Commercial Epoxy Flooring: Everything You Need to Know
Flooring can be a challenge in a commercial setting. Often, these settings are very busy places, with lots of foot traffic and more spillage than a toddler having a tantrum at dinnertime. Commercial spaces often require specific types of flooring to meet different health and safety regulations, as well as an ability to take the punishment doled out by dropping heavy items on them, daily foot traffic, and possible exposure to hot and cold liquids.
Enter commercial epoxy flooring, the perfect replacement or sealant for your existing flooring. Commercial epoxy floor coating has been specifically designed for the harshest commercial environments, including commercial kitchens, garages, warehouses, workshops, office spaces and more!
What is Commercial Epoxy Flooring?
Commercial epoxy flooring is a type of epoxy flooring resin designed specifically for commercial spaces. This commercial epoxy flooring in Sydney can be found in many warehouses, commercial kitchens, office buildings and other commercial spaces.
Unlike residential epoxy flooring, commercial epoxy flooring coating is made from an industrial-grade epoxy resin, designed to be abrasion and impact-resistant, as well as resistant to chemical spills and can be outfitted with anti-slip material. Additionally, commercial epoxy floors can be customised for temperature control as well as anti-static properties.
At SWEF, we specialise in providing the best commercial epoxy floors to suit your space. Whether you need commercial kitchen epoxy flooring or want to cover your commercial garage floor in epoxy, we’ve got your commercial flooring covered!
How Much Does It Cost for Commercial Epoxy Flooring?
The cost of commercial epoxy flooring will depend on the size of your floor, and what (if any) special requirements you have for your flooring. Different commercial epoxy floor contractors charge different rates, but in general, you can expect to pay a baseline of between $20 and $30 per square metre, with more expensive installations running between $50 and $120 per square metre.
Things to Consider Before Installing
Before you start your commercial epoxy floor coating journey, there are a few considerations you’ll need to make.
What Type of Environment is Your Commercial Space?
There are many different types of commercial epoxy flooring for different commercial applications. Your first consideration should be what type of flooring you need for your commercial space. Does your commercial epoxy floor coating need to have anti-slip properties? which can be added using silica sand during pouring.
Do you simply need a clear resin coating over top of your existing flooring, to protect it from damage? Are you in need of decorative commercial kitchen epoxy flooring, taking advantage of epoxy resin’s anti-slip and easy cleaning benefits? The type of flooring you need for your commercial space will depend on what you do in that space. Commercial epoxy floors can be customised in a variety of ways to suit your specific needs. Reach out to us at SWEF to chat about what you need and how we can help.
Do You Need Specially-Designated Areas On Your Flooring?
Some commercial spaces choose to colour-code, or use words to designate specific areas for specific uses. Luckily, commercial epoxy floors provide you with the customisation you’ll need to use word designs or different colour-coded options painted into the epoxy resin. This flexibility will allow you to have an organised commercial workspace that’s set-up with safety in mind.
Do You Deal With Hazardous Waste on Your Flooring?
Certain commercial spaces will deal with hazardous chemicals or oils that can spill onto their flooring. In other types of flooring, this can cause corrosion, chemical reactions, or even a fire hazard, depending on the type of material.
SWEF specialises in commercial epoxy flooring that’s chemically resistant and non-porous, as well as being waterproof. This type of flooring is most commonly used in a commercial garage floor epoxy, specifically chosen to handle oil spills and other chemical contact with the flooring, without causing corrosion or other damage. Dealing with hazardous spills is a breeze with commercial epoxy floors designed to handle them.
The Benefits of Commercial Epoxy Flooring
Most commercial flooring options these days are concrete, vinyl, or linoleum. However, commercial epoxy flooring has provided a newer and better option for specific commercial applications! Most kitchens use tile flooring, particularly in older buildings, however, these can be treacherous for slip-and-fall accidents, as well as tricky to clean up when spillage occurs, as the grout makes for a bacterial breeding ground!
Commercial epoxy floor coatings offer a variety of benefits that make them the best option for your commercial enterprise.
It’s Anti-Microbial
This benefit can specifically relate to installing an epoxy kitchen floor. Your epoxy flooring can be customised to be anti-microbial, meaning that you won’t have to worry about mould, mildew, bacteria or germ growth over time. Additionally, it is easy to clean, meaning that bacteria won’t be able to grow once spills are cleaned up.
Anti-Slip Properties
From the kitchen to the garage, a commercial non-slip epoxy floor coating has the additional benefit of being anti-slip, made so by adding silica sand to the finish, or an anti-slip coating that can be painted on once the flooring is poured. These anti-slip properties make commercial garage floor epoxy a popular choice among mechanics, but equally among kitchens.
Fluid Resistance
Unlike other flooring types which may become damaged after a spill, SWEF’s commercial garage floor epoxy guarantees a fluid-resistance level to things like petroleum, transmission fluid, oil, brake fluid, bleach and other potentially corrosive materials that could eat through other types of flooring, leaving your shop with a health hazard and a big repair bill!
It’s Long-Lasting
Unlike other types of commercial flooring that can become damaged fairly easily, like vinyl or linoleum, which peels or cracks with a hard stare, most commercial epoxy floors, when properly installed will last for 10 to 20 years or more! This longevity is unparalleled in the industrial flooring world and is one of the main benefits of installing commercial epoxy flooring in your workspace.
Commercial Epoxy Flooring Installation Process
There are a few different steps that SWEF takes when installing commercial epoxy floor coatings, after our initial conversation with you and our inspection of the space. During this initial phase, we’ll offer our guidance as to what type of epoxy resin might be best for your commercial application, as well as answer any questions you may have.
Now, onto the installation of your brand-new commercial epoxy flooring!
Step 1: Prepare the Concrete for Installation
Most commercial spaces have concrete flooring underneath any tile or other flooring they’ve installed. This will need to be prepared properly before your epoxy resin can be poured. The first step in this process is to remove the old flooring and remove residue from the adhesives that were used to hold it in place. This means using a huge sander to sand the flooring down to just the bare concrete and nothing else.
Then, the concrete will be washed thoroughly and left to dry, cracks will also be filled with crack-filler and left to dry. Once the floor is clean and dry, the next phase can begin.
Step 2: Mixing Epoxy Resin
As professional installers of commercial epoxy flooring, we have the expertise to properly mix the epoxy resin with the hardener. We only have a small window of time before the hardener begins to actually harden, meaning we need to mix it effectively, generally, this means a 2-part resin and 1-part hardener ratio.
Application of Product
The application of the final product can be a slow-ish process, as the most effective way to apply the commercial epoxy flooring coating evenly and for best results is to use a foam roller brush. This spreads the resin easily and evenly across the surface, leading to a flat, level surface that’s ready for curing once the first application is complete. The first coat will usually take 12 to 24 hours to cure completely. The second coat can then be applied, this will also be another 12 to 24 hours. Most commercial epoxy floors consist only of two coats of epoxy resin.
Frequently Asked Questions
We get some great frequently asked questions at SWEF about our commercial epoxy flooring installations. Here are some answers to these questions.
Is Epoxy Flooring Good For Commercial Use?
As flooring goes for commercial purposes, epoxy flooring resin is among the best types of flooring you could have! It’s long-lasting, durable, and resistant to spills – both non-chemical and chemical. Additionally, commercial epoxy flooring can be made anti-slip and can be customised to suit your business needs, making it a great investment for any commercial enterprise.
How Long Does Epoxy Flooring Last in a Commercial Setting?
While epoxy flooring resin could last between 10 and 20 years in a non-commercial, because of the heavy stresses put on the flooring by the environment that it’s in, from garages with all kinds of spills to the hustle and bustle of a commercial kitchen, commercial epoxy flooring generally lasts between 5 and 10 years.
Can Epoxy Flooring Be Used in a Commercial Kitchen?
Because of its anti-microbial and anti-slip properties, industry professionals generally prefer an epoxy commercial kitchen floor over other types of flooring like linoleum or tile. Epoxy resin can most definitely be used in a commercial kitchen setting!
Final Thoughts
If you’re a commercial enterprise seeking a new type of flooring that’s not going to wear away with a hard stare, melt or become impossibly slippery after an accidental chemical or oil spill, and will keep your staff safe from germs and other bacteria, then you’re looking in the right place.
Epoxy resin flooring ticks all of the boxes that a commercial enterprise could want in a flooring surface for their workers. Businesses big and large have wisely invested in commercial epoxy flooring, see how we can help you be the next by contacting SWEF today.
