need advice on epoxy floor

[sassyotto]

My son bought a building to remodel from office space to retail space. It was finally time to have the concrete floor done. The company he chose had a very good reputation in the area.

After grinding it down (was carpet and tile) they poured a leveler on it. Then they poured the coloring on it. Up until this point it looked really good

Then they put epoxy on it and there were bubbles everywhere. The buffed the epoxy off with a rotary machine back down to the color last week Tuesday.

Then Thursday they applied a coat of epoxy and another on Saturday night. Monday morning it still had bubbles and other issues and still is not right.

They knew we were having a plumber come in on monday and although we put moving blankets and cardboard down the floor got scratched in the bathrooms

The contractor said that he would do whatever it takes to fix it but we are unsure at this point on what to do. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Mikey P]

I would remove it all and live with it nekid..

 

[sassyotto]

the contractor is willing to take everything down to the concrete and start over. Problem I have is I did a search on how long it takes for epoxy to fully cure and found various answers from 3 to 10 days so that in itself tells me that they did not wait at least the 3 days before they applied the second coat on saturday and the plumber walked on it on monday causing the scratches because it was not fully cured.

so now that we can start over if we want would an expert here recommend ?

initially he was thinking of this floor which I think is a polished concrete.

 

[sassyotto]

i guess my initial question is would the bubbles be able to be buffed out?

 

[Mikey P]

Are the bubbles from moisture in the concrete?

Buffing scraping or anything to get rid of them is going to cause dimples, right?

 

[FB19087]

i guess my initial question is would the bubbles be able to be buffed out?

not likely. Depending on the severity it will need to be sanded, cleaned with acetone, and recoated.



*my epoxy experience (concrete/floors) is 25 years or so out of date

 

[FB19087]

Are the bubbles from moisture in the concrete?

trapped air ....happens for a few reasons like the top layer drying too fast/previous coats offgassing




*moisture vapor/air from the slab are both possibilities

 

[Kenny Hayes]

I think you could reduce the bubbles over time with different grits of pads, but why. He paid or is paying for a bubble free floor. Dang, shiate happens.