Tools + Best Practices for Top-Coating
We don’t make or sell topcoats. There are already enough great ones out there, and our primer works will all of the 2-component urethanes, poly-urethanes, poly-ureas, and poly-aspartics that we have gotten our hands on so far.
If you are wondering about compatibility with your favorite, we are happy to test that for you.
We created this section to help you install stuff we don’t make or sell because “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”Farrell Calhoun stocks all my favorite stuff, but I put links to online retailers in all the photos below.
Farrell Calhoun stocks all my favorite stuff, but I put links to all the photos in page linked above. Top Picks include:
Wooster’s Sherlock 4 ft. - 8 ft. Adjustable Extension Pole is just right for this work.
Don’t chintz on spiked shoes.
If this is your career, you should absolutely spend the money to get a quality pair. Photo at right linked to the Concrete Decor Store; support your local decorative concrete supply store if you can.
Few things are more frustrating than a wack roller frame.
8 in. Big Ben Roller Frame by Wooster
The Big Ben's green double-thick polypropylene core resists water, solvents, and cracking, and it's a shed-resistant woven setup built for primers, urethanes, and epoxies. CleanPrime carries acetone and toluene, and a cheap frame core can soften or seize when solvent works into it — the solvent-resistant core is the whole point. It's specifically marketed for quick application of epoxy, urethane, and polyaspartic floor coatings, holds 12" to 18" covers, and threads onto an extension pole.
9 in. Sherlock Roller Frame by Wooster
This rolls straighter, smoother, and the roller never comes off unexpectedly in my experience. Though you may need to press the little metal flanges out occasionally to keep the tension up. Get good tools and take care of them. Use your acetone sprayer and your microfibers after each use to keep it clean and functional. Be more of a craftsman than a consumer here.
18" “EPOXY-GLIDE” roller cover for the topcoat
Wooster's R207 18" is better, but the epoxy glide roller covers are generally easy to find and I’ve never had a problem with one. You can find the same thing in a 9-inch, I'm sure. The big idea is: this sheds material like a performance shirt versus a typical roller cover that will hold material like a cotton sweatshirt. The epoxy glide roller covers are generally easy to find. You can find the same thing in a nine-inch, I'm sure, but the big idea is this sheds material like a performance shirt versus a typical roller cover, which will hold material like a cotton sweatshirt. The other thing, obviously, is you want a roller cover that will not shed into your topcoat, and these are the two best I know of.
Find a mediocre brush locally.
You don't need something super fancy. However, chip brushes aka China-bristle brushes suck (unless you want bristles left in your project).
What makes high-dollar brushes nice is how they lay out finicky, water-based paints. Clean-Prime is the opposite of that. Your local decorative concrete supply house probably sells the perfect thing - the link and picture at left is of a 1.5-inch “Professional Quality” brush for $6. Since you are just cutting in corners, paying extra for 2” or 3” doesn’t make sense to me.