Installing an epoxy floor on top of concrete can be tricky. If you do not do it right, you’ll end up with bubbles or lumps on the floor. We are not going to lie to you. Labor-intensive epoxy installations can break your budget and your back! But do not lose heart. With a bit of elbow grease and some intelligent planning, we will show you how to install an epoxy floor over concrete effortlessly and easily by following a few simple steps.
According to Fortune Business Insights™, the global flooring market size was valued at USD 355.17 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 515.71 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period.
1. Look at your floor with a critical eye to see how it needs work
Look at your floor with a critical eye and determine what needs to be done to make it look better. Most people are way too hesitant to go the extra mile to make their spaces look fantastic. Sometimes that reluctance is rooted in safety.
Of course, when avoiding a potential tragedy happens, or you’re going out to dinner. The last point on your inclination should be about what you look like. Yet, your personal space is a sacred haven. So, maintaining your space should not be a chore but also something that is rewarding. With that stated, here are some easy tips that can help you create that spring in your home.
Flooring has the most immediate impact when it’s maintained. It’s obvious when you brush your teeth, stain your sheets or even the gunk from your hair. That’s where the addition of some flooring comes in. Not only does this need less room, but it will also help your space to meet a much better ambiance.
For example, people who live in houses with hardwood floors consider it. A welcome addition to the home and the environment. Softwood is often cheaper and will provide much-needed softness in your space.
2. Make sure the concrete is flat and smooth before you apply the epoxy
You can buy an epoxy kit with the hardener and the resin already mixed and ready to go. These kits are great if you’re doing a small repair and you don’t want to mix up a whole batch yourself. However, if you’re doing a large repair, you’ll probably want to mix up the epoxy yourself.
I would like to prefer to do it this way because there are a lot of recipes to choose from. Making masking tape requires less tape. And there are too many different masking tape brands to name here. Instead, I recommend checking out YouTube. Which has a huge variety of different masking tape videos.
There’s always a masking tape video that looks great and demos something you don’t want to try to make. There are two main ingredients for masking tape. When I go to the store, I usually just pick one of the large at-home tape makers. Like this Aerostich Tractor Kitchen One, and then I scroll through the different masking tape recipes. And try to find something that looks like it might work for my situation. Sometimes, I’m stuck and end up wasting a whole roll of tape, but other times. A tape maker nail me back to reality with a brand that I don’t like, doesn’t fit, or doesn’t work well for the job I’m trying to do.
3. Process Overview
Try this process for implementing an epoxy floor covering can be divided into the eight best steps are:
- Familiarize yourself, including the kit contents & design the project
- Extract all things from the area to be completed
- Congregate the necessary tools and equipment required
- Rinse the floor
- Prepare the floor exterior
- Apply the first coat
- Add the decorative pieces or flakes
- Apply the topcoat or finisher coat
4. Use a float to make sure there are no lumps in your floor before you start installing your epoxy
In my example, I used afloat to make sure there were no lumps in the floor before I started to install the epoxy. A float is a small piece of wood with a handle that you can use to push epoxy around so that it’s even.
There are several different types of floats on YouTube, and you could get the same one in several different colors. The three I used to be sunken counter bowls with handles. Most of the time, when I saw these types of bowls. They were too small, so I bought larger ones, but I still like my countersink with handles.
5. Mark out where you are going to put down the epoxy before you start visualizing how it will look
You want to make sure you mark out where you’re going to put down the epoxy, before you start forming it into your vision. For instance, if you’re making a floor or a ceiling, you want to be sure your epoxy is going to cover the entire space.
Once you’ve formed your sealer, it’s imperative that you vacuum up any big chunks of epoxy. That might be left behind; a pretty white coating can keep rodents and cats away. But if there’s mold, allergens, dust, or debris in there, it might be hard to get rid of. That said, as long as you vacuum the area up on a regular basis. It shouldn’t leave your home smelling or looking smelly for too long. And mold isn’t actually a type of smell you want in your home anyway.
When choosing your temperature gun, you want to make sure the pipe you’re using can handle the temperature you’re blasting your wall with.
For example, a hair-dryer might be a better option than an air blasting gun. Since it can dry hair faster than a hair-dryer nozzle, and the temperature can get pretty high. If you chose an air blasting gun, you’re going to want something that can hold a lot of power, too.
For example, a BBQ smoker or even a pizza oven would work well. The temperature gun we’re talking about here. But, is an air compressor, and it’s generally not recommended for use in bathrooms. Due to the nature of the openings you’d have to make to get the hose/compressor combo to reach all areas of the bathroom.
Our recommendation is the HEPA air handler from Victoria’s Secret. Its portable design allows it to blast high temperatures with its two 800-watt compressors. This will dry out anything that it meets — hair dryer, don’t even get us started. Despite its name, it doesn’t actually clean the air; rather, it traps it. You also want to choose something that is easy to clean.
6. Epoxy flooring is good for Metal building homes as well.
Metal building homes are a bit inexpensive to construct and made from durable materials. And the Epoxy floor in these buildings should share those same qualities. There are several immeasurable flooring choices that metal building constructors. Usually, recommend buyers use in their steel building homes. These Steel buildings are coming from lots of variations like steel garages, steel sheds and steel carports for car storage.
7. Apply the first coat of epoxy and allow it to dry for 24 hours
You’ll want to apply the epoxy in at least two layers, allowing each layer to dry for 24 hours in between.
Now, you can apply your finishing epoxy to the exterior of your tank:
- Put the tank bottom into a cup holder or something similar.
- Add your finishing epoxy.
- Shake off the excess.
- Clean up any mess that has been made.
Next, you can start to add your plants. Potted plants will take longer to cure than ornaments.
That is, it. Now you have got a fun and full tank to accent your workspace. There are lots of other fun mods you can do.
