Epoxy on shop floor. Sand or no sand?

There are special additives for epoxy coats that make them non slip. I know it is not sand, but may be one of the shark grip things or something like that. Sand can wear out an epoxy finish faster anyway, have seen this too often.

How about just a concrete sealer, about three coats as mentioned. I have had this in my shop for fifteen years now, gteat wearability. Never really loses color. One area got "dykemed" in a major spill, I used laquer thinner and removed the coating and re-coated the floor in that area. Another dyken spill occured, this will be done again in the spring. I honestly wonder if this would have been possible on an epoxy floor? Really do not know.

Another dyken spill occured, this will be done again in the spring. I honestly wonder if this would have been possible on an epoxy floor? Really do not know.

Click to expand...

Quite possible to spill Dykem on an Epoxy floor , but impossible to remove.. I dropped a 1 quart jug of it, top was off... big stained area. I wiped up the spill and started cleaning up with remover ASAP.. Our grey epoxy floor has a big blue spot..

Jeez, I can answer that - no sand. I just did my floor and hate the sand. I believe it is recommended for the intial coat only, not the later coats, but in any case avoid it - it makes application harder and the floor less appealing.

If your customer is over 100 years old and still wears hard leather soled shoes, he might slip on a non-sand floor. But if he is like everyoneelse alive he is wearing rubber soled shoes which will be just fine.

Personally, I will never coat another floor again. If I did it all over I would just etch the floor then apply a concrete sealer and/or stain and be done with it.

Plus, make sure your customer is prepared to change all the steel casters on his equipment to urethane - a hidden cost of floor coatings.


BTW I used Sikagard 62 100% solids epoxy. It's a great product, but they all suck.

I have mixed opinions about the sand. I have a methylmethacrylate floor, rather than epoxy, so the "sand" is probably granules of plastic or something like that. On the plus side, it absolutely provides a non-slip surface, which I have appreciated several times when dealing with oil spray or spills. On the minus side, it is much harder to clean. The surface eats rags and towels quickly, and it is harder to sweep (or wipe up spills) because the surface isn't smooth.

Due to a miscommunication, a chunk of my boss's home shop was brushed concrete with epoxy over it. That was reasonably grippy for walking on and posed little issue for anything else. And it didn't dig into your knees when kneeling.

I'm a fan of just an etch. Use floor mats (good ones!) for in front of work areas, pick them up, mop, clean mat, done. I like these -
A bit spendy, but IME, they last for years so it is a good investment.

An old thread but my 2 cents.
Sand and a decent amount.
Yes it makes mopping a bit more difficult.
When we coated ours it had a bit of sand but not functional when the floor had coolant on it.
We refused to pay until they came back and added another layer with more grit.
My entire shop floor needs traction not just mats in front of machines.
This is not the wife's kitchen. We do real work and lots of moving around here.
We used to have painted concrete. Ask me about the lawsuit of an employee who slipped, grabbed the side of a normal steel table leg and sliced his hand open big style.
How to loose 80 large on a small spot of water.
Bob

The best you can have as shop floor is solid hard wood blocks. Forget about that modern plasti-hick. Sand, mineral particles do not belong near machine tools. Heavens, have men lost all wisdom? Sand, stones, grinding wheels all belong in a separate room.