4 Common Reasons Your Epoxy Coating Doesn’t Look Great
Epoxy coatings do have their fair share of pros and cons. According to epoxy flooring contractors, one of the major demerits of epoxy is that it is deceptively tricky to work with. Incidentally, polyaspartic polyurea coatings remedy this flaw well. Discussed below are 4 things you are probably doing wrong when installing epoxy flooring.
You Didn’t Prepare Your Surface Well
The acid that comes with your DIY kit intended for etching purposes is ridiculously inefficient at preparing the surface. Epoxy flooring contractors recommend using diamond grinding and shot blasting instead. The Concrete Surface Profile (CSP) after a thorough grinding is removed of contaminants and the weak cream. The surface is roughened just enough for the epoxy to form strong bonds.
Do note that sometimes even with the right equipment, applying the wrong technique can ruin the CSP.
Grinding/Shot Blasting Leaves Residual Contaminants
Many times, the contaminants seep through the porous concrete and resist removal in spite of grinding or shot blasting. These act as bond breakers resulting in the epoxy coating peeling off. Depending on the nature of the contaminant, one can use solvents or even hydrocarbon-eating bacteria to clean off oil.
Nowadays the market also sells primers to be layered on top of the concrete. A primed surface lets epoxy bind well.
Prone to Moisture Damage
A successful flooring job needs the epoxy flooring contractors to have a lucid understanding of the humidity and dew point. Dew point refers to the temperature at which the humidity in the air condenses as moisture on the concrete surface.
Now concrete being porous absorbs the moisture leading to poor bonding. Sometimes when condensation forms on the epoxy before it is fully cured, it forms an oily film on the surface. Even if it doesn’t necessarily affect the material’s intrinsic properties, it is not the best look.
Improper Product Mixing
Epoxy comes with two different components, a resin, and a hardener. When the two are mixed together, an exothermic reaction takes place. The resultant product is the hard and durable epoxy that we have been talking about.
An untrained human can easily mess up to ratio between the resin and the hardener leading to the epoxy being too weak. The mixing part too is notoriously difficult to get hang of the first time. It slows down the curing process. Often the coating fails to harden at all, leaving us to scrape the uncured goo from the floor.
Better Than Epoxy Polyaspartic Polyurea Coatings
Zone Garage has earned its place as a premier provider of Polyaspartic Polyurea Coatings in Oklahoma City. We offer flooring solutions that are one of a kind and industry leading. Request a free quote on our website. We also have financing options available.