Epoxy on shop floor. Sand or no sand?

laminar-flow · Dec 26, 2006

I have a customer who is setting up a new shop location and they are getting a professional epoxy shop floor this week. They were recommended to have sand spread in the 4th and last coat for non slip. I never have liked sanded floors as it seemed that if oil or coolant was present, one could easily slip on each surface. Unless of course it was heavily sanded. Sanding also makes cleaning hard as it will rip sponges and tear mops. Comments?

matt_isserstedt · Dec 26, 2006

Personally, I'm also in the no-sand camp, instead invest in a mop and bucket to clean up spills and a box fan to dry the floor after that.

The "sand" particle to me seems way too large in the finished products I've seen...probably better if it was a reduced grit size and more of it, but that's an uneducated opinion.

Lca078 · Dec 26, 2006

If he intends to wheel stuff around like tool boxes, floor jacks, pallet jacks with heavy loads, he has to get the fine sand. Otherwise, it's the same like trying to roll heavy items over kitty litter (my personal pet peeve in the shop!) But, I'm with Matt as I don't like sand to begin with. Ergonomic floor matts, traction tape, etc. are all solutions for "slippery" sections when a mop bucket won't be enough.

Carl Darnell · Dec 26, 2006

I don't like epoxyed or coated floors at all. When they are wet they are like walking on ice. You need to keep your knees bent and walk carefully or your feet will be above your head and your back on the floor. I worked in several truck shops with epoxy floors and they were a problem. I do like the concrete sealers that keeps liquid from soaking into the concrete and leaves the concrete surface bare.

laminar-flow · Dec 26, 2006

So how much sand in the last coat is enough? How much is not enough?

What I'm getting at is it has been my experience that it takes a lot to make the surface non slip. And at that point, it becomes a mess when cleaning or rolling stuff around.

Davis In SC · Dec 26, 2006

Our Epoxy Shop floor was very slippery at first, when wet.. It got better in time, as the gloss wore off.. perhap you could just apply sand to the areas that are more prone to spills?

Mike Folks · Dec 26, 2006

The pro's of a epoxy sanded floor are increased traction in most work situations(grease,oil,water).

The con's are PITA to sweep and mop and touchup if damaged.

laminar-flow · Dec 26, 2006

Could one just take the new shiny surface and hit it with a scotchbrite buffer and dull it a bit?

chuckey · Dec 26, 2006

Sand is a mixture of particles of different rocks. So the question is :- what size particles of what rocks are best for this purpose? I would pose this question to the supplier and unless he can furnish you with a precise definition, I would pass this time. FWIW In the UK there two specs for sand (BSS 1199 and 1200), soft sand for making mortar and sharp sand for pointing. No builders supplier (including the "super" store) stock sand to a BSS spec, they just stock what is quarried localy so they can sell it cheap. If you are lucky, it might be close to the BSS mix. Which is that, when the sand is passed through a series of sieves of decreasing mesh size (I forget how many), there should be an equal volume of particles caught in each mesh. Basically so the sand particles are not all the same size. Now for your use, I would think that the particles should be of a limited size range. I would think adding sand to the epoxy would increase its life many times over, because you will be trying to abrade the sand NOT the epoxy. Davis in SC, wrote that the epoxy surface got less slippery with age, cos the top coat has got abraded?, first signs of wear?
Frank
P.S. Just remembered TV transmission towers are painted with a paint that contains mica flakes to afford grip to the riggers working on them.

Sea Farmer · Dec 26, 2006

"Pettit" brand marine paint sells "Skidless Compound 9900" for this purpose. It's silicon carbide uniformly-sized, extremely fine grit, for mixing with paint.

The e3xtremely fine grit seems to be key. It stays in the paint. I've seen coarser sand break out and leave a lot of holes behind.

2kjettaguy · Dec 27, 2006

I used this on my floor: www.ucoatit.com

I skipped the gloss topcoat, but threw down some of the included sand before the last coat. I regret both.

First, the sand turned out to be a major headache. If the floor is totally soaked it can be slick, but when there's a spill (not oil) it's fine. The sand tears up the mop head... bad. The sand catches dirt, and wore out a pair of my shoes in a few months time. It eventually gets knocked off and wears off, leaving little pits where it was. The "sand" was some kind of aluminum oxide in pretty heavy grit.

Second, I should have done the gloss. I am a perfectionist and I like the floor to shine. It looks satin without the gloss, and dull when dirty. I should have skipped the sand and done the gloss.

Evan

2kjettaguy · Dec 27, 2006

Oh yeh, and don't kneel down on the floor where there's sand. OUCH!

Rich Carlstedt · Dec 27, 2006

If he uses a fork lift, he can expect half the tire life. same for brooms and cleanup time.
But his Workmans comp may be better.

Rich

gmatov · Dec 27, 2006

How about white beadblaster grit?

Bucket I have in the shop is finer than table sugar, looks to be very uniform in grit size.

Cheers,

George

mobile_bob · Dec 27, 2006

my vote is for sand

you only have to come down with a ladder from 16ft one time and have the ladder rail jambed up where the sun don't shine once!

coated floors are nice, but too damn slick!

bob g

cruzinonline · Dec 27, 2006

sherwin williams has a product called shark grip that you mix with or broadcast before final coat. I am using it this week. Will update.

keithg · Dec 27, 2006

if you want it to look clean , don't sand it.

mats in front of machines

let it wear in

Thermo1 · Dec 27, 2006

I had a shop floor poured many years ago. The mason recommended against a smooth trowel finish. The mason left it with a float finish, which is a bit rougher than a smooth trowel finish, but not sharp like sand. I put a couple of coats of sealing compound on it when new, and have not done anything else since. One part of the shop gets a lot of oil, and the other part gets a lot of sawdust. It is not too bad to sweep, and not too slippery either. It was less work for the mason than a trowel finish, so it saved me some money also.

Thermo1

cruzinonline · Dec 31, 2006

Okay, just finished about 6000 sf. Used Sherwin Williams Amour Coat, Grey. Used the SharkGrip powder. Stuff looked like baking soda. Too fine to spread by hand. Actually, I just followed the directions. Rented a floor scrubber and scrubbed for about 8 hours. Then mopped. 12 hours

Day 2 we used the rented concrete grinder, and wet ground the floor. Used the floor scrubber to clean up behind the grinder. Etched with acid. Wasn't too bad. Little smoke and a few bubbles. Rinsed and used scrubber to clean up the floor. 12 hours

Day 3 trimmed out around machines and painter floor. 10 hours.

Day 4 applied second coat. 'bout 4 hours

day 5 taped the floor and painted the stripes, 4 hours.

The shark grip seems to work real well. Floor looks like fine sandpaper but is "smooth" to the touch. I think the stuff soaks up the epoxy and expands a little. Looks like it will mop real well without snagging the mop head. Lot better than the silicon carbide we used on the back part of the shop. That stuff will scar you if you slide on it and the rented scubber would only clean about 60% of the floor because of the rough grit.

Hope this helps.

micahs' metals · Jan 1, 2007

I used to work at a place that had a company come in and epoxy coat the floors in the engine room and boiler room. The top coat had sand in it and you would'nt slip, even if you walked on an oil spill. We mopped the floor every shift, and the mop glided over the floor effortlessly. It made my job much easier and looked great. Even had colored walkways marked with yellow boundry lines.

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