# Using A floor Grinder / epoxy floors



## Paint Works (Aug 1, 2007)

I have done epoxy floors for a very long time and have always degreased,etched the floor and then applied floor coatings. I would like to start grinding the floors. I have always turned down floors with previous coatings or jobs that required allot of patching and I would like to further my skill in this area. any suggestions on a good supplier to get training from or any other inout on this would be great. Is there anyone here that does allot of floors and what products are you using?


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Armourseal rocks


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## br1dge (Sep 4, 2007)

*May not be worth it.*

Grinding costs much more than you may think... We use one of 2 systems, the 1st being a handheld Bosch grinder, 7" I think. It works well, and you can go pretty fast, but you need a special vacuum to remove dust as you work (not to be considered optional.) I use a Bosch Airsweep which works great, but filters are expensive. The grinding heads are also expensive ~$150 - and will only last for one 2 car garage (usually anyway.) 40 sq ft/hour is a reasonable labor rate assumption. This will usually leave swirl marks which are great for adhesion, but not good visually if you are using a stain (but ok with a thicker epoxy.)

The other option is to buy or rent an Edco walk-behind grinder (22" wide,) with 6 diamond "bits." These work faster, with less effort, than the handheld. but do not get close enough to baseboards or corners, and rent for ~$200 per day.

As VT painter said, SW ArmourSeal is an option (but they make several "grades," so choose carefully,) then there are options from specialty vendors like Wolverine Coatings.

I charge $5 - $9 sq ft, and while it seems like a great idea to make $6k on a garage floor, my crews would much rather paint a $6k exterior (any day of the week.) Then you have the business risk of warranty issues, although these can be mitigated significantly by proper prep. If you can land large floors of 1,000 sq ft or more, it can be worth it.


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## Wolverine (Apr 17, 2007)

Holy Smokes! Someone mentioned us... lol... 

Yeah, I know just the people to help you out... lol...


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## Paint Works (Aug 1, 2007)

Wolverine, I hit your link and got nothing. Is that on my end or yours?


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## Wolverine (Apr 17, 2007)

What link?


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## Paint Works (Aug 1, 2007)

nevermind , I got it


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Hey paint works, Try JC Licht. They have hands on floor coating seminars periodically.


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## painting247 (Mar 18, 2009)

Keep in mind that grinding the concrete is hot, hard and dirty work. No pun intended!


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## Woody (Jan 7, 2010)

Centamark is an outfit to copy.... spend 500K for the right tools, and bid like crazy...lol


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