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Reply to: The cure time is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Here's the skinny on concrete: Every inch takes 1 month to cure (that's 1 day per 1mm of thickness) = 28 days is perfect for 1 inch of concrete. In PERFECT conditions (72F at 35% humidity...in June). 2. If you have MORE than 1 inch, they have used a chemical to speed up curing...and that chemical will then CONTAMINATE the surface of the slab...it will need to be removed Garage concrete is NOT "house hold" slab grade...it is poured without a vapour barrier underneath = moisture moving into the slab which prevents adhesion of finishes (oh dear) DIY Epoxy has a life-span of 3 years...at most = requires a PROFESSIONAL to come in and redo it (they make MORE money on the Redo...'cause they have to scrape off the homeowner's epoxy attempt) So...the original requirement of 28 days is NECESSARY....and probably not long enough in "winter". The second problem is the contamination of the slab which requires REMOVAL...and removal means GRINDING!!!! Yep. Sand blasting or shot blasting your new garage floor is in your future....your very near future. The next problem comes in with the lack of vapour barrier. Assuming you do the right thing and remove the contaminants off of the concrete, you are still face with a slab that is NOT ready for epoxy. Right. Now how do you deal with that? Easy. A very expensive spray-on concrete sealer (two coats is usual) with proper cure time as well. But now the EPOXY won't grab the sealer....Oh no! What to do? Wait...there is a solution for that too: prime it (another chemical) and then put down some self leveling concrete (more concrete). Awesome. Wait several days to cure. Now you have a garage floor that is READY for low-end Epoxy. Whew. Assuming you go to all this trouble and expense (the prep can be $4/sf...just to get ready for epoxy), the low-grade epoxy is still only going to give you a few years of life. If you simply pay a professional epoxy expert, s/he will do all of the above (all the prep...all the work...all the chemical application) with a professional grade epoxy for just another $2/sf ($6-$7/sf for basic epoxy is common). And that stuff should give you 15-20 years. Epoxy professionals LOVE DIY level epoxy. It makes them TONS of money. They make MORE MONEY on the removal of the DIY stuff...and then they make their "regular" price for the application of epoxy. It offers them a chance to make more money because they have to demolish the DIY epoxy (1/2 worth of work = couple hundred dollars). It is a win-win situation for them. Whew. Some fun huh? Garage epoxy jobs are EXTREMELY tough to do DIY...and have it last longer than 3 years. Good luck. Please price out the cost of a professional...you have 30 days before you can do anything. You have time.

Q