Crack and joint repair before you coat a concrete floor
How to repair cracks and joints before an epoxy coating: read each crack, chase and fill it, fill or honor control joints, patch spalls and know what no coating fixes.
System: Install
Installation and systems
Surface prep, moisture, flake, metallic and polyaspartic systems, cure times, safety and why floors fail.
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- Starting a business
- Equipment and supplies
- Pricing and profit
- Quoting and sales
- Installation and systems
- Warranty, hiring and operations
- Marketing and leads
Articles
How to install epoxy cove base
How to install epoxy cove base: integral, flake and cant cove, 4- and 6-inch heights, where cove is required, the steps, and how to price it per linear foot.
Quartz broadcast floors: how they're built and where they belong
How quartz broadcast epoxy floors are built: single vs double broadcast, about 0.5 lb of quartz per sq ft per broadcast, slip resistance, uses and quartz vs flake.
Removing old floor coatings: recoat or remove, and how
How to remove old floor coatings: identify what's on the slab, decide recoat or remove, choose PCD grinding, shot blasting, scarifying or strippers, and price the work.
Concrete moisture testing before epoxy: the tests, the limits and what to do
How to test concrete for moisture before coating it: plastic sheet, calcium chloride (ASTM F1869) and in-slab RH (ASTM F2170), typical limits, and fixes.
Concrete surface profile (CSP): the ICRI scale and what your coating needs
ICRI's concrete surface profile (CSP) scale: CSP 1–10, the profile thin and thick coatings need, and what grinding, shotblasting and acid etching produce.
Epoxy cure time: how temperature, humidity and dew point change it
Epoxy and polyaspartic cure times from real data sheets: pot life, recoat windows, foot and vehicle traffic, the 5°F dew point rule, and cold-weather planning.
Epoxy flooring safety: chemicals, dust, PPE and the OSHA rules that apply
Epoxy flooring safety for installers: hardener burns and skin allergy, isocyanates, solvents, silica dust and slips, the PPE to wear, and the OSHA rules.
How to install a full-broadcast flake floor, step by step
Install a full-broadcast flake epoxy floor step by step: moisture test, grind to CSP 3, repairs, primer, base coat, flake at 5–7 sq ft per lb, topcoat and cure.
Metallic epoxy floor installation: the process, the pitfalls and the price
How metallic epoxy floors are installed: prep, primer, base color, a 30–48-mil metallic coat, manipulation, topcoat, what goes wrong, and what drives the price.
Polyaspartic vs epoxy floor coatings: how they differ and when to use each
Polyaspartic vs epoxy compared from data sheets: chemistry, working time, cure speed, UV stability, temperature, odor and cost, and the systems that use both.
Why epoxy floors fail: causes, prevention and how to handle a callback
Why epoxy floors fail and how to prevent it: delamination, hot tire pickup, amine blush, bubbles, fisheyes, yellowing, uneven flake, edge peeling and cracks.
Watch every step before you do it
The Epoxy Playbook: full installations recorded start to finish, which you can replay as often as you need, plus pricing, quoting and selling the job.