Here’s a list of the steps you need to take to paint an epoxy wood floor. This guide is for a simple floor that is put down with a roller. Most of the time, one coat of primer and two coats of epoxy floor coating are used to make these systems work. These floors can handle light to moderate wear and tear, making them ideal for garages and storage rooms.
If you have a floor that gets a lot of heavy industrial use, like in a factory or a place where food is processed, you might want to look into a self-leveling floor. Most of the time, a self-leveling epoxy floor is thicker.
How to do Epoxy Wood Floor
Step 1: Make sure the surface is ready for the epoxy.
To make sure that your epoxy flooring for wood product will stick to the substrate, the substrate needs to be prepared. In fact, getting the surface ready may be the most important step. If the floor wasn’t properly prepared, it could fail, and fixing it would be much more expensive.
So, never forget how important it is to prepare the surface properly. The surface needs to be just a little bit rough. This will let the epoxy primer and the concrete surface stick together mechanically.
Also, the surface must be free of any chemicals or oils that could prevent the epoxy from sticking well to the substrate.
The following are the most common ways to prepare a surface:
- Using a diamond grinding wheel
- Sanding Shot-blasting Milling (or scarifying)
- Check out our article on how to prepare a surface before applying epoxy for a more in-depth look at the above methods.
Diamond grinding is the most common way to prepare a surface, and it is also the one that can be used in the most ways. You can use different types of grinding tools with a floor grinder, depending on what you need. For instance, if you need to grind rough concrete, you need a diamond tool that is strong and coarse. If you only need to lightly sand the existing surface, you can use a high-grit sanding tool instead.
Step 2: Sweep the floor and clean it.
Now you have to clean the floor. Before using any kind of epoxy or primer, there can’t be any dust or leftovers. If you don’t, different things will get stuck in the coat. There will be a lot less sticking together. Less primer will be needed if there is less microdust on the surface.
Use an industrial vacuum with filters that can pick up even very small dust particles.
Step Three: How to Use Epoxy: Use an epoxy primer to seal the floor.
Now you need to make the surface that will let the epoxy stick to your substrate properly. Because of this, we use epoxy primer.
Don’t listen to people who say you don’t need to prime the floor. Priming your floor will make it last longer and stick better to the base. Also, it will seal the base and make it less likely that bubbles and gasses will form in your final epoxy coat.
Priming also cuts down on how much product will be needed in later steps. Make sure the areas have enough air flow.
When you put the primer on, sometimes you’ll see that the substrate quickly soaks up the product. This happens a lot when cement floors are dusty and soft. You can put a second coat of primer over the first one if you want to. To mix the A and B parts of the primer, use a proper electric mixer.
Step 4: Use epoxy grout to fill all cracks, holes, etc.
Before you can coat the floor, you need to make sure there are no holes, dents, or cracks.
If you have big, deep holes, you might want to fill them in ahead of time with cement mortar that dries quickly. This step should be done first, before grinding and putting on the primer.
You can fill in small cracks and holes either before or after you put on the primer. But we often see that after the primer has been put on, a lot of cracks show up.
You can use different kinds of epoxy fillers. One option is to use epoxy resin that is completely clear and mix it with a filler (like quartz sand or calcium carbonate). You can add as much filler as you need to give the product the feel and thickness you want.
If it seems too hard and messy to mix clear resin and filler, you can just buy epoxy patching grout from the store.
It will take several hours for the epoxy putty to dry. Before moving on to the next step, you will probably also need to sand it a bit.
We have a list of Epoxy for Wood Floors that you might be interested in.
Step 5: Paint the first coat of epoxy paint on.
Since you probably started putting in your epoxy floor a few days ago, a lot of time has probably passed. If you have done everything else right, you are now ready to put on the first coat.
Often, the first coat is used to help show off the floor. The first layer of colored epoxy will show how well the actual substrate is holding up. Any cracks or holes that are still there should show up now!
You can use either a squeegee or a roller to put on the first coat. If you are dealing with many small dents and microscopic holes in your floor, you should use a squeegee to make the first layer a filler coat.
When you are ready to start coating, empty all the contents of the hardener in the component A. Use a mixer that plugs in and mix for at least two minutes. Don’t be cheap when you mix! This step is essential. If you don’t mix well, the floor will be sticky.
Depending on the surface in question make sure you have enough people helping you. It’s never a good idea to use epoxy on your own because it tends to set up quickly (30-45 minutes is common). You should always have a helper with you to speed up the process of putting down an epoxy floor before the pot gets too full to use.
If you use a roller, make sure it’s a good one. Rollers that aren’t good may start to shed. Have paint brushes and masking tape on hand to deal with the edges.
Step 6: Give the floor one last sanding and filling before putting on the last coat of epoxy paint.
The first coat should be dry enough after 16 to 24 hours, so you can move on to the next step.
After you put on the first coat, you may see problems like new cracks and holes that weren’t there before. Also, dust and other things can sometimes get stuck in the first coat.
If the first coat was put on with a squeegee, there may be many lines. You’ll need to lightly sand these spots to get rid of any marks that might show up on the finished floor. Then get rid of any dust with a vacuum cleaner. Most of the time, you can wipe away any micro-dust that is left with some epoxy thinner.
Before you start the next coat, make sure that all the new cracks and holes are sealed and filled. If you have to, wait a little longer for the grout to dry before you re-coat.
Step 7: Put on the last coat.
If you did everything in this article to put down an epoxy floor, the last coat should be the easiest step.
Make sure the whole area is clean before you start. You don’t want someone to walk in on the wet floor, so close all the windows and doors.
The end result is a beautiful surface that has been coated.
Use a top-notch roller. Some people like to use a squeegee to spread out the product and then a roller to make the surface even. With spiked shoes, you can walk on the wet coating and look at all of it.
If you started with a surface that was hard to work with, you may need to add a third coat to make it look perfect.
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