One of the most frequent questions we get does I still need to do an acid etching on my floor if it’s brand new. The answer is Yes. New concrete floors need to be etched twice, in fact, to get all the curing residues cleared out of the pores, plus you need to wait 28 days prior to applying an epoxy coating to achieve that Polished concrete floors look you’re after. We recommend doing a strong etch first with some store-bought muriatic acid diluted in a 3:1 ratio with water. After scrubbing in the solution and letting it sit for 10 minutes, rinse off thoroughly and do the second etch with the etching solution provided in one of your ArmorGarage epoxy flooring kits in a 4:1 ratio. If your kit contained TSP powder scrub that in after the 10-minute wait and just prior to your final rinse off. This will neutralize the acid and bring your slab back to the proper PH to ensure the highest level of adhesion between the concrete and your epoxy coating. If your kit did not come with TSP, pick some up at any Hardware Store or Home Improvement store. 1 lb per every 750 square feet is sufficient.
The second most common question is, I have some hairline cracks, do I need to fill them in? The answer is yes and no. If the cracks are truly cosmetic cracks at the surface, the epoxy will fill them in. However, even hairline cracks can sometimes run the depth of the slab making it difficult to fill in with your epoxy coating. Our coatings are very thick and they will fill in hairline cracks but be advised that if the cracks are 4 or more inches deep some settling can occur overnight as the epoxy cures. So the best course of action is to V out those hairline cracks with a grinding wheel on a small hand grinder. Then fill them in with a good quality concrete repair compound. Epoxy-based repair compounds are the best to use. They are the strongest and are the most compatible with epoxy coatings. Do not use any silicone-based products to repair cracks if you’re planning to paint your floor with any type of epoxy coating. Also, try to avoid any premixed type of products in a tub or plastic container. While these products are inexpensive and easy to use, you get what you pay for and they more often than not crack or chip out of the cracks or divots you applied them too which ruins the look of your new High Gloss epoxy floor. ArmorGarage has two great crack and divot repair compounds that are just as easy to use. We have an epoxy crack repair compound that you can mix, putty knife into your cracks and divots and then immediately epoxy paint over it. No need to wait for it to cure and it will never crack or chip apart. Use this product after the floor has been etched and dried. It’s good for cracks up to ¼” wide, divots up to 3/8″ deep and small pitted areas. Use our Crack & Joint Filling Compound for larger cracks, divots and for filling in holes. If you wanted to get a forklift rental, no worries. Once cured our repair compounds are rated A* for these duties so you’ll never have to worry about doing the repairs again.
