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How and Why To
Epoxy Paint Your Concrete SlabEpoxy Concrete Paint
How and Why To Epoxy Paint Your Concrete Slab --Understanding Concrete Painting With EpoxiesYour Host and Tour Guide: Paul Oman, MS, MBA - Progressive Epoxy Polymers, Inc. Member: NACE (National Assoc. of Corrosion Engineers), SSPC (Soc. of Protective Coatings) "Professionals helping Professionals" CONTACT INFO - ORDERING - HOW TO REACH US copyright 3/3/97 Concrete slab floors are found in nearly all industrial and commercial sites. Should you paint or coat them, or leave them alone? If you are completely new to Epoxy Floors and are exploring the idea of having an epoxy floor, click here to get the basic requirements before you call to discuss and/or order.
REASONS TO COAT YOUR FLOORConcrete floors are coated for several reasons. These include: 1) to improve chemical resistance, 2) to prevent the concrete from sweating (epoxies are used for this application, 3) to impart a non-skid surface, 4) to seal the surface from moisture and/or reduce dust, and 5) for appearance sake. POSSIBLE PROBLEMSIn some cases getting a suitable, long term bond between the concrete and the coating can become career or profit destroying task. Because of these potentially dreadful results, consider coating your slab only if you really need to and only if you are willing to perform suitable surface preparation (which will help greatly in avoiding possible problems). It is often difficult to say exactly why a coating on a cement slab will fail (not stick, peel, blister, etc). Reasons can include: 1) a layer of dust or dirt or the surface, 2) too smooth, oily or waxy a surface (from previous coatings or contaminants), 3) a damp surface, 4) surface salts or ions that are already present or forming/collecting (can be from surface waters, contaminants or from the concrete itself), 5) vapor pressure and or water flow within the porous concrete itself before, during, or after the coating has been applied, or 6) a weak surface layer of concrete (from either very old or very new concrete). Other problem situations include existing 'active' cracks and/or expansion joints. If you simply paint over them the coating will crack or peal when movement or shifting takes place. SURFACE PREPARATIONSurface preparation is often a judgment call based upon the location, condition and history of the existing concrete. Perhaps the surface needing the least preparation is the typical cement sidewalk outside your house that has been 'weathered' for several years and has never been oil stained, painted, etc. The existing factory or work floor is the floor that should cause you the most concern. Waxes, sealers, spills, dissolved salts, are all possible problems awaiting discovery. Your best chance at a successful floor coating job in this case is to shot blast the floor, removing the top layer and providing a new, fresh surface profile. I would then waterblast the surface and include a salt-removing agent. Finally wet vac the surface dry, sucking away the water, dust, and dissolved salts. MODERN SOLVENT-FREE COATINGSOur company sells a line of solvent-free epoxies for floor coating. Solvent free epoxies have no strong fumes to deal with and their wet thickness equals their dry thickness. In other words, if you apply 20 mils of coating or fill in a tiny void with the wet epoxy, it will harden at 20 mils instead of shrinking and re-exposing any filled in cracks or voids. An 50% solvent (50% VOC) epoxy would require applying 40 mils of product to get 20 mils of dry epoxy. Of course, you probably cannot apply 40 mils in one coat so two or coats would be necessary (add in time and labor costs). Actually, it is even difficult to apply 10-20 mils of a solvent based coating without getting 'alligator' textures of peaks and indents with wet paint trapped underneath due to trapped solvent under the top layer of dry paint. No solvents also means nothing to soften or weaken existing coatings or finishes (such as the adhesive under floor tiles that are being encased or sealed in epoxy). These epoxies can also be applied to wet or damp (or even submerged) floors. Remember that moisture is one possible cause for floor coatings to fail. COST OF EPOXIESAs the above paragraph suggests, a $50/gallon, 50% solvent epoxy has the same amount of coverage as a $100/gallon, 0% solvent (0% VOC) product without the dangers and fumes of the solvent, nor the potential extra labor costs of solvent based product. Epoxies generally sell for between $20 and $1,000 per gallon. To a degree, you get what you pay for. A premium grade epoxy could easily contain raw materials costing the manufacturer between $25 and $50-$60 per gallon. Like all products (but less than most) there is a several hundred percent market-up to pay for salaries, one or more layers of distributors and/or reps, marketing, packaging, R&D, overhead, profit, insurance, advertising, etc. To make very inexpensive epoxy means either using a lot of inexpensive solvents and/or inert, inexpensive fillers. This affects performance and quality. EVALUATING EPOXIESOn a cost basis, evaluate your epoxy options on a cost per square foot, per dry mil basis. That removes the solvent factor (but not the fumes safety problem). Look for ease of application and reapplication. Beware of a problem know as 'amine blush' which leaves behind a waxy residue on the epoxy surface. Look for an ASTM E648 fire testing of the epoxy (or resin) system. Some epoxies require extreme care in getting the mix ratio 100% correct. Instead, look for a more 'field friendly' mix where being 'close' is good enough.
Third-party web site link on concrete floor surface preparation:http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/surface_preparation/index.htmlConcrete Patching and Repair Page - click here
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Progressive Epoxy Polymers, Inc. carries three lines of floor epoxies. Our Industrial Floor epoxy is an excellent quality, solvent free epoxy. It is available in beige, and light gray. Our waterbased Waterbond (med. gray only) is a user friendly epoxy. Rough Coat is a tan epoxy with grit already mixed in. Visit our products catalog at: www.epoxyproducts.com/b_floor.html
Addtional pages on a different domain:
Comparisons, Problems, Issues (click here)
10 questions you need to know/ask regarding epoxy floor paint coating (click here)
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