Staff Answer
Jul 08, 2026 - 03:06 AM
New concrete needs a minimum of 28 days to cure before coating — coat sooner, and the slab's out-gassing moisture will blister the epoxy off. After the 28 days, new concrete still gets the standard etch or grind; fresh troweled concrete is too smooth and sealed for epoxy to grip without profiling. If your builder applied a curing compound or sealer, that has to come off too — sprinkle water on the slab, and if it beads instead of soaking in, there's a sealer present. New concrete needs to be etched twice, no matter what. If you grind you don't have to etch. The Floor Prep Machine you can rent from Home Depot does a great job on garage floors. We would strongly recommend renting the Vac attachment also, it makes cleaning up the dust much easier. Pro Tip: If you grind, no matter how much you clean up there's always some dust left in the floor so right before you apply the first layer of epoxy hit the floor with a good leaf blower to remove that last bit of dust out of the floor.
