I'm not a professional by any means, but here's what I did..
In my garage and in my basement I used solvent based rustoleum epoxyshield (
link) ... There are no words for how strong the fumes were. In my garage I used pink p2097 filters in the link below, which was a bad move. They worked, but they also absorbed some of the fumes or something, because the next time I put the mask on I could strongly smell the epoxy fumes.
3m p2097 filters
http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/al...0246&rt=rud
http://a.co/fUndpf3
The basement was a whole nother ballgame. The windows don't open, just one central air vent. I think I calculated my basement at around 600-700sq feet. I decided to do some more research on filters before doing the basement, and decided on the filters below when I did the basement, they worked great.
3m 6001 filters
http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/al...0292&rt=rud
http://a.co/i0XR4xK
I don't know if it's the solvents or voc's that gave the epoxy the strong odor..
The epoxy I used had these as the solvents "N-butanol, methyl isobutyl ketone, xylene". VOC's were 2.08lbs/gal
I also used a clear coat in the garage and in the basement. Valspar in the garage, low voc rustoleum in the basement. From what I remember, I think the grey epoxy smell lingered for a long time, at least 3 days. The low voc rustoleum clear smell went away after about 12 hours I think.
I'd imagine rustoleums basement epoxy shouldn't smell for too long, since it's designed to be used inside a home. Either way, I can't offer a lot of advice, except there is no way I would ever do this type of job without a mask, and the 6001 filters are generally what I now use when painting. It's unbelievable how well they worked in my basement, I could not smell a thing.