Identifying, Preventing, and Fixing Epoxy Installation Problems
Epoxy floor coatings are all things nice and bright - they are extremely durable, sleek, and shiny along with being pretty low maintenance. However, one of the major downsides of residential epoxy flooring (as well as commercial) is the stringent installation process. If the flooring contractors don’t pour epoxy correctly, you will for sure face problems with it later.
A botched installation job completely defeats all the promises that come with epoxy flooring. It will no longer offer you protection and longevity. Another important point to note is that once the pros apply it, epoxy is incredibly difficult to remove. If the epoxy flooring installer messes up the application, you will be noticing a permanently faulty floor that is impossible to alter.
Typically, there are a couple of issues that flooring contractors most commonly face. We will discuss the cause, preventive measures, and fix for these.
Problem #1 Pinholes from Outgassing
Causative -
Outgassing is a common occurrence on concrete surfaces. This causes minuscule holes, also known as pinholes, on the surface of the epoxy coating post application. Porous concrete, aka concrete that skips shot blasting a little too aggressively, is more prone to outgassing fails. Even temperature plays a part here; the higher the temperature during pouring, the likelier that the flooring will develop pinholes.
Preventive Measure -
Make sure that the garage, patio, or wherever you are applying your residential epoxy flooring has a lower ambient temperature. You can achieve this by turning off any heaters in the vicinity or scheduling the job for later at night when the temperatures are falling. You can also use a couple of thin coats of low viscosity primer on the concrete.
How to Fix?
If you only have a few pinholes, you should leave them for spot filling later. In cases where the entire surface riddles with pinholes, the best solution is to scrape off the coating entirely, sand the floor, and reapply.
Problem #2 Bubbling on the Coating Surface
Causative -
Bubbles on the surface of the coating become apparent due to trapped air in the epoxy mixture. It mostly occurs due to over-mixing or over-rolling the prep. Coatings that are colder and have a higher viscosity, too, might face bubbling upon application. This may also occur when the layer is too thick to let the air escape before curing.
Preventive Measure -
When you mix the coating before application, do not pull it into a vortex. Use a squeegee to apply the coating from both directions with an overlap of about 50%. The larger bubbles usually show up within the first 30 minutes of pouring the epoxy; you can gently pop them as you go.
How to Fix?
A couple of bubbles can pop during the curing process which one can spot and fix later. Lightly sand down the lip of the bubble and fill the area just enough.
Problem #3 Fish Eyes or Craters on the Surface
Causative -
When the concrete or existing coating has oil or silicone spills in it, the damage will manifest as fish eyes on the surface. Also known as crawling or craters, apart from contamination, it can occur when you miss the recoat window by a significant number of days.
Preventive Measure -
Preventing fish eyes is all about thorough prep and effective surface cleaning. Before you install your new coating, take the pain to go through every inch of the floor and ensure that it is free of oil or silicon contamination.
How to Fix?
If the crawling occurs while you are applying the residential epoxy flooring, continue to back roll and wait until you finish the work of the entire floor. You can spot fix the smaller fish eyes, especially the ones that concentrate in a single area, later. Furthermore, you can fix widespread crawling issues by removing the epoxy coating and meticulously degreasing the surface. Take care to leave out no spots.
Zone Garage also offers Polyurea and Polyaspartic floorings along with epoxy. We tend to serve both residential and commercial clients. Give us a call at (405) 531-4331 for a free quote!