Epoxy Floor Installation in Huntington, NY

Surface profile: why we grind, and OSHA's rule for the dust

We grind the slab with diamond tooling instead of acid etching it, because the two methods leave different profiles and remove different things. ICRI Guideline 310.2R grades prepared concrete by concrete surface profile, CSP 1 to CSP 10, and names each grade by the method that typically produces it: CSP 1 is acid-etched, CSP 2 is grinding, CSP 3 is a light shotblast. Sherwin-Williams' technical article on etching says acid "tends to produce a CSP-1 to CSP-2 profile, which is suitable only for very thin systems" and "cannot remove curing compounds or many contaminants found in industrial settings". The system sets the profile: Wolverine Coatings' bulletin on preparing concrete (Rev 230913) matches films of 4 to 10 mils to CSP 1-3 and films of 10 to 40 mils to CSP 3-5, and Sherwin-Williams Form G-1 lists its own flake broadcast systems at CSP 5.

Form G-1 also says diamond grinders come with multiple grit options and are "capable of achieving a wide range of concrete surface profiles". We prepare the slab to the profile named on the chosen system's data sheet. Grinding concrete raises respirable crystalline silica, and Table 1 of the federal rule, OSHA's 29 CFR 1926.1153, gives floor grinders two controls: a machine that continuously feeds water to the cutting surface, or a dust collection system with a filter of 99% or greater efficiency and a filter-cleaning mechanism. Our walk-behind grinders run with dust collection, and indoors we remove loose dust between passes with a HEPA-filtered vacuum, as the table requires.

Pot life, recoat and traffic times beside Centerport's normals

A data sheet prints its pot life, recoat and traffic times at a stated temperature, and in a colder room every one of them is longer. At 50 and at 77 degrees F in turn, the Sherwin-Williams data sheet for ArmorSeal 1000 HS (revised August 10, 2021), for a 6.0 mil wet film, gives pot life (how long the mixed product stays usable) as 6 hours and 4 hours, the minimum wait before recoating as 24 hours and 8 hours (the maximum is 7 days), foot traffic as 48 hours and 24 hours, heavy traffic as 4-5 days and 48-72 hours, and full cure as 10 days and 7 days. The ArmorSeal sheet requires 50 degrees F or warmer, at least 5 degrees F above the dew point, and 85% relative humidity or less. Westcoat's sheet for its EC-36 epoxy (8/23 revision) gives a pot life of 40 minutes, foot traffic at 8 hours and wheel traffic at 72 hours, all at 72 degrees F. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for Centerport, inside the Town of Huntington, give a normal January high of 37.9 degrees F and a normal count of 4.5 January days that reach 50.

By our subtraction, NOAA's 2006-2020 hourly normals for Farmingdale Airport, outside the Town, put the mid-October air temperature 6.3 degrees F above the dew point at 7 a.m. standard time and 17.1 degrees F above it at 2 p.m. Those are outdoor readings, not slab or garage temperatures, so we check the air and slab temperature and the dew point before we mix. Sherwin-Williams does not recommend warming the room with fuel-burning heaters: they add moisture and carbon dioxide, "increasing the opportunity for blushing", a waxy film on the surface.

What a consumer kit's own data sheet asks of you

A DIY epoxy garage floor kit has a data sheet of its own, and that sheet sets conditions on the slab, the weather and the clock. Rust-Oleum's technical data ESH-39 (Rev. 050418) says its EpoxyShield water-based garage kit is for garage floors "that are in good sound condition and are free of curing agents and sealers", and that it "is not intended for use on unsound previous coatings or floors that have a moisture problem". ESH-39 also gives coverage of approximately 250 square feet per pouch; a dry film of 3.0-3.5 mils at 52.6-52.8% solids by volume (the share of the wet coating that stays as film); air, material and surface temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees F, with the surface at least 5 degrees F above the dew point and relative humidity no greater than 85%; a pot life that falls from 2 hours at 60-70 degrees F to 1 hour at 81-85 degrees F; and light foot traffic in 12-16 hours, with vehicle traffic after 3 days.

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for Centerport count 0.6 January days reaching 60 degrees F outdoors, 14.8 in April and 26.6 in May. The taped plastic sheet check in Rust-Oleum's basement kit sheet, ESH-08, is a yes-or-no test: Sherwin-Williams Form G-1 says the plastic sheet method, ASTM D4263, "will indicate the presence of moisture movement, but it will not quantify the amount". Angi's August 2026 cost page says most epoxy products need a prep method, which "can include acid washing, power washing, or etching". Wolverine Coatings' bulletin says acid etching "will normally yield a CSP1 profile and is typically only used for very thin coatings".