When you are estimating the cost of an epoxy floor, it’s important to take all of the factors into consideration. In this article, we walk you through everything you need to know and answer before you get a quote on an epoxy floor.
Any Accessibility Issues for Your Flooring Project?
The location of your property is also a contributing factor to the cost of your installation. If the property is at a place where the contractor cannot easily access to do their work. If they have to physically carry equipment to the venue, that would mean getting people to carry the equipment to the property. This will require time and brainstorming to get everything in place and in good shape. That’s money you’ll need to spend.
Those who live in rural areas will spend more on transport to get the contractor on the property. Unlike JDL Surface Innovations, not all contractors are willing to work in remote locations. So those who are willing to come will charge you for it.
Inaccessibility issues can be on the property as well. Imagine you want a basement floored yet the entrance is too small. That might require a wall to go down, which will cost more to reconstruct.
How Complex the Designs Are – If you go with a single blend of color instead of multiple blocks of different color themes, you pay less. Going with the different color blocks means investing in metal divider strips and enhancements. That also requires the work to take longer which increases the hourly installation process costs.
The Number of Colors Integrated Into a Floor – Let’s say you want a metallic epoxy floor. It’s already a mix of different colors that come from the same color family that’s costly to install. But you can still go for an extra color palette to make your floors super attractive. In this regard, the prices will go higher.
The Number of Layers You Want – Multiple layers are used to create very durable floors for heavy use. They are also used to decorate or brand floor with 3D imagery but this applies to those who want very durable epoxy floors as well. Additional layers regardless of the purpose will add to the installation costs of your floor.
Writing and Logos Embedded in Your Floor – If you have a message that you want to be passed to those who use your floor, or need your business logo to be embedded into your epoxy installation, expect to pay more. The contractor will spend more time installing this floor and you’ll have to invest in additional materials for the work.
If your floor is in bad shape, you have to refurbish and repair it to a state that epoxy will be effective. That means fixing the cracks, bringing down the high surfaces, and raising the areas that are low. This stage requires industrial-grade grinding tools that must be transported to the scene. All this effort is to make sure the self-leveling epoxy settles and offers satisfactory results. The repairs and refurbishment will obviously add to the costs of your epoxy installation.
During our evaluation process, we’ll check the Moisture Vapor Transmission (MVP) within the concrete slab. If the MVP is high, it becomes a recipe for poor bonding of epoxy molecules which affects the cure time. That’s when your floor requires an underlayment and primer before applying epoxy over it. There’s an array of toppings and underlayments in the market and your contractor is responsible to guide you on what’s right for your epoxy flooring project.
When the foundation needs repairs, then you’ll have to part with $5,000 to $15,000. Foundation repairs come about if the subbase is lousy, the concrete mixture is poor, if it has undergone severe thaw-refreeze weather effects, or if the slab joints are bad. If you suspect that your floor has this structural problem, your flooring contractor can link you up with a structural engineer to inspect and recommend the best way forward. The structural engineer’s service could cost you an extra $500.
Concrete primer costs – Primers help improve the quality of a low-quality slab or one that’s too porous to effectively hold your epoxy floor installation. They increase adhesion properties for the oncoming epoxy coating. A two-gallon jug will range from around $40 – $160.
Epoxy Products Cost Per Type – Not all epoxies are the same and so they cost differently.
The cheapest is water-based epoxy which retails at $0.37 per square foot. It’s part epoxy, part hardener, and part water that evaporates as the epoxy hardens after installation. This might be what to choose for residential use, not commercial or industrial as it’s not durable enough.
Solvent epoxy is the next option you have. As the name suggests it’s part solvents and part epoxy and offers more durable surfaces compared to water-based epoxy. It retails at $0.58 per square foot but might not be an option if your property is in a state that has burnt VOCs.
If you are using contractor services, you should go for solid epoxy that entails 100% epoxy and hardeners. It offers durability that’s good enough for commercial and industrial settings where there’s heavy traffic. It costs $1.40 per square foot owing to its lasting benefits. Not a great option if your floor surfaces have moisture issues.
Preparing the Space for Epoxy Installation
Let’s say you want to install epoxy over your concrete garage floor. You’ll need to empty this room. That means you should remove furniture, including the shelves and other items that might get in the way during the epoxy flooring process. If you can’t do the moving on your own, hire a moving company. You’ll probably need a truck to carry your things, plus a temporary rented storage unit.
Movers come at $40/hour for a single person. A truck will be $20/day plus the fee for mileage and a storage unit will be anywhere between $25 – $110 every month. Remember you’ll be charged according to the size that can fit your stuff, which will probably be the area size of your garage floor.
Cleaning and Maintenance Costs of Epoxy Floors
The costs of cleaning and maintaining epoxy, in the long run, is one of the lowest in the flooring industry. As long as it’s properly installed, you can expect your floor to last up to two decades without having to spend a fortune to maintain it. It handles abrasion, impact, and chemical spills better than other floor solutions. The best part is that this flooring type is practical and not demanding.
A mop and water are often enough to clean and maintain an epoxy surface. You’ll be able to clean epoxy floors without having to do additional work to keep them in top shape. Learn the art of spot cleaning so that whenever you stain the floor, immediately clean the affected area. Though epoxy is tough and can handle heavy loads and frequent traffic, you should invest in protective mats where you can put your heavy loads to avoid causing damage when emergencies arise.
Why Does an Epoxy Flooring Cost More That Other Flooring Solutions?
Vinyl and tiles are a cheaper viable flooring option but not as durable as epoxy floor. Those who install these floor types don’t really care about the existing issues within the concrete. That’s why it’s common to see mold appearing between the cracks of vinyl and tile floors. Depending on the size of your project, they may not even bother to level the concrete floor first. You can bet in a flooring project where real issues are ignored, the results will be poor.
On the other hand, epoxy floors must be installed on pre-analysed concrete slabs to perform highly as expected.We don’t just cover your existing concrete slab. That’s why the installation pricing is different.
