What is Metallic Epoxy Flooring ?
Made of 100% solids epoxy with metallic pigments added, this self-leveling epoxy coating is designed to be manipulated to create the different visual effects. Once applied to the floor, various solvents such as denatured alcohol can be applied to diffuse and move around the metallic pigments in the epoxy. This is what can create the look of flowing rivers and spots of fractured looking molten metal that sits upon the surface of the coating.
Some products are also designed to be worked with an air nozzle or leaf blower to create 3D effects like moon craters, rolling waves, and pudding ripples. Two-tone effects can also be created with the introduction of a second color at the time of application.
As beautiful and stunning as these floors look, they are considered a high performance floor coating that is designed to last for years. For the first coat they require an epoxy primer to be installed.
The second coat involves the actual metallic epoxy coating followed by a third coat of clear on top. It’s not unusual to add a fourth coat if applying polyurethane as a top coat.
As a result, you end up with a very thick coating due to the amount of coats involved, especially from the metallic coat.