A bad Epoxy Job on Our DIY Live Edge Kitchen countertop ... how to do Epoxy repair Pt3

So, if you guys have been following along on our adventure, We are turning this kitchen, which has a 15-year-old countertop, into a rustic renovation with a brand new live edge. But you also know that this thing didn't go in anywhere near as planned. And so, this is where things really go south on us in this video. In fact, what happens is our first coat goes on amazing. our second coat completely turns into a disaster, forcing us to go backwards more than we go forward and spending days to sand it off. Well, I wouldn't call this down to square one, but I sure wouldn't call this taking two steps forward without taking one step backward. But the third coat and the finish coat turns out absolutely gorgeous. So today you're going to learn how to actually repair a countertop like this or any surface if you have a happen to have a problem with it. And we're just going to show you the ways that we work through it to end up with results like this. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into it. [Music] What do you think of this one? It all depends on what's got some character left in it. It's big. Frankie and I are already looking at our next project. And what we're trying to figure out is we want to take a full log and turn it into a sink. But you guys are here to see what we do with this countertop. We wrapped that up a few weeks ago. Yeah. What did you think of that? It was a challenge. I mean, it was worth the challenge to do it, but it was tough. It was tough. Um, it's something I wouldn't attempt to do again if I didn't have to. Okay. There was a lot of days, guys, where Frankie just had to walk away. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It just it got gets to you person, you know? Just Yeah. Plus, just the cost of things got to where it hurt me. What do you think? Oh, I pass it this way maybe where you're standing. Yeah. Let's toss it down. Ready? Yeah. [Music] See, that's that's a cool piece. Look at that. It's got a knot in it. You could even hollow this out for a towel or whatever. Okay, so that's got a knot. This could be the sink basin right there. Let's show these guys what we're thinking about doing. Actually, I put the sink up here. Yeah, that's what I was just saying. Okay. Okay. Yeah. On this countertop, you guys are going to watch what Frankie just said that was a nice way of putting it. Basically, he thought it sucked in a in a way. Yeah, it turned out sweet. I mean, it turned out nice and everything, but a lot of a lot of a lot of headaches. A lot more work than we thought. But before we pour, I'm going to go over it with uh the search light. Now, I'm using this is actually the under hood light. This is actually mechanics light from Milwaukee. Whatever you guys want to use. This is an important step because right before you pour, it's too late if you notice you have a speck of dust on the countertop because once you pour, you're going to look at that speck of dust forever. So, I go over this like every little thing. You guys probably aren't going to be able to see these. And I wouldn't see these unless I had a light to actually look for it. But everything that you don't get, you notice later on, you're going to notice for the rest of your life. So, this is the first coat and that white plastic bucket perfect for this. The squeegee worked great. We used a brush on the vertical surfaces, not a foam brush. On the second coat, we changed things up and everything sucked. I mean, we used gray buckets instead of white buckets. And I don't know what difference that make, but trust me, the second coat didn't go good, and I would never want to repeat it. We used foam brushes on the vertical surfaces. And somewhere along the line, a weird chemical reaction happened and wrecked our countertop. We're not repeating that mistake again. [Applause] [Music] All right, real quick, guys. I think one of the things we're learning while we're doing this is on a big project, teamwork is absolutely necessary. It's taken all three of us to do this job. And the second thing is this light is absolutely necessary because this is what we're finding bubbles with. And what we're doing is going over the countertop. And then the first coat, it's sucking everything up. And then we've got to use this light to locate bubbles and pop them. So you can see we got some bubbles right there. We got a bubble right there. And we got to get those popped. I'll get them popped. Frankie starting. And the torch is the way to do it. Don't use a heat gun. I don't think I tightened it that tight. And there's one. And this one's going to continually bubble right here. Yeah. Pop them. Mhm. [Applause] So, the torch is the way to go on this. Absolutely. [Music] Make it a dry spot right there. You can just kind of maybe put something there. Maybe you can. I got it. That's fine. There's not much left over here. There you go. Yep. And then if in the light I can see the right there. It's too dry. Sticky. It's like fixed to the wood. Yeah. Still up. But it's okay. I don't know if you got a first coat on it. You can do it all in. Yeah. This should help. Try to get something right. You see right there? like concrete now. Okay. So, okay, let's start working. All right. [Applause] You're supposed to be just doing the camera. How's that work? Your hands are sticky. I'm Yeah, they're real. You're covered. Well, that's teamwork. So, I don't think we could have done it if he didn't get up and help us. No way. Just cranking that by. One guy not alone. You and I could have done it, but not nearly as well. Yeah. Two spots gave us a problem, Frankie. Well, this one just keeps growing bubbles as well. Just keep popping them as we as they come out. We got bubbles. See, it's starting to come out now. All right. See, let's pick it up. And then over here, there's a spot. I don't know why there. See the bubble right there? Cuz if it be in the crack, there's air in there and it's forcing it out. And it's going to take maybe a little bit of time to kind of keep an eye on the spot. [Music] So, the first coat is down and before we can do the second coat, we got to do a little bit of prep work. And that means going over the surface with a 600 grit sandpaper to remove any imperfections. Now, after we've done that, we're going to want to clean up that surface using isopropanol alcohol or what's the other compound, Frankie? Do you remember? Nope. That's all I used. Acetone. Was it acetone? I think you could. It could have said. Yeah. Okay. So, the some of the issues that we have here now, you can see it while Frankie's working on it is a little bit of alligatoring where the um compound came down and over the side. It didn't get even coverage. And that's always the vertical surfaces are always a little tougher to get good coverage on. We also had a few spots actually in the flat surfaces here. You can see that uh it just we didn't get perfection on the first coat. And that's kind of just goes without saying. You probably are not going to get a perfect first coat. Here's another example where you can see just a little bit of the flaws. Now, because it's dusty, you can see them better or you got to hold a light over them to see them. But after we use the 600 grit sandpaper, we're ready to go for a second coat. Oh, good. Look at the So, can see it's steaming. That is just the chemicals. Let's see what is the temp on this reading. Oh, no. No. No. It never got that hot the first day. No, something is going on. I don't know if it's the that's having a reaction with the bucket. Like if you touch that bucket, that's it off the stove in case that bucket melts. You know what I'm saying? So we don't just have it all over the place cuz then we'll be in a disaster. It'll be in the stove everywhere. Why is that doing that? Right from the beginning, it didn't want to work right. But it's hot. Yeah. It's not working quite the same as it did the first time. No. And all the other times we used it, is it? No. No. It's cuz look at I mean, we got this funky. You can actually see that on camera, which is bad. Yeah. When you can see it on camera, you know that it's not working quite the way you want it to. [Applause] [Music] We had a bad chemical reaction in our glaze coat which made it lay uneven on our second coat during our second coat application process. So instead of lying flat like it was supposed to, it kind of created kind of a riv a ripply river effect. The high spots and lows. Yeah. And so it didn't work right. In fact, the batch heated up on us in the bucket and we had to take it outside and put it in a snowbank because it got to 235 degrees and we didn't feel like having the bucket melt and dump stuff all over the house. [Music] [Applause] So, one fun thing after another. It's all I could say. It's coming out. I mean, it come out nice. Is it coming off? Okay. Yeah. I mean, this is all flat again. Is it? Yeah. Okay. So, you're So, you're using what grit, though? I started out with uh 80 grit. Okay. But I I'll work my way down. What are you at now? It's still 80. Still 80. Okay. So, it's going to be a little bit of a scary process if you guys do have problems in your countertop. It is scary because that 80 grit. It's just like destroying the finish that you worked at putting on. But you got to get got to get it level. Got to get that crap out of there. And uh then now I'll wipe it down with alcohol to get some of that off of there. And then I'll sand again back up. We started with an 80 grit. We're going to go to a 120, a 220 grit. Then we're going to go to a 400 and a 600 grit and then wipe it with alcohol. What you see Frankie doing right now is wiping down in between with alcohol. It saves on your sanding pads. And so here you've here's unsanded and here's sanded. So you we're not down to the wood. We're actually just sanding the poly epoxy. Yep. [Music] Well, I wouldn't call this down to square one, but I sure wouldn't call this taking two steps forward without taking one step backward. Frankie, I think if the third pour goes as bad as the second pour, I'm done. We're done. I have to agree with you. Little has to be good enough. Yeah, that's it. Well, it's got to be better because it's going to be completely smooth. You got to get some roller blades. Really fun. I mean, it's just got to work really. So, part of the thing is when you're sanding this down, it's also gooking up the tools. So, that's a brand new sander and it's cooking up the connections in the batteries and inside the the the actual sander itself. Right, Frankie? Yeah. So, this stuff is nasty. It's just nasty to get rid of. I mean, it's it's just like that everywhere. Okay, guys. What we're looking at is we've now sanded off the entire second coat all the way down. So, there's still a first coat left on, but the entire second coat got removed. That was about 2 and 1/2 days worth of work. All right, here's a fun side note. Frankie's been having nightmares about this second pour, haven't you? Yeah. You said you were dreaming about it last night. Yeah. I didn't I don't I don't want to repeat what I dreamt, but I don't want it to happen either. Yeah. All right. So, what we're doing different on this one is we went back to these white pales. Um I mean, we we alcohol wiped the squeegees. We're going back to using a brush because on the second coat we use these foam brushes. We have no clue what went wrong. We don't know what went wrong or why. But whatever it is that happened on the first coat worked and the second coat didn't. So, we're doing the first. So, we're doing everything the same as the first coat. We got 2 minutes and 33 seconds. And then we pour from one to the next one. You got your eating. So, this is pour number three. And now we've got everybody working this thing together trying to get her right. So far, it's going much better than pour number two, isn't it? Yeah. So, it's better to have too much and pull it off than it is than to have too little and then try to connect it up, isn't it? Yeah. It's one of the things that I think this is still leveling out. I mean, it wasn't even leveling out last time at this point. No, it wasn't. I mean, we were we were screwed at this point already at last time. Like you say, this is all level. I mean, you look back, even them places I had a rough spot. Well, like there, but I don't know. We'll just live with them. They're my air bubbles now, though. We can't deal with. Um, I'm just going to set that there. It's junk. Anyways, a lot more leveler than what it was. Look at that. This side looks nice. So, this second pour went a lot better than the first second pour, if that makes any sense. But [Applause] that's a piece of dirt. I think that one there. I think is that air bubble or is that a dirt? [Applause] See now these ain't going. I don't know if I missed a spot right there. Just couldn't have missed a spot. [Applause] But the heat actually is helping it level out like it's supposed to. [Applause] They're not popping on me. Look at that. They're not popping. Oh. Oh, some are. These are over here, but there they are. All right. Yep. Now they are. Some of them don't want to go. No, it's a little little thick. Maybe it has to work its way out. But yeah, they're starting Good, good. [Music] Well, even though this originally started out what we thought was going to be a five, maybe 7-day project ended up taking us over three weeks to complete, the results speak for themselves. Now, I hope this threepart video series has helped you guys out. Let me know what you think of topics like this in the comments down below. If you want to see us tackle more projects that really are outside of our comfort zone and learn along the way as we do it, we'll be glad to. In fact, one of the things I think we're thinking about doing coming up is a stone sink, possibly a a river table, and maybe whatever else you guys suggest in the comments down below. So, let me know. But we are going to also be getting back into the landscaping and construction videos. I know that's why you guys are here, and I'm not going to disappoint you. I hope you guys have enjoyed today's video. I hope you picked up a few trip tips and tricks along the way. And if there's anything that you guys can tell me about the process to improve it in the comments down below, I'm all ears. God bless you guys. Go get them. [Music] Maybe tonight or something I'll start debarking it or something, you know. No, leave the bark on. Oh, you don't want the bark on. Not in the house. I don't know if we want it. Yeah, we'll poly over the top of it. Yeah, I guess. But that go on. No, we want that. The m the the Yeah, it's going to get sealed in there. Okay. Yeah, that's that's all character. The only thing that kind of sucks is where we grabbed it. Or is that where a chainsaw hit? Yeah, but what say what says, "Well, you can't do that." Well, this side's missing the bark. This is the side missing the bark. Well, not really. It's missing some, but all depends on which way it would face. You know, that is our piece. Dude, that thing is got so much carry. You have this off to the side. You can even uh store your soap and towel in here, you know, this little cup deal. Oh, that is a cool piece. That was meant for a sink. And I bet that's almost sink height, too. Or tall. Yeah, we could cut it down so it would sit decent. Yep. So, we got to So, what we'll try to do is use the whole piece. Yep. And just hollow out the top for the sink. Something screws up, we can always cut off the top and put it work down cuz it is high. It's, you know, it's high now. I think it's too high now. You think it's a little too high? Well, we'll measure it. It's got to be It's got to be what? One, two, three, four, three and a half, four feet. It got to be four feet. I bet, you know. Wonder what kind of wood that is. That's maple, too. Is that maple or oak? No, this is Oh, yeah. I don't know. I don't think it's old. Maple. I'm not a tree man. That is I burn it. That's the What about this one? This one's cool. See, but that's got all the bark off from it. I don't like that look. Doesn't have nearly the character. I don't Yeah. Once you once you you know the stuff that the bark is off like I could do a even a um a light sand blast, you know, with the real silica sand. Yeah. And you bring the wood right back to it. But even sand and it would take wouldn't take long to sand a piece like that. Even this, you know, bring the wood color right back. That ain't that ain't a problem. That part of it. Yeah. I think that's the one. That's Oh, look at this piece right next to it. Look at this thing. Where's what? Right here. That Look at that twist in that, Frankie. You see that? Oh, that is got a cool twist, doesn't it? Yeah. Whoa. Wonder how we could use that. Oh, you're going to need a towel rack. No good wood goes to waste. That's what she said. Well, there there was some nice nice wood in there. I mean, there was some nice trees. I'm laughing at my own joke.