Epoxy floor coatings are a fantastic way to turn a concrete slab into a designer floor. When installed on a residential garage floor or commercial space, epoxy flooring is durable and long-lasting.
Whether you plan to start a flooring business or install a new epoxy floor in your garage, there is a long list of epoxy flooring installation equipment you will need, including each of the following:
Knee Board or Knee Pads
The first steps of epoxy flooring installation require you to get down on your hands and knees to prepare the subfloor. This requires being on your knees a lot, making a knee board or knee pads necessary. The subfloor must be flat and smooth before installing the epoxy coating. High spots need to be ground down, low areas need to be filled, and other damage needs to be repaired.
Mixing Paddle
Epoxy floor coatings are too thick to mix by hand. Since you will be combining two parts of epoxy to coat the flooring and its successful mixture will significantly affect the final result, you must get a thorough mix. This is best accomplished using a mixing paddle attached to a cordless drill.
Notched Squeegees
Unlike the smooth squeegees used to clean windows, notched squeegees are used with thick coatings such as epoxy floor coatings. The purpose of the notches is to help encourage the thick epoxy to coat the floor in an even layer without air bubbles. The gaps leave temporary ridges that will quickly smooth out from gravity. Using notched squeegees helps ensure bubble-free, smooth epoxy flooring surfaces.
Spiked Rollers
Similar to notch squeegees, spiked rollers are essential epoxy flooring installation equipment. The spikes on the roller dig into the wet epoxy and pop air bubbles. A smooth roller will smooth out the surface, but the final result will be a floor with air bubbles in the epoxy or small divots that popped when the floor was partially cured.
Spiked Shoes
Spiked shoes are a requirement for walking on wet epoxy floors. The metal cleats on the bottom allow you to walk freely on wet epoxy without damaging the final result. While epoxy can't recover and heal from a shoeprint, it quickly closes up the minor marks made by the metal cleats.
Tool Cleaning Solutions
Finally, it would be best to use acetone or denatured alcohol to clean squeegees, rollers, and other epoxy flooring installation equipment. Either solution will dissolve the epoxy, given some soaking time. Additionally, once the epoxy has dried, you can easily pull it off any tools that dried before you could clean them.
For more information about epoxy flooring equipment, contact a local supplier.