Epoxy Flooring — Your Questions Answered

Per square metre. Four things move the figure: how big the floor is, which system you pick (solid colour costs least, then flake, industrial build-ups and metallic), how much work the concrete needs first, and how easy the space is to reach. Prep is the one people tend not to expect. Grinding is part of every job, but filling cracks, lifting old paint or dealing with damp in the slab all add time before the first coat goes on. The bands for each system are on our pricing page, and your own price comes from the site visit.

Yes. We come out, measure, test the slab and send a written price, and none of that costs you anything or commits you to anything. There is no call-out fee.

Everything needed to finish the floor: grinding and other prep, repairs, primer, the coats in your chosen finish, and the installation. Because we price after seeing the concrete, things like extra crack work, a damp barrier or a gritty topcoat for a patio are written into the quote up front. If grinding uncovers something nobody could have seen, we stop, show you, and only carry on once you have agreed the cost.

Solid colour (one even colour), flake (coloured vinyl chips sealed under a clear coat), metallic (pigment worked into a marbled, stone-like pour) and industrial or self-levelling build-ups for heavy use. Quartz anti-slip and fast-curing polyaspartic coats cover more specialised jobs. In Johannesburg the bigger decision is often the topcoat. The average UV index at O.R. Tambo reaches 14 in December and January, and plain epoxy can discolour in direct sun, so floors that catch sunlight get a UV-stable polyurethane or polyaspartic topcoat.

Most people choose solid colour or flake. Both shrug off tyre marks and oil and clean up with a mop. Flake has a slight texture and hides dust and scuffs, so it suits a garage that is also a workshop or the main way into the house. Metallic is for when you want the garage to be a showpiece. If the floor runs out to the door in full sun, ask about a UV-stable topcoat on that strip. And for a summer booking, plan where the car will stand while the floor cures: hail in South Africa is most frequent from mid-November to February, in the afternoons.

It does. Kitchens, sculleries, passages, living areas and covered patios all suit it, and one seamless floor can run from room to room with no grout lines. Indoors we check two things before quoting: whether damp is coming up through the slab, which needs a barrier before any coating, and how much direct sun the room gets, which decides the topcoat.

With good prep, many years of normal use. We will not promise a number, because it depends on the traffic, the sun and how the floor is looked after. Two things make the biggest difference. The first is the bond: a coating laid on ground, repaired and dry concrete grips properly, while one laid on dusty or damp concrete is the kind that peels. The second is sunlight: plain epoxy can discolour in direct sun, so sunny areas need a UV-stable topcoat to keep their colour.

Because resin sticks to whatever sits on top of the slab, and if that is dust, a weak cement skin, oil or old paint, the bond fails along with it. Diamond grinding takes the surface back to sound concrete and leaves a texture the primer can grip. Cracks and holes are filled so they do not show through. Then comes the moisture test: one South African floor-epoxy data sheet allows no more than 4% moisture in the concrete and calls for a barrier coat when it is wetter. You cannot judge that by looking, so we measure it.

Usually, yes. Pitting, spalling, small cracks and old paint or sealer are normal prep work. What we are really checking is whether the slab is sound and dry. Parts of Gauteng sit on expansive clay that swells in the wet season and shrinks in the dry one, so some cracks open and close through the year. A crack like that comes back through a rigid coating, so it is treated as a joint rather than just filled. If a floor needs repairs before coating is worth doing, we will tell you.

A single or double garage is usually two to three days on site, because each coat needs time before the next goes on. Metallic floors, multi-coat systems and big commercial areas take longer. In Johannesburg the season changes the timeline. One South African floor-epoxy data sheet gives about 72 hours before foot traffic with the slab at 10 °C, against about 24 hours at 20 °C, and July nights at O.R. Tambo average 3.5 °C. We go by the slab temperature on the day and set out the days in writing with the quote.

Both seasons work; they just need different planning. Winter is dry: humidity at O.R. Tambo drops below 50% in July and August, and the July dew point sits below freezing, which keeps condensation off a curing floor. The catch is the cold, so curing is slow and the job takes more days. Summer cures quickly, but afternoon thunderstorms are a near-daily pattern from November to March and January humidity averages 69%. In summer we start early in the day and check humidity and dew point on site before mixing.

Six main areas and the suburbs around them: Sandton (including Bryanston, Morningside and Rivonia), Randburg (Cresta, Ferndale, Northriding), Midrand (Halfway House, Vorna Valley, Kyalami), Roodepoort (Constantia Kloof, Weltevreden Park), Bedfordview, and Fourways (Lonehill, Dainfern). If your suburb is not on the list, send it to us and we will tell you whether we can get there.

Use the quote form or phone us. Give us your suburb and, if you can, a photo of the floor. We book a free visit, test the slab and send you a written price with dates.