1. Prep

I tried the diamond blades buffer thingy from Lowe's and it barely made a scratch...it didn't even take off the spray paint on the floor (drywall folks marked locations with spray paint). So I took it back and got the more aggressive version...that also barely made a scratch. Apparently the concrete floor was polished. So I made a third trip to Home Depot and rented the 10" grinder...that did the trick. I highly recommend using the fine dust bag for the shop vac while grinding (and wear a respirator and ear plugs)...with a pair of BOSE noise canceling headphones I was jamming out to Mariah Carey and grinding concrete. Painfully slow but very effective. We conducted several rounds of sweeping and shop vaccing the floor. Yes, eventually you will get everything off the floor.

2. Seam Sealer

Holy frustrating batman!!! So apparently some seams can be 2 stinking inches deep. We mixed up small batches of the EpoxyMaster Flexible Joint Sealer and put it down, letting it seep into the seam, mixed another batch, and repeated several times. After a few hours they were filled up, we used a putty knife to smooth over the top. No drama.

3. Basecoat

Very simple instructions written on top of the containers. Mixed the first batch. So the first pour was a disaster!!! I was so anxious about dumping it all out in 60 seconds that I dumped it all out in about 10 seconds in the first room (the first batch should have covered two rooms). So now it's time for some serious squeegee work.  My father-in-law squeegeed like no tomorrow and managed to spread the product out to cover both rooms. I rolled it (the spiked shoes are an absolute must!!!). The roller worked ok but it sure doesn't clean up well. So I went to several paint stores and none of them carried the 3/16" nap roller so I ended up buying a sponge looking roller (3/16" nap for super smooth surfaces). So we mixed up the second batch and this time my pour went much smoother. 60 seconds is more time than you realize. I will say though, pouring a 5" bead is tough with the bucket and perhaps a spout might help? None the less the second round went much smoother and the sponge looking roller worked like a champ. We finished our work and commenced to ridding the world of those excess Pabst Blue Ribbons...they gotta be good, they have a blue ribbon right? The next morning was a shocker though. The basecoat was very thin and looked heinous...we questioned whether we drank the PBRs before or after putting it down. But alas, we started and no turning back now.

4. Final Coat

So we shop vacced again just to be safe and jumped right into mixing up the final coat. Wish I would have gotten it on video...went down like professionals (at least in our minds). We knocked out the entire basement in no time. We finished putting it down and got back to saving the world again. 24 hours later we came down and WOW! Absolutely fantastic! Shortly after, it was show time...the boss came down and she was speechless! She jumped around super excited and said she loved it! Success!

Recommendations

Buy a couple of cheap 5 gallon buckets and a bunch of liners from Lowe's, the lip on the bottom makes pouring much easier. Don't bother trying to clean anything except for the squeegee and metal mixing wand, buy extras and toss them when you're done. If you have an assistant, buy them a set of spiked shoes as well. Don't put your radio in the back room and forget about it or you'll listen to Mariah Carey all night.

Questions

Chris Deanes

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