Once a customer asked me “How thick should my epoxy floor be?” 

For someone new to our industry,such  information on floor thickness can be surprisingly hard to find. therefore it's time to set out to provide some clarity around this subject by discussing the various thicknesses and how they impact the floor.

Epoxy floors can range from the very thin (300 microns or 0.01 inches) to quite thick 5mm (1/5 inch). In certain rare cases epoxy floor coats can reach 1 cm (0.4 inch).

Let’s start with the very thin floor coats. A thin epoxy floor coat usually consists of a coat of primer and one or two coats of paint. Depending on the number of coats, the floor thickness should range between 300 and 600 microns. Such epoxy floor thicknesses are suitable for light applications where the primary purpose of the coat is to keep the surface clean and dust free. Such coats are only recommended for light traffic like storage rooms, warehouses with little traffic or home garages.

If you are looking for better resistance to wear and tear you need to look into a system that has at least 1-2 mm (0.04-0.08) in thickness. In such systems floor coats can be combined with layers of quartz sand to create a more durable surface.

Self leveling epoxy floors start at 2mm (1/16th inches) but are typically in the 3mm (1/8 inch) range. They are the most commonly preferred choice of epoxy floors as they have an impressive glossy and smooth look, they are easy to clean and also have a durability that satisfies the needs for most industries.

In certain applications even 3-4 mm of thickness may not be considered sufficient. These are heavy duty industries where there is much significant mechanical wear, dragging of heavy objects and shifting of massive loads (where massive means at least 2-3 tonnes). Industries that involve metal constructions, wire and cable manufacturing, or heavy chemical abrasion fall into this category. In such industries epoxy floors can even go beyond the 5mm mark and reach 1 cm. Such floor systems usually consist of multiple layers that involve epoxy screeds, intermediate aggregates, and top-coats.

A few additional points to keep in mind:

• The thicker your floor coat the deeper your surface preparation needs to be. You want to make sure that a thick 5mm coat shouldn’t just ‘float’ on top of the concrete but is actually ‘anchored’ well into the substrate.

• Certain floor resins systems may require thicker coats. For example in the cementitious polyurethane screed market it is not uncommon to see floor coats exceeding 12 mm (1/2 inch).