How to Install an Epoxy Floor
Installing an epoxy floor takes two days of work and a few days of cure. This page walks through the whole job and links to a guide for each step.
What you need for an epoxy floor installation
- A kit sized for your floor. See garage floor epoxy kits and basement floor kits.
- The tool kit: 18 inch roller frame and two covers, 18 inch notched squeegee, mix wand, chip brush, spiked shoes, mixing bucket, gloves and safety glasses. The Pro kits include it.
- A floor grinder from a tool rental center, or an etching solution.
- A drill for the mix wand, and a shop vacuum.
Step 1: Check the floor
- Moisture. Tape a 2 ft square of plastic sheet to the slab for 24 hours. See how to test a concrete floor for moisture.
- Cracks and chips. See patching cracked concrete.
- Oil stains. See removing oil and grease stains.
Step 2: Prep the concrete
Grind or acid-etch the slab until it feels like 120-grit sandpaper, then vacuum all the dust. See grinding vs acid etching and the full garage floor prep guide.
Coat when the slab and the air are between 60 and 90°F and humidity is under 85%.
Step 3: Day one, the base coat
- Mix each kit as packaged, with a drill and the mix wand.
- Pour the mixed epoxy onto the floor. Spread it with the notched squeegee and roll it even. Wear the spiked shoes to walk on the wet coat.
- Full flake floor: throw flake into the wet base coat until the floor will not take any more.
- Metallic floor: roll the black ground coat, then pour the pigmented clear epoxy over it and move it while it is wet.
Step 4: Day two, the topcoat
On a flake floor, scrape and vacuum the loose flake first. Then roll the topcoat.
Step 5: Let it cure
Walk on the floor on day 3. Park on it on day 4 to 7. The Garage One-Day System is faster: the whole floor goes down in one day, you walk on it the next day and park on it two days after the clear coat.
After the installation
More epoxy floor installation guides
- Epoxy vs polyaspartic
- How to prep a basement floor for epoxy
- Do I need spiked shoes?
- How long 2-part epoxy takes to dry
- How much it costs to epoxy a floor
- Full flake epoxy floor kits and metallic epoxy floor kits
Want to talk it through first?
Every order includes a free 20-minute call to go through your floor before you start. Call (877) 703-7699. If we miss you, we call back within an hour.