I tried to order 10 litre pots, but was told that 5 litres would be more suitable. It wasn’t because I needed a small amount, but because the paint dries so quickly, that you don’t want to have too much ready at any one time.
We got a small team together, with one chap opening and mixing the paint and the others ready in a line across the floor. Once the water-based epoxy paint is mixed with the activator or hardener, there’s about 15 minutes to paint it on. According to Resincoat, who supply the paint, there’s been a recent breakthrough, which means the hardener is made from cashew nut oil, which has excellent qualities of water and moisture resistance.
When we opened the sample pot it was pillar box red, so I was surprised that we managed to get a mottled terracotta look. It took a bit of experimentation. First, I decided to mix 1 pot of paint colour with 3 pots of clear – and then we painted that directly onto the concrete floor, with no undercoat. My idea was to be able to see the patina of the floor through the paint.
I think it worked brilliantly. And Resincoat were so impressed with the result that they’ve written their own blog about it. Luckily for me they also agreed to take back lots of pots that we’d over ordered – it was difficult to know how much would be needed. I certainly didn’t want to throw away the excess.
