Why do some epoxy kits cover more than others?
More often than not, we get questions about garage floor epoxy about the total system price and system coverage. Take for example a garage floor epoxy, 100% solids that we advertise at 130 Sq. Ft. per gallon. A competitor can advertise that same epoxy kit at 200 Sq. Ft. per gallon under their own label. So their system is much less expensive for the ‘same product’
Let me ask you a question: How many square feet will a gallon of water cover? We’ll it depends on deep it is, right? The same is true with epoxy products. This is a little bit of a simplification, but it will get you on the right track.
Theoretical Coverage = 1604 Sq. Ft.
A lot of garage floor epoxy products, if they state it, or even if they do not state it, use that number. Well, so what? What does that mean? That means if you could somehow manage to spread the epoxy at 1 mil (1/1000th of an Inch) thick, with 0 waste and nothing soaking in, you could cover 1604 Sq. Ft.
What does that have to do with your floor? Well, if someone is telling you that you are going to get 200 Sq. Ft. / Gallon of coverage, they are selling you a system that is about 8 Mils thick. If we tell you that same system will cover 130 Sq. Ft. you end up with a system that is closer to 12 Mils — or about 1/3rd thicker. Again, none of that accounts for the epoxy you don’t get out of your can or that sticks to your rollers, your trays, etc.
Now of course depending on the formulation, you have to be careful how thick or how thin the product is put on. If you put it on to thick, you are going to have issues. The same is true if you put it on to thin.
Now what if the product is only 70% solids? You take the 12 Mils you thought you had and you multiply it by .7 because 30% of the product you used was solvents or water and is going to evaporate out.
There are a lot of things that can done with epoxy to make it more or less expensive. We all throw out coverage areas and the more coverage we tell you, the thinner your floor. Its that simple.
