Epoxy floors
An epoxy floor is a multi-layer system based on solvent-free two-component epoxy resin. It fills the pores of the concrete, bonds to it permanently and produces a continuous, seamless surface that water, oil and most chemicals cannot get through.
This is the workhorse of industrial flooring. If a site has no special conditions — thermal shock, an electrostatic requirement, ultraviolet exposure, or a need to reopen the hall within a day — the right answer is almost always epoxy.
How the system is built up
- Substrate preparation. Shot blasting or milling: laitance and the weak top layer are removed and the pore structure is opened. Nothing bonds without this.
- Primer coat. Stafloor EP Primer — a colourless solvent-free binder that penetrates the concrete and closes the pores. Consumption 0.25–0.40 kg/m² depending on substrate absorbency.
- Repair and levelling. Cracks, potholes and level differences are filled with an epoxy mortar on the same binder with quartz sand. The compressive strength of such a screed is 95 N/mm² to EN 196-1.
- Main layer. Stafloor EP Finish, from 0.5 to 5 mm depending on the load.
- Where required — a non-slip broadcast of quartz sand with a seal coat, or a polyurethane topcoat where colour stability under ultraviolet matters.
Thickness against load
| Up to 0.5 mm, roller-applied | Foot traffic: utility rooms, switchgear rooms, corridors, warehouses of packaged goods. Dust-sealing the concrete and wet cleaning. Consumption about 0.80 kg/m². |
|---|---|
| 0.5–1.5 mm, self-smoothing | Retail and exhibition halls, light warehouses, trolleys and occasional pallet trucks. Consumption about 1.60 kg/m² at 1 mm. |
| 1.5–3 mm, self-levelling | Production halls, warehouses with electric forklifts on polyurethane wheels, regular washing. The most common choice for a working plant. |
| 3–5 mm, quartz-filled mortar | Forklifts on solid wheels, impact loads, unloading bays, aisles under pallet racking. |
| Non-slip, over any system | Wet areas, ramps, oil and water spills. R11/V4 with 0.1–0.7 mm sand, R12/V6 with 0.7–1.2 mm sand to DIN 51130. |
A detailed breakdown with substrate requirements is in the article “Epoxy self-levelling floor: how to choose the thickness for the load”.
What you end up with
- compressive strength 52 N/mm² (DIN EN ISO 604);
- Shore D hardness 64 (DIN EN ISO 868);
- abrasion 50 mg per 1000 cycles, CS 10 wheel, 1000 g load (ASTM D 4060);
- heat resistance continuously to +80 °C, briefly to +100 °C in dry conditions;
- resistance to dilute acids and alkalis, salts, fuel, oils, fats, cleaning and disinfecting agents;
- the surface is impermeable to liquids and, once cured, physiologically safe — permitted in food and pharmaceutical plants.
Where epoxy is the wrong answer
We say it up front so you do not pay twice:
- steam cleaning, boiling water, shock freezing — you need polyurethane-cement;
- an electrostatic requirement with a measured report — you need antistatic floors;
- open air where colour must stay constant: epoxy yellows under ultraviolet, it needs polyurethane on top;
- the floor must be back in service within a day, or laid below zero — that is methyl methacrylate.
The other floor types are on the “Industrial polymer floors” page.