Problem solving on a decorative floor

At Real World Epoxies, a big source of satisfaction comes from helping installers solve problems. It’s just what we do! Here’s another quick example:

An old decorative floor showed signs in some areas of having had a floor polish applied as a part of the original maintenance program. The installer said the client was no longer using these products but wasn’t sure whether he could apply a clear epoxy topcoat to restore the finish.

In our opinion, there was a big risk in this situation of some polish residue on the floor. These are wax-like materials that can cause crawling/fisheyes in a resin, so we had to make sure all traces were removed first.

The approach we put forward was:

• Clean the floor with a pH neutral cleaner and use a stripping solution to get rid of the polish. Although we don't know exactly what the polish was used, we handed the installer our maintenance guide with instructions for a typical stripping process.
  
  
• Once clean and dry, abrade with 120-180 grit sandpaper. Vacuum to collect dust and use a flat mop with methylated spirits to pick up the fine stuff. Change out mop head as required to avoid re-contamination.
  
  
• At this stage, standard patching and other repairs can be carried out as per usual.
  
  
• To restore the original high-gloss epoxy finish, apply ArtEpoxy Liquid Crystal at a coverage of 5m²/L (200 microns). If there were concerns about scratching and scuffing, the client could return to using a polish maintenance program, or an Ezypoly PU topcoat could be applied for more permanent protection.
  
  

Take care and keep smiling,

Jack Josephsen