Frequently Asked Coating Questions
Over Tile
Question: What is the right epoxy to put over glazed ceramic tile?
We do not recommend using epoxy over glazed ceramic tile. There are a lot of problems associated with doing that. We recommend that you remove the tile and get back to a solid substrate. Most of the time when someone wants to coat tile, it is because they are having trouble with the grout or tile coming loose. Installing epoxy over the top of it will not make that problem go away.
In some cased the only reason for recoating the tile is that the color of the tile needs to be changed. To get a bite into the tile you must first etch the tile with phosphoric acid. This is a dangerous chemical to use. It typically not only etches the tile, but remove much or most of the grout at the same time. You also run a risk of the acid getting through the grout and loosing the tile.
After surface preparation, you need to replace the grout that has been eaten by the etching process or that was missing in the first place. That is typically done with a "skim coat" of Epoxy.com Product #10 and Epoxy.com Self-leveling filler. You may also need to sand or grind any humps or bumps of the "skim coat" the next day. These steps adds time and cost to the recoat.
After you do all this and then install your coating. All it takes is one tile or one piece of old grout in the old tile to come loose, and you are back to a floor that you have to patch. However, iff you remove the tile, and install your floor or coating correctly the first time, your system can last a lifetime.
Spraying a 100% Solids Epoxy
Question: How can I spray a 100% solids epoxy with a single component airless sprayer?
It takes a very big airless sprayer like a Grayco king 45:1, to spray 100%
solids epoxy with a single
component airless sprayer. It
will take a full 4000 lbs of pressure with about a .035 tip.
At that rate you will spray about 1 gallon every 1.5 to 2 minutes, so
that means you have to cover 160 SF every 1 to 1.5 minutes.
You have clean the airless sprayer with xylene followed by mineral
spirits. This typically takes a
lot of solvent, and an hour or so after every use.
You also will typically want to rebuild you pump completely after 6
or 8 uses like that, or before
you put it into storage. If your
pump should stop functioning during an application and the material should
set up in the pump, you have a major rebuild on your hands.
Single
component airless spray typically isn’t
very practical unless you are inside of a confined space where runs and
overspray are not
a problem. You can use duel
spray effectively, but if you do not have the equipment you are looking at a
5 figure investment.
