Epoxy floor coatings can be applied on almost any surface, but can they be put on wooden floors too?
Before you can put an epoxy coating on a wood floor, the floorboards must be firmly in place and have no loose pieces, holes, or kinks. They also have to be rough sanded.
If you want to refinish your wood floors with epoxy coatings, you might want to look into other options. Epoxy coatings are made to be used on concrete. Before applying an epoxy coating over your wood floor, it is best to talk to an installer.
You can epoxy a wood floor, which is good news. There are some steps you need to take, which are all explained in this article.
Type Epoxy Suitable For Use On Wooden Floors
There are different kinds of epoxy and many ways to change them. Instead of deep-pour epoxy, you’ll need tabletop epoxy to use on wood.
Deep pour epoxy, also called casting resin or river table epoxy, is thinner and softer than regular epoxy. Healing takes a long time.
Even though the long curing time makes it possible to make molds and molds, deep-pour epoxy is not good for flooring.
On the other hand, tabletop epoxy is made to be used as a coating layer. For wood, choose a brand of tabletop epoxy that takes a little longer to cure.
This makes the layer of epoxy stick better and lets you use more epoxy. The layer of epoxy can’t dry for too long, or it could be damaged by things that aren’t part of it.
Also, you have to think about how thick the epoxy is. The viscosity of a liquid means how thick it is. You may need to look at the viscosity rating given by the manufacturer to figure out if it is the right epoxy for wood floors.
Why use epoxy coating for the wood floor?
You don’t have to choose an epoxy-cast floor; you can also coat your current floor with epoxy. This coating is used to make wooden floors look smooth, tight, and resistant to liquids.
The coating is less expensive and thinner than a cast floor and acts as a wear layer. It is not a new floor because you can still see the shape of the surface.
Temperature and moisture change how many wood shrinks and how much it grows. So, a finish for a wood floor must move with the surface.
You should look for a flexible floor coating to put a finish or paint on a wooden floor. It must also be long-lasting since wood is more likely to get scratched or broken.
When the paint is dry, it has a high gloss (in a color of your choice). Epoxy coatings can’t handle heavy loads because they aren’t very thick.
The coating also doesn’t last as long as epoxy-cast floors do. The placement can be done quickly: two days is a good average. So, it is a cheap and quick way to change the look of your floor and make it safer.
What is an epoxy coating for?
With a roller, a floor coating is a thin layer of protection applied on top of the floor. Epoxy coating is a top layer made of plastic that protects the floor without gaps.
So, the current floor has a tight finish that keeps liquids out. You get almost the same benefits as an epoxy-cast floor, but the coating isn’t as thick or durable.
The coating is both useful and nice to look at. If you put an epoxy coating on your floor, it will look completely different. You end up with a high-gloss floor in any color you want. Since the coating keeps dirt away, it is a wear layer.
This is less than a millimeter thick, but some coatings are up to 4 mm thick. The floor’s structure can still be seen with a thin coating, but thicker epoxy coatings can also hide flaws.
Things to consider before using epoxy for wood floor
Take care to get ready. Read the technical data sheet that came with the coating and follow the instructions. Check out our guide to floor coatings as well. This keeps mistakes and problems from happening later.
Coatings stick better to wood that has been roughened up. Preferably use a parquet sander. We recommend grain 160 for new floors, but grain 100 is usually enough for wood floors that have already been treated.
Get rid of any dust that got made while you were sanding and cleaning. Tape off the edges and baseboards that you don’t want to paint. Use painter’s tape of good quality to do this.
If the surface is very porous, like beech or ash, we recommend using a primer first.
Think about how 2 part epoxy for wood floors only stays usable for a short time. You only have a few hours to paint with this, so don’t mix more than you can cover in that time.
You can use rollers and brushes to put floor coating on wood. Use a roller for big areas and a brush for small areas like corners. Watch the standard. The brush’s bristles shouldn’t stay in the paint.
For each coat of 2-part paint, use a different roller.
Follow what the product information says about how much to take. Too much or too little is not a good thing.
Putting an epoxy coating on a wooden floor takes at least two steps. Always keep a close eye on the drying times between coats and after.
Work when it’s between 59 and 68 degrees and not too humid. Remember that drying is faster in direct sunlight. In that case, you should thin the coating a bit.
Can you put epoxy flooring on plywood?
In contrast to concrete, a stable surface on which to put epoxy, plywood is very flexible and grows and shrinks.
A standard epoxy coating won’t work because it will crack, tear, peel, and eventually fail, especially where the pieces meet. You can use flexible epoxy for wood floors to do this job.
Will epoxy stick to wood?
Most of the time, epoxy resins stick to wood. The only time they don’t is when extra-thick epoxy resin is put on wood with a smooth finish. In this case, the resin wouldn’t be able to get into the cracks where it can harden and stick. What affects how well epoxy resin sticks to wood?
How rough is the wood’s surface is
When you pour epoxy resin on wood, it will stick better to wood with more holes.
For this to happen, the wood’s surface must be prepared. In this step, the surface is cleaned and rough with the right sandpaper grit.
Whether the surface has been polished or sealed
It is not true that epoxy won’t stick to wood that has been polished or sealed. If a sealant or polish is thick enough to fill the pores on a wooden surface, epoxy will form a layer over the wood instead of seeping into it and sticking to it.
How thick or thin the resin is
Even if a wood surface is completely clogged to a smooth finish, you can always sand it to get it ready for pouring epoxy. You can still get the epoxy to stick to wood without power sanding.
Wait 24 hours
If you pour epoxy resin on a wooden surface and wait 24 hours, the resin should stick to the wood.
If it’s been less than an hour since you poured the resin, it won’t stick. During the first two hours, please don’t touch the epoxy resin, and don’t think about how you poured it.
The thickness is the amount of epoxy poured on top of the wood. When this layer gets too thick, it starts to fall apart.
The best way to get a thick body of epoxy to stick to wood is to pour thinner layers and let each one dry after the other.
How to apply the epoxy coating to wood floors?
Once you’ve chosen the right epoxy for your wooden floor, you can apply it.
First, wash and clean the surface of the wood. This removes grease and other things that make it hard for the epoxy to stick to the surface.
Applying epoxy on the floor of your whole house will cover a large area, and you’ll need a pressure washer, which you can rent or buy, to get rid of things like dirt and mildew.
Sanding the floor is the next step. A floor buffer can be rented or bought to do this. Sanding the floor evens it out and removes any imperfections that could get in the way of the epoxy.
When you sand the floor with a floor buffer, you can eliminate finishes that shouldn’t be under the epoxy.
When the floor is clean and bare, apply a latex primer coat. This helps the epoxy stick to the wood better.
You’ll need brushes for the edges and rollers for the big spaces. You can’t use a roller to do the edges because the strokes won’t be even.
Mix the epoxy to start the curing process. Mix the epoxy and hardener/catalyst well. This could take a while. With transparent epoxy, the natural color of the wood can still be seen.
You can choose from the different levels of gloss if you want your floor to have a shiny finish. You can choose either a glossy or a matte finish.