# Do You Subcontract Epoxy Floors or Do Them Yourself?



## Floorgal (Sep 17, 2010)

For painting jobs that include concrete floor coatings, just wondering if you like to bid and install the epoxy flooring yourself, or if you prefer to subcontract it out? 

If you do the work with your own crew, what kind of concrete floor jobs have you done and how did it turn out?


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## Retired (Jul 27, 2010)

Floorgal said:


> For painting jobs that include concrete floor coatings, just wondering if you like to bid and install the epoxy flooring yourself, or if you prefer to subcontract it out?
> 
> If you do the work with your own crew, what kind of concrete floor jobs have you done and how did it turn out?


Mostly over slabs and it turned out great. Of great help was RTFM. The fun part was driving the track blaster. Noisy SOB but I was in a "Loud pipes save lifes" mode. 

I can't remember exactly what product line we used. Perhaps you can link this to a half dozen or so manufacturers of epoxy flooring.


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## CK_68847 (Apr 17, 2010)

Floorgal said:


> For painting jobs that include concrete floor coatings, just wondering if you like to bid and install the epoxy flooring yourself, or if you prefer to subcontract it out?
> 
> If you do the work with your own crew, what kind of concrete floor jobs have you done and how did it turn out?


We always sub them out. To do an expoxy floor properly it takes a lot of prep and proper tools.


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## NACE (May 16, 2008)

do them myself soup to nuts. Love the new soft rubber spikes from Mid West Rake. Virtually no slip in 12 mils of 100% solids. Grind it, prime it, finish it, get paid.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

I do them myself too, doing some video on them now. The Prep is the most important, you can rent all the tools. I finally decided what floor grinder I'm gonna get. I'm going electric. I thought the Blastrac was the way to go. :no: I was dead wrong. I used one today, that sliced the surface of the concrete like butter.

Ive always felt, why put the money in someone else's pocket. If you are capable, which I believe most are. However, a complicated floor coating, something like a cabinet refinish, something that I myself would have to walk my guys through, or application of a superior refinish product. I would sub out if I did not have the time too do.


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## [email protected] (Mar 1, 2008)

ewingpainting so witch one did you uses? I did my first one in Aug for a friend. I when the blasttrack way in rental. 
David


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## Floorgal (Sep 17, 2010)

Thanks for these responses, guys. Interesting to see how many of you are doing your own work, as well as subbing out the occasional floor job.

And, I'd be curious, too. Which grinder did you choose? Why did you choose the electric unit?


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## Retired (Jul 27, 2010)

Floorgal said:


> Thanks for these responses, guys. Interesting to see how many of you are doing your own work, as well as subbing out the occasional floor job.
> 
> And, I'd be curious, too. Which grinder did you choose? Why did you choose the electric unit?


IMO, it depends on the job. Epoxy on a floor can be as simple as a couple of gallons of Muriatic acid on a garage floor followed by a couple of coats of one of the epoxy coatings formulated to resist lifting from hot tires. 

At the other end of the spectrum, there are epoxy floors that require team efforts and precise planning and logistics. This type work comes usually by specification. Some of these pours are designed by credentialed designers, architects or artisans. 

There are two component coatings that are purchased with insurance policies attached that are highly technical in both formulation and application including needs to know Ph, temperature and relative humidity. These applications generally are used in catch basins surrounding containers of highly volatile substances, caustics and acids. 

Limiting the discussion to concrete slabs is OK but a more general discussion might be more productive.

Maybe a discussion of track blasters that will handle media from the many types of abrasives with mohs scale hardness exceeding the hardness of the screed slab includes silica to slag as media, vs a grinder might be helpful instead of a sophomoric dismissal from perhaps not RTFM. 

Kind of like telling somebody that riding a liter Gixxer is just like riding a bicycle.


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## NACE (May 16, 2008)

diamond grinding vs Blast Trac is a square foot thing for me. If the labor is greater to grind 1,500 sq ft or less, I will sub out the Blast Trac. That includes the pre-prep for grinding ie degreasing etc. Generally Blasting is faster and and ready to go. For a garage, grinding is more efficient for 1,200 sq ft as you only need a surface profile of ICRI #3. Most residential epoxies that resist hot tires are fairly easy to install even with a squeegee, spikes, and back rolling. I have done many two bay garages by myself with 100% solids including cutting in, pour, squeegee and back roll, broadcast chips or anti slip aggregate, and back roll over broadcast. A team is needed when multiple kits, cutting in and square footage exceeds the pot life of the epoxy!


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## Floorgal (Sep 17, 2010)

Well, "easy" is a relative term. Depends on a contractor's experience with 2 component products, shorter pot life and all the "fun" things that can happen on concrete. Even a 250 sq. ft. residential garage can turn into a floor coating nightmare if someone hasn't worked with the material before! Though some of you guys sound very knowledgeable!


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## Jim Sliff (Apr 17, 2011)

Epoxy floors are not intrinsically hard, but many contractors make them hard to do or are sources of horror stories because a few simple rules were not followed:

1. If it's new concrete, verify there is no curing compound, bond breaker or similar type product on the surface. If there is, you WILL be shotblasting if you want a successful job; muriatic acid does *nothing* to a coated surface (if it is previously coated, there needs to be a whole new thread...it's a complicated subject).
2. *Always* perform moisture tests. 24-our calcium-chloride kits are the best method, but plastic sheeting tests can give at least an idea what's going on. These will expose vapor drive, but not always moisture content - so electronic verification/testing should also be done (if this whole section has you scrambling for resources to find out what I mean, do not coat floors, period. You HAVE to know this stuff).
3. Acid etching has limited uses. The big problems with acid etching are A) it doesn't remove contaminants, and B) you have to rinse the floor, thereby introducing the one thing you *don't* want - water. FWIW I don't think I've specified acid etching in 20 years.
4. Primary goals of surface prep on floors - removal of contaminants, reduction of moisture (if any) and creation of a surface profile for mechanical adhesion.
5. The one most consistent mistake I see (in my contracting days I was constantly in debates with superintendents about this) - the "traditional" painter's rule of painting in the morning. That's the absolute worst time to paint a floor of any kind with any material. You want to paint floors - or at LEAST get the primer on - during times of *descending* temperature. So prep in the AM, paint no earlier than 3pm or so. Then the coating has a chance to dry and actually get sucked into the pores in the concrete a bit; but paint when temperatures are going up and you will have blisters. You might not see them right away - but there will be areas of zero adhesion and air pockets - air rises as temps go up, lifting the uncured film from the surface.

Other than that, if you can read, know how to run a mixer and use the proper safety precautions epoxy coatings are no more difficult to handle than any other floor coating - in fact, I think 1:1 ratio epoxies are about the easiest floor coatings to apply. Contractors are afraid of them because they've heard about problems; 95% of the problems are caused by the things I outlined above.

There *are* problem floors where the vapor barrier has failed (or is nonexistent), but those are not difficult problems to solve. But floor coating is really a crossover into waterproofing, so if you don't know much about waterproofing leave it for someone who does - but see if you can observe and learn something.


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## NEPS.US (Feb 6, 2008)

Great post Jim. 

Welcome and please give us more.


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## bipacco (May 11, 2011)

*Floor Coatings*

I have done epoxy floor coatings granite filled, sand filled, and different type of epoxies. They turned out well after some learning.:thumbup:


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