What Causes an Epoxy Floor to Flake?
Epoxy floors are widely used in households, offices and other premises because epoxy is known for its durability, strength and ability to last almost for decades. However, some owners of epoxy floors experience flaking, peeling and even damage to the epoxy floor which may cause some headaches.
Epoxy floors are the best floors you can have but these perform well only when a few precautionary steps are taken prior to installation. To know about the steps, you should contact a professional epoxy floor installer. Check with Tuff Build, before you install epoxy floor. It will help you to save time and resources.
Stain Removal
You might be considering installing an epoxy floor because your concrete slab might have seen better days. Whether it is in a commercial manufacturing plant or a residential garage, concrete floors get damaged with time, giving you more headaches.
If your concrete floor is seeing some wear and tear, it is advised to install epoxy floor coating. It is one of the easiest ways to cover up stains and it also helps in preserving the concrete. However, those stains might contain some oil or chemical that rise up to the surface after laying the epoxy. Bubble and flake formation happens when the chemicals and oils escape from the concrete pool underneath the coating.
Sealant Removal
In order to prevent stains, many concrete floors are also treated with coatings and sealants. However, these sealants must be removed before installing the epoxy coating floor.
Without removing the seal, epoxy floor will not be able to bond properly to the concrete slab which is below it, therefore causing flakes of bubbles and epoxy.
The easiest way to determine whether your flooring has a sealant or is treated in some way is by pouring water on it. If the water fails to soak in the concrete and beads up, it is most likely to be covered in a thin sealant.
Cleaning Agent Removal
Just as it is important to remove stains and oils from the surface, removing the cleaning agents is also necessary.
The cleaning agent will contain water and chemicals that will leave behind the residue and will also result in the same outcome as the stains. So, it is vital for you to clean it thoroughly, irrespective of the type of stain.
Here’s a tip - To ensure your cleaning agent is removed properly, do not allow it to dry on the concrete surface. When drying, the concrete will soak the liquids and then allow the epoxy floor to bond onto it.
Concrete Preparation
To prevent all of the above issues, you will have to prepare the concrete well prior to installing the epoxy floor.
Another thing that you must keep in mind is to give the concrete enough time to cure after it is poured.
Concrete floors contain water content that is released for months after being poured. If the epoxy coating is installed over concrete that has not been given time to cure, the epoxy will not properly adhere to the concrete.
And, as stated before, if the epoxy is unable to bond to the concrete properly, bubbles and flakes will form.
It is crucial to follow the above steps to ensure proper installation of the epoxy floor.
Why is Your Epoxy Floor Peeling?
When the floor is acid etched like in case of most DIY projects, the acid is not removed properly. A thin layer of dust sits on the top of the concrete slab. When epoxy is applied, it bonds with concrete dust than with the concrete slab, resulting in peeling off shortly after epoxy installation.
If you have any questions regarding epoxy installation, it would be best to consult a professional epoxy flooring service provider in Melbourne.
Experts at Tuff Build are here to assess your concrete floor and to ensure it is prepared well before installing the epoxy.
Steps to Avoid Epoxy Peeling
Why Does Epoxy Peel?
Epoxy is a tenacious and tough coating to remove once it is applied properly. This is the reason there are so many successful, long-lasting epoxy garage floor coatings that people absolutely like. Just because every problem you might have heard about epoxy floor can be avoided just by paying attention.
With this in mind, we have listed some of the most common reasons behind epoxy peeling up.
1. POOR SURFACE PROFILE
As we said earlier, a poorly prepared concrete surface will be the main culprit for the epoxy to peel. The number one problem associated with the floor is its poor surface profile.
In order to obtain the accurate surface profile for epoxy, you would need to acid etch the concrete at the very minimum. Grinding the concrete is the preferred method, but it is not always feasible for DIY installations.
Testing- Drip some water onto the concrete in different areas. The surface should turn dark and absorb the water in less than a minute.
Do not get lured by the clean and etch solutions that come with the less expensive, single coat garage floor epoxy kits.
Most of the time, these solutions are not effective to create a surface profile. This is because the solutions normally consist of citric acid crystals.
2. MOISTURE
The second common problem is that moisture gathers in the concrete floor. However, through epoxy, water vapors cannot pass. If any moisture is left under any part of your slab, the hydrostatic pressure created from water vapor being trapped under the epoxy coat can create enough force to lift the epoxy right off the surface.
It is suggested to inspect the floor for signs of moisture.
Efflorescence is the first sign that shows your floor might have a moisture problem and dark spots.
3. OIL AND CONTAMINANTS
Once you have achieved the correct surface profile, it becomes crucial to check if there is any oil-stained area that was cleaned previously and does not repel water.
As long as the surface absorbs water, it will absorb epoxy and provide good adhesion.
4. ACIDIC RESIDUE
When the acid etches your garage floor, the acid solution works better by reacting with the free lime in the concrete. This also causes a breakdown of the calcium at the surface which leaves the pores open. Then the calcium deposited onto the surface of floor in the form of a fine white dust.
Many epoxy floors peel up when the fine white dust is not removed effectively.
Just because the dust is so fine, it sticks to the irregularities in the surface and can be difficult to remove. If epoxy is applied over concrete using fine white dust, the epoxy sticks more to the dust and not the surface.
It will eventually peel up exposing the white dust on the underside of the epoxy coating.
The amount of dust left on the surface after acid etching is dependent on how much free time was present to allow the surface of the concrete to begin with and how well the floor was neutralized and flushed after.
Do not let the floor dry during the acid etching process. Use liberal amounts of water while flushing the surface.
5. SEALED CONCRETE
If the concrete has not been sealed, epoxy will not adhere and acid etching will not remove sealer. As already stated before, acid only responds to the free lime in concrete. If the concrete is sealed, the acid etch solution would just sit on the surface and not do anything else. Many cases of epoxy peeling come to the surface from people attempting to acid etch a sealed garage floor.
The best way to profile a previously sealed garage floor correctly is by grinding it. Through grinding, the floor will remove the sealer at the surface and even the profile at the same time.
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