Worst garage project week ever - my floor epoxy cure went sideways

I spent 4 days prepping and coating my garage floor with Rust-Oleum epoxy last Tuesday and a leaky roof dripped water right into the wet finish overnight, leaving permanent white circles everywhere has anyone dealt with fixing epoxy blotches without stripping the whole thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

jadej501mo ago

Wait, hold up - you had a LEAKY ROOF drip water onto a fresh epoxy floor and nobody mentioned that's the main problem here? That's wild to me honestly. Like sure sanding and recoating might hide the spots but if your roof is still leaking you're gonna get the same damage again next time it rains. You gotta fix that leak first or you're just throwing money at a temporary fix. Also epoxy and water don't mix at all during cure, that's like the worst thing that can happen. Those white circles are from trapped moisture reacting with the chemicals, so they're probably deep into the coating. Light sanding with 220 might work for surface discoloration but if it soaked in deep you're looking at stripping that whole section down to concrete.

the_paul1mo ago

Did you try just hitting the spots with some fine grit sandpaper and then recoating just those areas? I had a similar issue with some oil drips that messed up my epoxy cure, and I lightly sanded the rings with 220 grit, wiped it clean, and brushed on a thin topcoat. It didn't perfectly match but it blended well enough you can't notice unless you're really looking for it. The trick is keeping the patch coat thin so it doesn't build up a rim around the repair. What exact product did you use?

caseythompson1mo ago

Whoa Paul, actually Oil isn't the same as silicone contamination, totally different beast to fix.