Epoxy Floor Coating Calculator: Litres, Kilograms and Kits

What it calculates

For an epoxy or PU floor coating, the calculator gives:

• the coating quantity in litres and kilograms, for the coats and thickness chosen;
• the number of kits to order, in litres or kilograms;
• the primer quantity and packs;
• the wet film per coat and the consumption per coat in kg/m², to compare with the product data sheet.

Inputs

Floor area is in square feet or square metres, as chosen in Area unit.

System chooses a thin roller-applied coat or a self-levelling coat. It fills starting figures for the coats, thickness, volume solids and density, all of which you can change.

Number of coats counts body coats only; the primer is separate.

Dry film or layer thickness per coat is in millimetres. Data sheets often give film thickness in microns: 150 µm is 0.15 mm.

The assumptions panel holds the volume solids, mixed density, an optional data-sheet consumption, primer coverage, kit and pack sizes and the wastage allowance.

Method

The core relation is that one square metre at 1 mm thickness is one litre:

1. Area in m² = sq ft × 0.0929.
2. Litres = area × dry thickness per coat × coats ÷ volume solids × (1 + wastage).
3. Kilograms = litres × mixed density.
4. Kits = litres (or kilograms) ÷ kit size, rounded up.
5. Primer = area ÷ primer coverage × (1 + wastage).

If a data-sheet consumption is entered, kilograms = area × consumption × coats × (1 + wastage), and litres = kilograms ÷ density.

Volume solids is measured to methods such as ISO 3233-1 and density to methods such as ISO 2811-1; the data sheet states the figure and method. Resin floor screeds are classified under EN 13813.

Assumptions

Limitations

• Surface preparation is not included. Grinding or shot-blasting, crack and joint repair, moisture testing and any levelling screed are separate items.
• Broadcast and filled systems such as sand-broadcast or quartz-filled floors use aggregate and resin in proportions the manufacturer sets; use its consumption figures.
• Porous or rough substrates take more primer and more of the first coat than a smooth floor. Raise the wastage or primer quantity accordingly.
• Skirting coves, upstands, drains and trenches add area that is not in a flat floor measurement.
• Performance is not checked. Thickness, chemical and abrasion resistance and slip resistance belong to the system specification, not to this calculation.

Worked example

A 1,000 sq ft floor with the thin-coat system: two coats of 0.15 mm dry at 80% volume solids, density 1.3 kg/L, 10 L kits, primer at 5 m² a litre in 10 L packs and 10% wastage:

The floor needs about 38.3 litres (49.8 kg) of coating in 4 kits, and 20.4 litres of primer. Each coat works out at about 0.244 kg/m², the figure to compare with the data sheet. Switching to the self-levelling system at 2 mm, 100% solids and 1.6 kg/L gives 204.39 litres, or 327.02 kg, for the same floor.

How engineers use it

On an industrial or commercial floor, the flooring specification names the system: primer, any scratch or levelling coat, body coats or self-levelling layer, broadcast and top coat, each with a thickness or consumption. Quantities are taken off for each layer from the manufacturer's figures for the substrate and finish, and the contractor plans kits so each mix can be laid within its working time.

When a professional design must replace it

Use the calculator to estimate material or check a supplier's quantities for a simple floor. Replace it with the manufacturer's or flooring designer's system specification before ordering, and wherever the floor carries forklifts or heavy loads, chemicals, hot washing, wet processes or food and pharmaceutical hygiene requirements, or sits on a slab with moisture or cracking problems. The system specification decides the build-up, not a rule of thumb.