Sixteen days after completing install of an epoxy/polyaspartic garage floor we still have extremely strong odor. Can any of the resident experts tell me when this might fade without further action? Is there anything we can do to accelerate the process? My contractor has done everything I’ve asked of him and is highly apologetic, but I feel we’re both out of tricks now. I love the floor otherwise.
Details: I had a new garage floor slab poured back in early September. After 60 days I brought in a local company to finish the floor. They ground the surface and applied a coat of 95% solids epoxy along with a layer of flake. This coat was thinned slightly (with acetone, I believe) due to cooler temps and odor from this coat was mild. The weather was cool and the slab around 50 - 55 degrees when this occurred.
The next day there was a brief cold snap so we waited an extra day (48 hours total) to apply the top coat. By that time the epoxy was solidly hard and air temp was back in the 50s or so. A coat of polyaspartic clear was then applied. Odor during install of this layer was terrible, as my contractor had warned, but he said the odor would clear in two days or so. It hasn't. The contractor says he’s done other identical floors since mine without the same issue. Here is what we’ve done:
- Five days of thorough ventilation (air temps of 40 to 70 in the garage, low humidity).
- Ran contractor's propane heater intermittently for six days (maintained air temps of 65-85, slab got to mid-70s)
- Washed floor with mild detergent and warm water
- Ventilated with windows open and fans running for another 5 days (temps in garage in 40s and 50s).
Unfortunately the odor remains strong.
Where would you suggest I go from here? Did we get a bad batch, a poor mix, or something else? Would another coat seal the odor in or simply reset my time? I love the finished product and would like to just be done here, but cannot live with this level of smell forever. (To be clear, the smell is definitely coming off the floor—this isn’t residual in drywall or anything.)
Thanks! (I'll post links to the actual products used momentarily--need to bump up post count)
You'll probably get better info working with the manufacturer and your installer, no one here will be able to help much beyond speculating what it might be. It could have been a mixing/application problem or environmental issue. The polyurea topcoat is moisture sensitive and if it was too humid when it was put down it might have prematurely cured on top before it could properly outgas. (I don't really know this, but I remember reading something like it on the internet..
There are a number of similar posts throughout the years, here are a couple-
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=
Good luck with getting it fixed, and please let us know how its resolved.
You'll probably get better info working with the manufacturer and your installer, no one here will be able to help much beyond speculating what it might be. It could have been a mixing/application problem or environmental issue. The polyurea topcoat is moisture sensitive and if it was too humid when it was put down it might have prematurely cured on top before it could properly outgas. (I don't really know this, but I remember reading something like it on the internet..
There are a number of similar posts throughout the years, here are a couple-
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=
Good luck with getting it fixed, and please let us know how its resolved.
Thank you for taking the time to dig those threads up. I'd actually been through each a few times each over the past few weeks looking for a glimmer of hope. As you can imagine, grinding this off and starting over isn't attractive and I'm eagerly seeking an alternative that has worked for someone.
High humidity certainly hasn't been an issue here. The propane heater drove humdity up to 50% or so, but otherwise we're very dry here.
Bill, I certainly have a more sensitive nose than most, but that isn't the issue here. I can pick the smell up from the driveway with the door closed, and when the fan pulling negative pressure on my garage fell out of the window for a few hours I was able to pick up a distict smell in the room adjacent to the garage in my home. Walking into the garage knocks most people back at this stage, even with that fan running 24/7. On this topic, anyone getting thier floor coated should be aware their installer likely cannot smell the products much anymore. Our installers didn't wear masks and they recognize thier sensitivity is shot.
Timtimtim, thank you for the update on your thread. I'll double-down on fresh air and consider an ozone treatment as well. My wife is in your camp--never coating again--but I'm so happy with the actual floor I couldn't go back to bare concrete (provided the smell does finally dissapate).
88carrera, take a look at Dave-H's thread here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=&page=4
I added my experience with VOC/odor problems starting on page 4 of the thread. After the floor was installed and the odor wouldn't go away, we were told by our installer that they added a ridiculous amount of xylenes to multiple layers (epoxy and clear top coat). Everyone in the industry I've talked to about this has said the same thing: unscrupulous crews will cut the coatings with excessive amounts of solvents as a way to extend the expensive coatings and save them money.
It has been months since the floor was done and we still need to leave our garage partially-open 24x7 with high velocity fans pushing/pulling air at the door to ventilate the space. Within a matter of hours after closing the doors and turning off the fans, the odor becomes intolerable. It smells like paint thinner because of all the xylenes.
Dave-H also had what sounded like a crew cutting his coating with xylenes and had odor issues beyond a year, even after aggressive ventilation. He had formal air quality testing that cost him over $2k that found high levels of xylenes, specifically.
It seems that when coatings have been adulterated with tons of solvents it's obvious right away because the smell is so overwhelming. Your story sounds like this.
If you want to collect live and historical data on VOC levels, you can buy an Awair and stick it in the garage (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F282LF4/?tag=atomicindus08-20). They run around $175. You want the one that looks like a box, not the smaller/cheaper one called Glow (the Glow doesn't work as well). I would also get a second one to know the levels in your bedroom. There are also cheaper handheld VOC meters meant to take spot readings as you walk around.
To manage the odor in the short term, you can pick up a couple high velocity drum fans from Home Depot like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...Direct-Drive-Tilt-Drum-Fan-BF24TFCE/ Box fans also work, just not nearly as well. Position them near the overhead door and crack the door at least 4 to 6 inches. One pulling air in and one pushing air out has worked best.
If it turns out the installer loaded your coatings with solvents to save money, the only solution I have seen is to remove all of the coating and start over with someone reputable. It took us a while to come to terms with this, but we are finally in the process of having our floor removed and replaced, just like Dave-H had to do. Feel free to PM me about this. It's been one of the biggest hassles I've ever dealt with as a homeowner.
Checking back in with an update. My garage got very cold when the weather changed thanks to the 24/7 box fan in the window, and when the slab dropped below freezing the smell tapered off significantly. When the slab warmed back up, the smell came back, but muted. Slab temp is still no higher than low 40s though, so I'm not yet ready to declare victory.
Justin, Scotty: From most anecdotal reports I'd say you're right, this is really rare. The smell is definitely coming from floor though, not trapped in walls, and mopping at most a momentary effect. Any idea what went wrong? I ask because I have another bit of floor I'd like coated in the spring, but preferrably without the drama. Thansk!
Here is my .02. The Home garage floor business is very competitive and there are manufacturers out there who tout a very fast curing floor so that a contractor can prep in the morning, coat in the afternoon and be gone, maximizing his profits.
We have been approached by two large franchise garage companies to provide such a system and we tried to explain to them the risks involved especially with poorly trained installers. Never heard back from them. You would know the names if I said them.
It is much better that these guys look at the floor as a marathon and not a sprint. You can prep and properly coat a floor without these disastrous types of problems in two days or even a day and a half, reducing the risk of this type of thing happening and still making good money.
And so to summarize I believe that they probably encapsulated a semi-cured coat and it is slowly leaking out into the atmosphere. You may end up having to call in a pro with a very large diamond grinder to take that stuff up and start from scratch.
Good luck.
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