Hi everybody, I could really use some help from anybody more knowledgable with resin than me. I am working on an acid stain project in my house where I have stained the concrete in two rooms. Instead of cutting the carpet tack strips off at the nail we mistakingly pulled them out leaving all the divot holes. I decided that I would fill the divot holes with Composite Resource Sanding Resin, that I use for my surfboards. I did a sample the other day, mixed up a little resin and filled 3 holes, it dried hard by the next day. so far so good. by the way im in florida, 80 degrees inside house. We then used a solvent sealer for our finish on the acid stained concrete before filling the rest of the divot holes(maybe a mistake?) yesterday morning the solvent sealer was dry and I decided to fill the remaining 100+ divot holes with more resin. I mixed a bigger batch, probably 8-10oz resin and probably put way too little catalyst in…about 7-8 drops. next i filled all the divots and with leftover resin i layed some cloth over a buckled surfboard i was working on and let it dry in the sun. well the resin on the board dried in an hour or so, and all the resin leftover in the cups i used is solid as of this morning with some slight tackiness, but solid. all the resin inside the house in the divot holes are still very wet and i fear something went wrong. do you think it’s because too little catalyst or possibly putting the resin over the solvent sealer is not letting it cure? what gets me is my sample dried over night the 1st time, and the batch of resin i used for the final project cured fine on my surfboard outside. do you guys have any advice? let it sit longer or what? thanks for any input you can give.
Q: We then used a solvent sealer for our finish on the acid stained concrete before filling the rest of the divot holes(maybe a mistake?
A: yes that was a huge mistake....You said Solvent Sealer..Solvent= No Good for resin..You contaminated your resin
Q: I mixed a bigger batch, probably 8-10oz resin and probably put way too little catalyst in...about 7-8 drops.
A: At least 10 cc, not 10 drops. To compensate for the contamination you should have pushed the catalyst on the resin. Let it sit it might go off in.
Q:Do you guys have any advice? let it sit longer or what? thanks for any input you can give.
A; next time use the right material to patch concrete holes. But seeing you have already fallen down the rabbit hole, let it sit, if it doesn't kick dig one hole out and try a test again. if that works...get some knee pads and start digging out all 10,000 holes and start over.
ok so i contaminated the resin. how long do i let it sit to know if i need to pull it out? will an epoxy resin bond over solvent sealer or should i try again with the poly with more catalyst? how would i even clean the resin out…rags and alcohol? what a sticky situation.
Reminds me of a Beatles tune. Something to do with Albert Hall.
Anyway…
I’d think the solvent sealer would only be an issue when still in liquid form.
I think the problem was way too little catalyst, even at 80f.
My rule of thumb is 8-10 drops per ounce of resin. Not very scientific, I know.
ok its all good just mix up some more resin and over catalizse(poly) just do a small batch for just a few holes to start with put it in holes and mix in a bit stir it in you should be good just do few to see how it goes,i have done simlar things so dont feel like the lone ranger.
thanks for the input guys. so i guess i need to pull some resin out and try again with way more catalyst. if i pull what i can out can i pour the new batch over some of the uncured resin?
dig it out and buy some feather finish or k-15 and fill the holes correctly,since they are in concrete and not a surfboard. Either of these products will work perfect and also cost half the price of resin.
i can’t see the reason why you would be trying to fill with resin,even after it has failed, also you will still see these holes from smoothedge nails and capping strip if you use resin to fill them.