DIY Epoxy Flooring – What to Be Aware Of

The market for DIY (Do-It-Yourself) products has exploded in the last few years, and many homeowners opt for this solution when redecorating their houses. These products enable you to satisfy some more expensive tastes when you can’t afford to hire a professional. The project you complete reflects your personality and has a special meaning for you. However, when it comes to flooring options, there may be disadvantages if you try to do the work of a specialist, especially with DIY epoxy flooring. Some of the biggest risks of getting it wrong come with applying epoxy flooring, because the process needs to be monitored carefully, and the preparation stage is crucial.

Here at Tough Floors, we make sure our team delivers a functional, fit-for-purpose and stunning epoxy floor for every customer. Our experts have prepared a few important tips and tricks you need to know if you choose DIY epoxy flooring for your next home improvement project.

Concrete preparation

Choose the right method to prepare the surface for installing epoxy flooring. You generally have to opt between the following two:

• Acid etching is a very distant second to mechanical diamond grinding. The problem with this method is that the acid needs to drain somewhere.
• Diamond grinding – most people hire a diamond grinder, but they generally get an 'all-purpose' diamond which may not be appropriate for the job.

Floor preparation products

Products we can buy from our suppliers may not be available to you due to many factors, such as warranty and how fast the product needs to be ‘worked’ after mixing before it starts to harden.

Hardware-sold products may not be the sole factor for your failed floor. It all starts with the preparation and understanding why we prepare with the more costly but effective diamond grinding process – a method that is hard to get right when you opt for DIY flooring.

Understanding epoxy characteristics

Another factor contributing to your epoxy flooring project's success is a good understanding of product characteristics. Not all epoxies are the same. The most common types of epoxies are self-level, solventless, and water-based, and some epoxies require a certain level of thickness to achieve their intended purpose. The information is provided in the TDS (Technical Data Sheets), but honestly – do you always read instructions from cover to cover?

Having sufficient material

When applying epoxy flooring, you can’t be sparing with your material. Don’t stretch out the epoxy coating when you are running low. This will cause areas to have a different colour appearance and look less glossy. Furthermore, a weaker coating is susceptible to chips and cracks.

Ensuring proper conditions

Having the right temperature and humidity in the room where you coat surfaces with epoxy flooring is another challenge you will face with DIY flooring. You need to follow the humidity and temperature restrictions as epoxy applied in the wrong environmental conditions may not harden and cure properly.

As you’ve probably noticed, installing epoxy flooring correctly requires experience, knowledge, dexterity, patience, and special equipment. When there are so many factors involved in the outcome of your DIY project, you can easily make a mistake and compromise the results. The best alternative to taking matters into your own hands remains to call professional services, like those provided by Tough Floors – with less effort on your part you can obtain better results!

Contact epoxy flooring specialists in Brisbane and Gold Coast

Epoxy flooring is emerging to be one of the most desirable floor finishes. Contact us for a free quote or go to our visualiser page to get an idea of how a room in your house will look with epoxy flooring. Tough Floors service areas include Brisbane and nearby areas. The boundaries are Noosa North Shore, Tewantin, Eumundi, Yandina, Palmwoods, Sippy Downs, then through Brisbane to as far as Gatton only, Beaudesert, Burleigh Heads, Kingscliff, Brunswick Heads to Byron Bay.