The thickness of an epoxy coating will largely depend on the space that you’re installing the system in. If you’re putting an epoxy flooring system into your home garage, or in areas of your business that don’t get a lot food traffic you won’t need an epoxy floor that is very thick. If you are installing a coating that is going to be in a hostile work environments and are subject to heavy foot traffic and chemical spills then a thicker and more resistance coating will be needed.
Thin Epoxy Coating
A thin epoxy floor is enough to keep low traffic floors looking great without a lot of maintenance. So if you’re refinishing your garage floor, or if you’re enclosing your garage to be part of your living space a thin epoxy floor with a thickness of 4-6 mils is an good choice. If you’re redoing flooring in your business and you want something easy to install that will look good for your hallways, storage areas, or break room a thinner epoxy floor will look beautiful and still be relatively durable. Be sure to understand the differences between water based and solids epoxy. Water based epoxies have a much lower solids count and therefore are not as durable but are more economical if working on a strict budget. A good way to build up thickness of a flooring system is to install a thick underlayment or primer coating and then layer on top of this with a urethane topcoat which can be used to be up the thickness. Big box stores such as Home Depot or Amazon tend to sell only water based epoxies and that is why they are more inexpensive Lifespan of the product is extremely low so be sure to do your research.
Thick Epoxy Coating
If you’re putting an epoxy floor in a higher traffic area then you will need a thicker epoxy floor if you want to it to withstand that wear and tear. The most popular epoxy floors for businesses are those in the range of 10-20 mils thick and will usually comprise of a 2 to 3 coat system. A primer, a high builds basecoat, and a topcoat. A thicker coating with give the floor a solid profile and it helps to create an attractive, extremely durable flooring system.
Super Thick Epoxy Coating
If you have a commercial warehouse, machine shop, or other industrial commercial space such as a brewery you may need an epoxy floor that is much thicker, up 125 mils, to accommodate the use of heavy machinery, chemical spills, and vehicle traffic. In many cases the most economical and most resistance coating will be a slurry epoxy which is a 3 component epoxy mortar mix (A, B, Aggregate, usually sand). This creates a slurry mix which is troweled onto the floor and builds up a super resistant base coat. A topcoat is then followed to encapsulate and protect the floor giving it an aesthetic appeal.
If you’re not sure what thickness of an epoxy floor is the best for your space please reach out to Epoxy Central’s team of flooring specialists who would be glad to learn more about your project and recommend the best product for you.