Last week on Instagram I revealed our new PINK epoxy floors in our studio basement and, as I was hoping, you went bananas (I did too!). As you might recall from this post, the debate was between a mint/sage and a pink epoxy color and it was TOUGH choice. But, in the end: THINK PINK! And today I’m going to share some insights into what we did.
I got a lot of questions about the flooring and though I’m definitely no expert, I can answer our experience with it.
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Did we do the epoxy floor ourselves?
Nope! You certainly can, but even with professional help it’s tricky. That’s an understatement. We hired someone who does it as a side hustle. He’s used to doing it on garage floors, which is a very common application and one that’s generally done with a basic grey color that only needs one coat.
How did you decide to do epoxy floors?
My friend, Eva (of Sycamore Co) has the most gorgeous teal high shine flooring in her house. I loved that it added so much to the design, worked well on concrete, and would be waterproof for our basement studio. Our basement has already been through one sewage flood since we’ve moved in (SO GROSS) and I know from neighbors that it’s been through other flooding so I didn’t want to select something that would ruin the floors.
Can you do any color?
Yes! A simple Google search of the color you want and then “epoxy” will probably turn up something along the lines of what you’re thinking. It’s kind of like paint in that you can also mix colors. You can also add in flakes which gives the appearance of a slight confetti or even a terrazzo. The thing is, it may not be what your installer is used to. Ours hadn’t done a custom color before and I didn’t quite realize what that would mean in the application. Turns out, it meant a lot. While he was used to applying one coat for a garage floor, and that was what he was planning both in resources and time, it actually needed 2 (if not) 3 layers.
What color did we do?
Like I mentioned, you can pretty much do any color you’d like (I think?!). I had requested a blush pink that had a bit more peach in it like #2:
And then we talked about adding in flakes like #3, as long as it took on a terrazzo vibe, but I was worried about it not looking like terrazzo so I decided not to risk it.
The end color was more bubble gum than I was going for, but c’est la vie. The beauty of a lighter pink is that it’s more or less a neutral color so as soon as you put other things in, it should tone down. It actually looks awesome with green plants in it.
How many layers do you have to do?
While we’re on the topic…yes, the lighter the color, the more layers you’ll need. Sadly, I don’t know what happened to all the photos on my phone that showed the unevenness in the application (they mysteriously disappeared?!?!??! WEIRD), but it was VERY obvious to us that we would need another coat or two. The second layer helped out A LOT.
Oh wait! I found a photo! Just like paint, it needs multiple layers!
What if you have cracks in your concrete?
Again, I’m not an expert, but I’m under the impression that the best type of floor to apply an epoxy to is concrete and concrete naturally cracks. We had several cracks in ours, which was fine. They did some grading to the areas so that they would lay flat. And they put in some caulk to fill in the gaps. I’ve been told that there’s another product that’s better for filling in cracks, but I don’t know what that is…maybe your installer does? Some of the cracks that were filled in with caulk now appear white/milky. I’m guessing that it’s because there wasn’t enough time for them to dry properly? You can see some of the cracks in this video:
What should I look out for?
We had some trouble with air bubbles, bugs drying in the epoxy, and some little protrusions. I don’t know what the cause of these were, but once they harden they’re quite hard and can hurt! 
What’s the maintenance like?
So far, it appears to get normal wear, especially since we’ve been moving things in and out as we continue to settle into the new studio. We haven’t done much cleaning yet because we still need to get more organized, but I’ll let you know once we do!
Ok, I think that’s it for now? Let me know if you have any more questions. I’m happy to answer them. And I’m sure I’ll have more to add once we’ve had it a bit longer.
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