When you;re looking for flooring solutions for your home, you might find yourself considering epoxy wood floors or epoxy resin. It’s become more and more popular in recent years, and there are plenty of reasons why.
If you’re interested in epoxy resin flooring, but you’re not sure if it will work on your wood floor, with advice from Epoxy Gang here’s what you need to know.
What is epoxy resin flooring?
Epoxy resin is a type of synthetic resin flooring that is poured on top of solid substrates. It protects the floor beneath it and can be used as decoration or simply as an easy and protective flooring option.
Epoxy resin flooring is made up of several layers, and once set, forms a completely integrated, seamless and non-porous surface making resin flooring ideal for homes and is often used for kitchen worktops.
Can you use epoxy resin on wood floors?
Can you use epoxy resin on wooden floors? The short answer is yes, epoxy resin can work well over wood floors. Epoxy flooring can be a great way to protect the wood beneath it.
However, the epoxy resin used for wood floors is not the same as that used on concrete floors, and the installation is a bit more complex.
When it comes to installing epoxy wood floors, there are lots of factors that need to be considered in order to make sure that the epoxy flooring lasts and does not cause any damage to the wood floor.
Benefits of installing epoxy resin on hardwood floors
If there are all these things to consider, why bother opting for epoxy flooring? Why not just keep your plain wood floor? Well, there are a number of advantages to having an epoxy wood floor. For example:
Epoxy flooring is easy to clean
Where wood can cause things to stick, epoxy resin flooring has a coating that repels both solid and liquid dust and debris.
As a result, when a mess is made on a wood floor with an epoxy resin coating, it is significantly easier to clean with either a mop or a broom.
An epoxy floor coating is extremely durable
Unlike your typical wood floor, epoxy floors are incredibly durable. An epoxy wooden floor can handle lots of weight. This is why they are commonly used in places like warehouses.
Mould resistant wood flooring
Wooden floors are often subject to damp and mould. As natural materials, wooden floors have no protection against this. However, an epoxy floor is completely non-porous, meaning that it can keep your wood surface free from mildew and damp damage.
Epoxy coatings are personalisable
Epoxy resin comes in a range of colours and designs, so if you don’t like the look of your wood floors you can change them out for something a bit more you without actually removing the wood floor that came with the property.
Slip-resistant flooring
If you’ve got children, pets or elderly family members, the fact that epoxy coating has slip-resistant qualities may also be of interest to you!
Things to consider when installing epoxy flooring
So what do you need to bear in mind when installing epoxy resin on your wood floor?
Condition of the wood floors
The wood floors that you are pouring epoxy onto need to be free of any flaws. This means cracks, openings etc need to be filled before you begin to install epoxy flooring. Otherwise you will notice that the epoxy flooring doesn’t properly adhere to the surface.
How you’re applying epoxy
Using the proper equipment when applying epoxy is incredibly important. The final outcome will depend highly on this. You need to either hire professionals to install your epoxy flooring or follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.
Moisture content of the wood floors
Wood is a very porous substance and as such it absorbs moisture. If the wood floor has too much moisture in, it will cause issues with how well your epoxy resin bonds and cures. You should check prior to installation to see what the levels of moisture in the wood floors are.
Temperature and humidity of the room
Different types of epoxy resin set best at different humidities. You should check with the manufacturer to see what kind of climate to encourage in the room when applying epoxy resin to a wooden floor. This will help to ensure your resin sets properly and at a decent speed.
Type of epoxy resin flooring
Epoxy resin is not a one size fits all, it comes in a broad range of forms. Some epoxy resins can be used on concrete and only concrete.
When applying epoxy to any flooring, you should always be sure to check that you’ve got the right kind of epoxy resin before you begin.
How to apply epoxy resin flooring over wood floors
- Prepare the surface by filling any cracks and holes and emptying the room
- Sand the floor down
- Clean the floor to remove all the dust
- Apply a moisture barrier primer
- Mix the epoxy resin and the hardener, following manufacturer’s instructions
- Apply epoxy to the floor as quickly as possible
- Ensure the epoxy is distributed evenly across the space (applying from edge to edge can help to achieve this)
- Leave the epoxy flooring to cure
- Create the desired atmosphere in the room to encourage the epoxy to cure and set
