Shot blasting concrete floor before epoxy? - Lateral-g Forums

BBC71Nova · #1 06-16-2009, 12:17 PM

Any of you guys tried shot blasting your concrete floors before applying an epoxy coat? I've had good luck with acid etching in the past before applying a quality epoxy but I'm considering the blasting approach this time. It seems that it would provide an even better surface for adhesion. Not to mention I get to rent yet another piece of equipment

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John

monza · #2 06-16-2009, 01:40 PM

I've done in a warehouse floor and I was disappointed with the results. Maybe it was because I went a bit cheap on the epoxy coating we applied but it looks like ****. In my garage I did acid etching and high end epoxy it worked killer.

The best IMO concrete finishing is polishing it. Have to hire someone to do it and basically it gets ground multiple times to a super fine smooth finish, almost like a granite type surface. Becomes very stain resistant looks good and low maintenance. Can be very expensive and gets more expensive the more you grind, the more you grind the better the finish. You see it in high traffic areas, large grocery stores, universities etc. Check it out. googled this quick for you http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/polishing/

rwhite692 · #3 07-05-2009, 10:28 AM

If you go over to www.garagejournal.com and do a search on epoxy floor preparation, you will have enough reading material to make your head spin...lots of discussion on shot-blasting, acid etching, etc.

**XcYZ** · #4 07-07-2009, 05:40 AM

I'll be doing the same in a few weeks. I'm working on getting the sheet rock finished up.

Post up some pics when you get started. What color are you going to go with?

BBC71Nova · #5 07-07-2009, 06:15 AM

Yeah, garagejournal is a good place for info. Actually that is where I first heard of shotblasting as an option a couple years back.

I called around locally to try and locate a shot blaster or diamond grinder/surfacer to use. The only thing I could find was a small 8-10" scarifier which seemed a little questionable to me. The wheel moved vertically instead of horizontally and I was afraid that would lead to visible grooves in the finished floor. Soooo, I'll do what I've done before and just acid etch it real good. This floor is new construction so there was zero oil, mud, etc on the floor fortunately.

I'm going to use the Sherwin Williams ArmorSeal 1000HS epoxy. It comes in a gray color or you can tint it. I've seen good reviews on it. It is similar to a product I used from Lowes a few years ago that was classified as an "Industrial Floor Coating" from the same company that has those Garage Kits. The industrial was not a water based epoxy though. They don't seem to sell it any longer so that is why I went looking for something else.

John

Fluid Power · #6 07-07-2009, 06:36 AM

I have experience with both ways. A buddy had his shot blasted by a commercial flooring company. It was an old garage that had previously been painted with floor paint. It did an amazing job. The paint was then applied per the directions on the can. It was a Sherwin Williams product and it looks fabulous. I had a garage floor that was in really good shape and tried acid etching. As it turns out, the previous owner had sealed the floor using Thompson's water seal. I went to an equipment rental store and rented a concrete floor sander that has two counter rotating discs on the bottom. It has diamond blocks on the discs. It makes one heck of a mess but it removed the water seal. The results after coating the floor were very good. If I had to do it over again, I would go the shot blast route. It was way less messy and wasn't that much more money than running around town renting tools and buying the diamond blocks.

Darren

elitecustombody · #7 08-17-2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBC71Nova

Yeah, garagejournal is a good place for info. Actually that is where I first heard of shotblasting as an option a couple years back.

I called around locally to try and locate a shot blaster or diamond grinder/surfacer to use. The only thing I could find was a small 8-10" scarifier which seemed a little questionable to me. The wheel moved vertically instead of horizontally and I was afraid that would lead to visible grooves in the finished floor. Soooo, I'll do what I've done before and just acid etch it real good. This floor is new construction so there was zero oil, mud, etc on the floor fortunately.

I'm going to use the Sherwin Williams ArmorSeal 1000HS epoxy. It comes in a gray color or you can tint it. I've seen good reviews on it. It is similar to a product I used from Lowes a few years ago that was classified as an "Industrial Floor Coating" from the same company that has those Garage Kits. The industrial was not a water based epoxy though. They don't seem to sell it any longer so that is why I went looking for something else.

John

John, so how did that SW stuff worked out? I have bought a 5 gal bucket of that stuff with hardener and anti-slip flakes,wondering how you like it and how hard/easy it was to apply?