to compare the thickness after dried application between Epoxy-Coat and normal epoxies you would need 2.5x the gallons to equal exactly the thickness of 1 gallon of Epoxy-Coat Floor Coating.

Epoxy-Coat is a Cycloaliphatic epoxy. What is Cycloaliphatic epoxy? It is a type of epoxy. Just like there are types of automobiles that perform differently (and vary in costs) so do epoxies. Not all epoxies are the same. If you wish to apply a high performance floor coating to your concrete or wood floor, you would want a 100% solids epoxy. If you want the highest grade of 100% solids epoxy you will want a Cycloaliphatic epoxy. Only Epoxy-Coat can achieve a thickness suitable for proper aesthetics and durability, a high abrasion resistance, a product that would be resistant to yellowing or fading over time, high gloss, highly chemical resistant, impact resistant, 0 VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds), no odor in VOC sensitive environments. Most floor coating epoxies are not Cycloaliphatic 100% solids, which happen to be the most expensive to manufacture. They can cost up to 4x the amount of other floor epoxies to manufacture. Epoxy-Coat is the same quality epoxy used in the most demanding industrial / commercial floors. In fact approximately 60% of industrial and commercial floors use a less quality Aliphatic 100% solids epoxy in their applications. Compare the product data sheet to compare the extensive differences between Epoxy-Coat garage floor coating kit and other epoxies. 

Epoxy-Coat is not a sub-standard water based epoxy kit. Water based epoxy coatings do not have the wear resistance, bonding strength and chemical resistance achievable from a 100% solid cycloaliphatic epoxy coating. IT'S SIMPLE CHEMISTRY. Competitors may promote easier application (without mixing); however, its the mixing which creates the molecular cross linking necessary for the curing process and high performance characteristics. Without it you won't get the performance. This is why professional installation companies use 100% solid epoxy floor systems. This is why national architectural firms don't specify single component or water based epoxies on demanding conditions. Water based products are cheaper to manufacture. They sound great, but you get what you pay for. It would be absurd to use single component or water based epoxies in an automotive plant; its simply not done. Why would you risk applying this type of coating to your garage floor? If youre going to go through the time and expense to coat your garage, basement or patio, why not spend the extra $75.00 and do it correctly? Epoxy-Coat is permanent; other coatings are not. You will be removing or replacing most water based epoxies and single component epoxies in the future, COUNT ON IT! THEY CANT OFFER THE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. THEYRE NOT MAGICAL. 

Chemistry note:100% solid epoxies cure with a cross-linking of molecular curing. They do not cure by air. Although higher temperatures help cure 100% solids faster, they will cure completely when mixed correctly and will, in fact, cure faster in thicker applications. Single component (non-mixing) epoxies do not cure like 100% solids epoxies. They are sensitive to thickness and air. Curing is neither as complete nor predictable; therefore, performance is not the same when applied in varying thickness' 		

CONDITIONS TO KNOW ABOUT CLEAR COATING YOUR FLOOR!

There are reasons why you 
may not choose to clear-coat your floor...

Single Application...
Its true the least amount of coats per application, THE BETTER! Why? You remove the variable of inter-coat delimitation. Multiple coats do not bond (between coats) nearly as well as the bonding throughout a single thick chemical cure application. This is why Epoxy-Coat is designed to be a single application.

Thickness... 
Clear coats sound great, however; a clear coat is typically only 2 mils DFT in thickness. When applied to a flake chip system it leaves only 2 mils of protection before you wear out the clear coat.

Slip Resistance...
When you apply a clear coat to a floor, it reduces the coefficient of friction. The floor becomes slippery because it covers up the natural slip resistant properties associated with flake chips or aluminum oxide. To counter the slipperiness, you will need to apply aluminum oxide in the clear-coat application. This, unfortunately, will wear out much quicker than flake chips will or aluminum oxide in the Epoxy-Coat application. As it wears, it will leave small permanent dark marks on the top of the aluminum oxide particles. 2 mils DFT of clear coat is not suitable to hold #20 aluminum oxide without the risk of coming out so you will need a maximum #36.

Yellowing...
All clear coats yellow over time. Only two component aliphatic Polyurethane Enamel or Epoxy-Coat Cycloaliphatic clears (in a do-it-yourself kit form) resist yellowing from ultraviolet rays to an acceptable level.

Odor...
Polyurethane clear coatings are not 0% VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) coatings; therefore, hazardous odors may be present, which can cause untold problems.

Cycloaliphatic Epoxy...
When a single coat of Cycloaliphatic epoxy is applied over 9 mil DFT with an exposed flake chip system, you have a floor that is high gloss, permanently slip resistant and durable for decades throughout the thickness of the coating. It will resist yellowing and the threat of inter-coat delimitation is eliminated. Aluminum oxide can be added to this coat with more security (due to the fact that the coating is thicker).

Re-coating...
When re-coating clear coats, you have to re-coat the entire floor with the base color first, then a top coat of clear... if not, you wont have an even new-looking floor. 
Epoxy-Coat is sold and can be used as a clear top-coat, these points are made as helpful insight. 
Epoxy-Coat has the advantage over polyurethane clears in that it applies 5x 
thicker per coat creating a more glossy appearance.

WHY EPOXY-COAT IS THE BEST FLOOR COATING FOR
garages, basements, patios, brick pavers, driveways, pool decks, industrial or commercial concrete floors....

Epoxy-Coat offers the best performance characteristics in a complete well packaged kit form with everything needed inside. Epoxy-Coat does not use sub-standard preparation products like Citric Acid. 
We offer an exclusively manufactured buffered hydrochloric acid which prepares the floor with the best do-it-yourself prep solution available. Epoxy-Coat is the best financial deal for a high performance floor coating kit in the World today.
Epoxy-Coat is co-owned with one of the largest floor coating companies, Performance Floor Coating Systems, Inc. With over 25 years experience and millions of sq. ft. of application study, we do not offer products to the customer which will not work.
Unfortunately, most manufacturers really don't know what works and what doesnt. They lack the matured practical experience. Chemists can make floor coatings; however, it takes real application experience to know what really works on concrete floors. This is why Epoxy-Coat offers one and only one product to the customer. Why should we waste time selling sub-standard products, only to prove their future failure

WHY USE EPOXY-COAT IN PLACE OF
POLYURETHANE COATINGS?
·	Simple, Polyurethane Enamels do not meet the necessary criteria in a single packaged coating system. Only a Cycloaliphatic 100% Solids Epoxy does.
·	Polyurethane's do not bond directly to concrete as well as 100% solids epoxies do.
·	Polyurethane's cannot be applied in a single coat application equal to 4.8 coats of paint (9.7 mils DFT).
·	The fact that you would need to apply 4.8 coats of Polyurethane to equal the thickness of Epoxy-Coat (for proper performance and thick looking appearance) would neither be cost effective nor a trouble-free application for the consumer.
·	Multiple coats of Polyurethane's can cause untold problems with inter-coat delamination (peeling).
·	High performance Polyurethane Enamels (2 component) will have odors and harmful VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds).
·	Removal of unused Polyurethane can be a hazardous waste.
·	Polyurethane's have a much higher tendency to leave black tire marks (photo imaging of the tire permanently chemically etched into the Polyurethane floor).
·	Most competitive floor coating companies have not applied millions of sq. ft. of high performance floors before offering a do-it-yourself kit; therefore, they havent yet matured to the fact that the other coatings available are simply sub-standard for all of the reasons mentioned above. Sales people are all trying to sell their products, but these points should be objectively viewed by the consumer if he/she wishes success in their floor coating application. A simple BUYERS BEWARE is essential with all floor coating applications.

SOME POINTS TO BEWARE OF WITH OTHER COATINGS:
·	Inter-coat peeling 
·	Yellowing 
·	Floor too slippery after application 
·	Floor too slip resistant and unable to clean (by too much inappropriate slip resistant additives) 
·	Floor looking thin and uneven 
·	Floor wearing pre-maturely 
·	Floor leaving permanent black tire marks 
·	Floor not curing throughout the application correctly. (A single component coating will cure differently than a 2 part epoxy. If applied thicker in some areas it may not cure correctly or at all). 
·	Application odors may linger or cause problems in application. 
·	Floors will not clean after curing regardless of slip resistant additives. 
·	Coatings having bubbles, which collect dirt and debris. 
·	Coatings that have color float and have varied color appearance. 
·	Coatings that have varied gloss levels and/or dull areas. 
·	Fixing any of these problems is simply a nightmare of painstaking proportion! 
·	Most customers will either wish not to be content with or wish they hadn't painted 
their floors to begin with.

Epoxy-Coat can be coated over existing paints/coatings simply make sure they are cleaned, 
sanded (80-100 grit) and bonding. All areas that are not bonding must be diamond ground to
remove loose coatings prior to Epoxy-Coat application.
Epoxy-Coat is ideal for garages, basements, patios, brick pavers, driveways, pool decks,
industrial or commercial concrete/wood floors.


I hope you find great success in your floor coating endeavors and hope this article has been of assistance.  

Craig S. Jones


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