# Epoxy flooring over plywood?



## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Has anyone ever put epoxy flooring over plywood?

I need to put a waterproof, or as close as possible, floor in a house and it looks like a poured epoxy floor would be just the ticket. Almost everything I have read talks about putting it over concrete. 

I have a some emails out to suppliers about it but I'd really like some first hand info.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Read Moonriver's thread in HQ about the problems he's having with epoxy cabinets and you may change your mind

Linoleum and vinyl are also waterproof and easier to install


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

See slide 21

http://www.slideshare.net/AkisApostolopoulos/seven-reasons-why-epoxy-floors-fail

WWW


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Read Moonriver's thread in HQ about the problems he's having with epoxy cabinets and you may change your mind
> 
> Linoleum and vinyl are also waterproof and easier to install


I've dealt with both and I'd have to disagree with you about the easier to install if the epoxy is truly just a roll it on process.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

wy_white_wolf said:


> See slide 21
> 
> http://www.slideshare.net/AkisApostolopoulos/seven-reasons-why-epoxy-floors-fail
> 
> WWW


Funny that says one of the reasons the floors fail is moisture and the flooring I'm looking at says the base coat needs to be installed on a wet floor.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

IF moisture comes up through a concrete floor it will seperate from the concrete. The hard part of using it is cleanup, putting it down is easy. As shown will not work on wood, wood moves and the epoxy cracks, it is like egg shell. Tough when on something solid, cracks if any movement. We did it on an old shop floor that was used as my office and a hallway at the city, really liked it but had a couple places in the hallway we had to redo. Lots of traffic everyday It took 3 guys 4 days to get it clean enough. Looked very nice. Having a wet floor when installed is part of the process for epoxy, it gets warm from the reaction with water....James


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

watcher said:


> Funny that says one of the reasons the floors fail is moisture and the flooring I'm looking at says the base coat needs to be installed on a wet floor.


Many Epoxies need moisture to cure just like concrete. But after they are cured the moisture will break down the bond between it and the subsurface. Unless the epoxy is meant for wood it will have different expansion and contraction rates as wood when humidity and temperature change.

WWW


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## Basement (Apr 16, 2020)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Read Moonriver's thread in HQ about the problems he's having with epoxy cabinets and you may change your mind
> 
> Linoleum and vinyl are also waterproof and easier to install



Transform your concrete floors into beautiful rustic concrete floors designed to look and feel like real hardwood. Not only do these floors look amazing, they are also low maintenance, incredibly durable, and cost effective.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

If plywood is for sure going to be the finished floor, I'd save the money and just put a couple good coats of paint on it.


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

They've been perfecting 'Porch Paint' for hundreds of years - proper prior preparation; use one manufacturers product line for two/three coats Primer and two/three coats paint... beware the fine print as to cure time versus temperature, a while back I'd latched onto to a gallon of porch paint that at the cool autumn temperatures I'd be painting they said it'd be 100+ days to cure.

Attached is a photo of an $80 sheet of marine-grade plywood that got Vinyl Ester Epoxy sealed, the VE stuff does not wick moisture compared to polyester resin, the sheet got two soakings w/ xylene thinned epoxy and three poured and brushed level finish coats, and coated until rejection on cut edges.. and the wood was too 'alive', too much movement and the coating was failing within 3 or 4 years so all in all a waste of $150 and a lot of time. The other plywoods those top layers lie on are the 45-year-old factory sheets, so good to be rid of them as they'd trapped nasty odors and had soft spots in all the wrong places.

This was weather protected and installed as the rear sheet of flooring on my Airstream trailer project before I committed to a full rehab, next set of floor sheets got porch paint and are doing famously.

Once the floor is protected (both sides) then maybe go with faux marbling or hand painted woodgrain


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## 012345 (6 mo ago)

If you put Epoxy that is meant for concrete floors on Plywood it will crack, water and moister will seep through the cracks and the plywood will mold and rot. Wood has to breath. If it gets moist it can dry and no harm. But if it gets moist and the moisture is trapped (under an epoxy coating) it will rot. So, the answer is "sure you can do it but it will be a disaster long term".


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

The spammer bells are ringing in my head. Several posts all saying they saw the products on this site but no pictures of said products are on this site.


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## badehof (1 mo ago)

Zoomyn said:


> They've been perfecting 'Porch Paint' for hundreds of years - proper prior preparation; use one manufacturers product line for two/three coats Primer and two/three coats paint... beware the fine print as to cure time versus temperature, a while back I'd latched onto to a gallon of porch paint that at the cool autumn temperatures I'd be painting they said it'd be 100+ days to cure.
> 
> Attached is a photo of an $80 sheet of marine-grade plywood that got Vinyl Ester Epoxy sealed, the VE stuff does not wick moisture compared to polyester resin, the sheet got two soakings w/ xylene thinned epoxy and three poured and brushed level finish coats, and coated until rejection on cut edges.. and the wood was too 'alive', too much movement and the coating was failing within 3 or 4 years so all in all a waste of $150 and a lot of time. The other plywoods those top layers lie on are the 45-year-old factory sheets, so good to be rid of them as they'd trapped nasty odors and had soft spots in all the wrong places.
> 
> ...


I want to build a 18x32 Tuffshed but not a concrete pad. Is it possible to use one of the epoxy floor coverings over a plywood floor? I really like the looks and convenience of the good looking epoxy floors I see on this site but don't know if possible w/plywood. Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

badehof said:


> possible to use one of the epoxy floor coverings over a plywood floor?


I can't tell where you live - local weather would have a lot to do with it - as a top coat to previously mentioned porch paint system? YES...

Distance off the earth matters, as well as venting, to keep plywood just so so with moisture content - with protections built in undersides let the bare wood normalize up top a couple seasons then do bonding primer and top coat with anything - that worked well on a '72 Airstream I have, the secret me thinks is letting plywood reach its final moisture content level, all the grain quiet from wiggly water swelling before topping with hard top coat...


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## badehof (1 mo ago)

Zoomyn said:


> I can't tell where you live - local weather would have a lot to do with it - as a top coat to previously mentioned porch paint system? YES...
> 
> Distance off the earth matters, as well as venting, to keep plywood just so so with moisture content - with protections built in undersides let the bare wood normalize up top a couple seasons then do bonding primer and top coat with anything - that worked well on a '72 Airstream I have, the secret me thinks is letting plywood reach its final moisture content level, all the grain quiet from wiggly water swelling before topping with hard top coat...
> 
> ...


thank you so much for your suggestion


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