Cold Temperature Epoxy

November 18, 2016

Installing Epoxy in Coolers and Cold Temperature

Extend Epoxy Installation Season into Winter

I have spoken on this subject here before but this time of year I get a lot of calls and emails about installing epoxy in cold temperatures. Our company started out as an installation company in Vermont. Summers are very short and winters are very long in Vermont. To stay a viable company, we had to figure ways of working through the winter.

Tenting and heating areas during the winter is time consuming and expensive. The solution is found in resin products that will set in low temperatures. The most durable and cost effective options of installation at cold temperatures is Epoxy and Methyl Methacrylate.

Cold Temperature Cure Resins can also be used as a super-fast setting Resinous Mortar or Coating at normal temperatures. Our Cold Temperature Cure Resins used at normal temperature give you quick turnaround time for small jobs, or larger jobs that require a short turn-around time.

Cold Temperatures Epoxies

Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins allow installation to be done at low temperatures as low as 35°F., (although it sets a lot faster at 40°F) expanding your epoxy coating and epoxy flooring installation season. Epoxy.com Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins can also be used in cold storage areas like food processing areas, where the temperature cannot be raised higher than 35° F or so. Normal cured epoxy typically requires 50°F or more.

Depending on how you mix the aggregate into the products below, they can be used as a mortar for overlays, or a grout for sealing between other hardened construction materials.

Commonly Used Cold Temperature epoxies

Product #1 Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Coating is 100% solids and specially formulated coatings for cold temperature applications. Cold Temperature Epoxy Coating #1 is able to cure at temperatures as low as 35°F. It is has Zero (0) VOCs. Since it has no VOCs, it has no solvent so it meets the strictest possible standard for a low VOC coating. It is often used in coolers and food preparation areas that require constant low temperatures. Product #1 Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Coating is also frequently used in room temperature applications to meet super-fast cure, limited shutdown needs.

Product #10 Cold Temperature Curing Epoxy Mortar Resin – This product has a low modulus of elasticity (flexibility) and is Low Viscosity. The low viscosity allows heavy loading of the right fillers. The heavy filler loading helps not only to save money, but helps to maintain better thermal coefficient with respect to concrete and steel. The low modulus of elasticity prevents it from being brittle making it less vulnerable to thermal coefficient differences. It also gives it better impact resistance.

You can find more information on cold temperature cured epoxy at: http://www.epoxy.com/EpoxyColdCured.aspx.

Please send me your questions to me by email to norm@epoxy.com

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Posted by Norm Lambert

Repairing Floors with Epoxy Mortar Resin

August 8, 2014
epoxy-Deck-after-2

Epoxy Patching Mortar #10 for patching. Coated with Urethane Decking System #495.

Epoxy.com Product #10 is a versatile resin for use in epoxy floor patching. Product #10 comes in standard cure, fast cure and cold cure. It can be used with 3 different aggregates: self leveling, mortar blend, and broadcast aggregate. Product #10 is available in 15 colors plus black and white making a total of 17 colors available. Custom colors are available at a small additional cost.

The Epoxy Cures

Normal Cure at 77 degrees F. has a pot-life (the usable time after mixing) of about 30-40 minutes. It hardens to the touch in about 10-12 hours. Normal Cure should never be used below 50 degrees F.

Fast Cure at 77 degrees has a pot life about 15-20 minutes. It hardens to the touch in about 5-6 hours. At 50 degrees F the Fast Cure hardens to the touch in 10-12 hours. In other words the Fast Cure at 50 degrees will cure as fast as normal cure at 77 degrees F.

Cold Cure at 77 degrees F. has a pot-life of about 8-10 minutes. It sets hard to the touch in about 2.5 to 3 hours. At 50 degrees F the cold cure will typically cure in 5-6 hours. It is able to cure at temperatures as low as 35°F.

The Aggregates

The aggregates come separately from the Product #10 resin and hardener. That allows you to be able to use a unit of resin with multiple aggregates making the system even more versatile.

Mortar Blend Aggregate Product #82 is the work horse of floor patching. You can get up to 50 lbs or more of Product #82 into a mixed gallon of #10 epoxy mortar. This is ideal for deep patching.

Self Leveling Filler Aggregate Product #78 is used for self leveling applications, typically in thicknesses of 1/16 inch plus or minus. This is ideal where a thinner flat overlay is required. A typical use would be where a floor needs to be leveled. Another typical use would be for a “scratch coat” which is where you are trying to cover large amounts of chips and divots in the floor.

Broadcast Aggregate Product #77 is broadcast into wet #10 in order to produce an anti-skid surface. It can be broadcast into a neat coat (just the resin and hardener mix without the aggregate) of #10 or into the Mortar Blend Aggregate or Self Leveling filler systems above.

In addition to being able to mix the #10 with the fillers above, you can also mix it with Product #71 Fumed Silica to make a paste for cracks and other small imperfections.

 

In summary the Epoxy Mortar Resin Product #10 is a versatile epoxy mortar system available in many colors, several cures and different fillers for different purposes. This makes Product #10 an important part of your floor repair tool chest.

 

Additional Information:

Product #10 Lo-Mod Epoxy Adhesive and Mortar Epoxy Binder is a 100% solids epoxy has a low modulus of elasticity (flexibility) and is Low Viscosity. An adhesive used as a binder for epoxy mortar systems in patching and grouting applications, as a seal coat for non-skid surfaces outside, and as a primer to insure high bond strength for coatings and patches.

System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System– is an Elastomeric Urethane Membrane System, that is liquid applied. System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System is seamless, elastomeric (flexible), and UV. Thee qualities make it an excellent choice for outside applications in direct sun and weather, where water tightness, durability, and excellent appearance is required. Its elastomeric properties will allow horizontal movements up to 1/8 inch without breaking. System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System has excellent abrasion and chemical resistance. The surface of System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System can be varied to achieve the required anti-skid and decorative look.

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Posted by Norm Lambert

Waterproof Your Life

August 7, 2014

The Concept

About 20 years I had a half way house that came to me and wanted a virtually indestructible waterproof group bathroom. They needed it to be like a shower enclosure for the entire bathroom, and toilet facility. It needed to be easy to thoroughly clean and disinfect.

The resulting system allows you to hose down the entire ceiling, wall and floors. The system that we developed is a completely seamless, waterproof ceiling and coating system. This epoxy ceiling and wall coating is seamlessly integrated with a seamless flooring system. This system is now being used for everything from clean rooms to animal facilities to car washes, daycare centers, assisted living facilities, food processing facilities and more.

The System

Ceiling and Walls

Prime the ceiling and walls with Epoxy.com Product #899 Primer – www.epoxy.com/899.aspx. Product #899 Primer is a 100% solids, low viscosity, moisture tolerant epoxy. It soaks deeply into the substrate, verifies surface preparation, and helps to prevent the much thicker coating from getting bubbles that may be cause by air or moisture trying to escape from the substrate during curing. Allow primer to get hard to the touch.

Before the epoxy primer is 24 hours old (and after the primer is hard to the touch) apply a coat of Epoxy.com Product #1W. The 1W – Wall Coating is 100% solids. It comes in a range of different colors. This means it is zero (0) VOC with no solvent. Just like the 899 Primer the 1W has very little odor. We have even more chemical resistant wall coatings for applications where it is chemicals that are being splashed or sprayed. Contact us if you have strong chemical exposures that you want to contain instead of water.

Let the first coat harden to the touch and before 24 hours add another coat of #1W. Allow the coating to dry over night.

Seamless Epoxy Cove – Optional

Typically the cove is only installed if you are going to install one of the multi-colored flooring systems (Waterproof Floor Options 2 & 3below). Cove is covered in an earlier blog – https://news.epoxy.com/2014/06/25/seamless-epoxy-cove-installation-instructions/. The cove gives you a radius at the bottom of the wall making the floor to wall transition easy to clean and esthetically pleasing.

Seamless Epoxy Flooring System

There are multiple systems that you can use for your seamless flooring portion of the system.

Water Proof Floor Option 1 – Seamless Epoxy Floor coating:

Floor Coating System – www.epoxy.com/1.htm. Product #1 applies with the Product #899 primer under it and in 2 coats just like the 1W. The Product #1 is thinner and flattens better on a floor than the Product #1W. You can also add an optional anti-skid to the #1 Floor Coating. The #1 comes in all the variety of colors of #1W.

Waterproof Floor Option 2 – Seamless Epoxy Chip Flooring:

Chip Flooring System – www.epoxy.com/chip.aspx is a two component 100% Chemical Resistant Epoxy Chip Flooring. System #315 Seamless Epoxy Multi-Colored Chip Flooring is available in virtually limitless color combinations. If your job is big enough our chips can be pigmented to match all the colors of many major paint companies. We can color match our base coat colors as well. Unless the pigments for your custom colored 315 Basecoat are unusually expensive we can color match for a modest small batch charge or at no charge for larger orders. Even our standard color pallet offers you over 45 chip colors that can be blended in any combination and percentage as you want. This gives you the architectural choices you need. The top coating for this system is highly UV resistant so since it doesn’t chalk indoors it can last and look great for decades.

Waterproof Floor Option 3: – Seamless Epoxy Quartz Flooring:

Quartz Flooring System with Product #15 – www.epoxy.com/15.aspx – is also an excellent flooring system for those who like the colored sand look with a good midrange chemical resistant system.

Waterproof Floor Option 4 – Seamless Chemical Resistant Flooring:

We can also help you to combine the systems above with our Novolac Epoxy Systems – www.epoxy.com/novolac.aspx for highly chemically resistant versions of those systems. You can also install an Electro-Static Dissipative or Conductive system www.epoxy.com/conductive.aspx.

 

In conclusion the systems above are only a small fraction of the possibilities. With our wide range of colors and chemically resistant systems the possibilities are endless. Please contact Epoxy.com Technical assistance at 352-533-2106 or email me directly at norm@epoxy.com.

Leave a Comment » | Chemical Resistance, Chemical Resistant Epoxy, Chemical Resistant Paint, Epoxy, Fast Setting, General Interest, seamless epoxy cove, seamless epoxy floor coatings, seamless epoxy flooring system, Seamless Epoxy Flooring Systems, waterproof | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Lambert

Epoxy Cold Cure

December 10, 2013

Epoxy Cold Temperature Installations

Epoxy Installation in Coolers and Cold Temperature

Extend Epoxy Installation Season into Winter and/or Install with Less Heat

Our company started out as an installation company in Vermont.  Summers are very short and winters are very long in Vermont.  To stay a viable company, we had to figure ways of working through the winter.

Tenting and heating areas during the winter is time consuming and expensive. The solution is found in resin products that will set in low temperatures. The most durable and cost effective options of installation at cold temperatures is Epoxy and Methyl Methacrylate.

Cold Temperature Cure Resins can also be used as a super-fast setting Resinous Mortar or  Coating at normal temperatures. Our Cold Temperature Cure Resins used at normal temperature give you quick turn around time for small jobs, or larger jobs that require a short turn-around time.

Cold Temperatures Epoxies

Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins allow installation to be done at low temperatures as low as 35°F., expanding your epoxy coating and epoxy flooring installation season. Epoxy.com Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins can also be used in cold storage areas like food processing areas, where the temperature cannot be raised higher than 35° F or so. Normal cured epoxy typically requires 50°F or more.

Depending on how you mix the aggregate into the products below, they can be used as a mortar for overlays, or a grout for sealing between other hardened construction materials. Contact Epoxy.com Technical Support Department with your specific project and questions.

Product #10 Cold Temperature Curing Epoxy Mortar Resin is a 100% solids epoxy has a low modulus of elasticity (flexibility) and is Low Viscosity. An adhesive used as a binder for epoxy mortar systems in patching and grouting applications, as a seal coat for non-skid surfaces outside, and as a primer to insure high bond strength for coatings and patches.

Product #24 Cold Pigmented Epoxy Mortar is a Cold Temperature Cure is a multipurpose colored epoxy binder for Epoxy.com Mortar Systems This all purpose epoxy resin is characterized as an excellent general purpose material with good clarity and color retention. It is essentially odorless and can therefore be used in occupied areas.

Product #28 Cold Cure Epoxy Mortar – is a honey clear, multipurpose colored epoxy binder for Epoxy Mortar Systems This all purpose epoxy resin is characterized as an excellent general purpose material with good clarity and color retention. It is essentially odorless and can therefore be used in occupied areas.

Product #224 Cold Cure Water Cleanable Epoxy Mortar Resin is a user friendly, water cleanable, 100% solids epoxy grout and adhesive. Used for grouting ceramic tile, brick pavers, and stone, it is supplied in pre-packaged kits containing resin, hardener, and (in the Epoxy.com Product #225 Water Cleanable Epoxy Mortar Resin Kit) mineral fillers that produce a dense, uniform seal. Typical applications for #224 require resistance to thermal shock, chemicals, and heavy traffic including meat packers, breweries, canneries, bottlers, CIP areas, and pharmaceutical formulators.

Product #225 Cold Cure Water Cleanable Epoxy Mortar Kit – includes Epoxy.com Product #224 along with the aggregate. Mix the three components together for a ready to use system.

Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) used in Cold Temperatures.

Virtually all of our MMAs can be used at cold temperatures, with additives that we provide you with that you can add when field mixing your individual batches.  Check out the individual technical data sheets for the MMA products for how.  We have a complete line of MMA products, so please check them out.

Summary of Cold Temperature Resin Solutions

Our company offers a wide variety of materials that can be used for your low temperature and cold cure application.  These include Cold Cured Epoxy and virtually all of our Methyl Methacrylate Resins (MMA) with the proper additives that we supply. Please contact Epoxy.com Technical Support Department for assistance in providing you with the right resin product for your job.

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Posted by Norm Lambert

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