We’re often asked about the price or cost of painting/coating a factory floor. There’s no doubt you are looking for answers to this question too, which is why you’re about to read on.

Most people immediately think of coating their whole floor of their industrial facility with a 2 pack epoxy as an expensive thing to do.

In a lot of ways this is correct, but there are ways you can reduce the price and then there are factors that can increase the price.

Here’s what we will cover in this article to give you an idea on price:

• The process of having your concrete floor coated
• Variables that increase or decrease the price of floor coating
• Approximate prices for different applications/products

 

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF COATING/PAINTING A CONCRETE FLOOR?

Before we get into the variables that can increase and decrease the price, you must first understand what is involved in having your factory or warehouse floor coated.

Step 1 – The first thing that must be done before applying any coating to a concrete floor is the preparation. 9 times out of 10 the preparation that is required before applying 2 pack coatings is diamond grinding the concrete. Sometimes – and only sometimes – the concrete can just be cleaned prior to applying the coating.

Preparation is very important as it provides the abrasion to ensure that the paint/coating will stick to the surface. Diamond grinding also helps flatten the surface if it is a little uneven.

This step can take hours to complete depending on the size of the area.

Also included in preparation is repairing any cracks or damage to the existing concrete.

Step 2 – Next the floor must be cleaned prior to applying the first coat. This is done mostly by an industrial vacuum cleaner to remove any dust left on the floor from the grinding and preparation.

Step 3 – After the previous 2 steps are complete the application of the coating can start. This is mostly done by brush and roller and can take hours per coat. And depending on the system and product that is being applied 1 coat can normally only be applied per day.

This means that we must go backwards and forwards to site for multiple days in a row. E.g. a 3 coat system could take 3 days to complete including preparation.

Now that you understand the process of coating your floor, we can look at the price variables.

 

 

WHAT ARE THE VARIABLES OF COATING/PAINTING A CONCRETE FLOOR?

You’re keen to find out prices by now, but there are lots of things that increase and/or decrease the price, so let’s dive straight in and look at them. There is 9 of them!

1. Size – square metres to be coated. This is the biggest variable and the price per square metre can sometimes increase when it is a smaller area. Seems odd I know, but this is because of the process as outlined earlier, so no matter the size we must go through this process.
2. Condition of existing concrete – the concrete is what the coating adheres to so it has to be right to ensure longevity. An old concrete slab that is cracked and damaged over years of use will increase the price due to the extra preparation that is likely to be required. You can choose whether to repair these defects, but we normally recommend it for the best outcome. On the other hand, a new concrete slab will have less preparation required and therefore be cheaper in price.
3. Location – if you are located near one of our installers locations across the country there is less travel required and therefore less cost for us to come and apply your floor. If you are further away (normally more than 2 hours drive) we will require overnight accommodation this will obviously increase our cost and the price to you.
4. Product – this is a big one because a lot of companies won’t even tell you what product they are putting down. We are transparent about this and therefore you can see what the cost of that is. Different products can be applied to achieve different outcomes, and these are different price points. For example, a high or 100% solids epoxy is often about twice the price of a water-based epoxy.
5. Colour – yep that’s right, the colour can increase the price of your industrial floor coating. This is because some darker colours require more pigment to make the colour and therefore increase the price of the raw materials. While we are talking about colour, if you choose multiple colours for different areas, this will also increase the price. This is because it will add additional time marking, measuring and coating those areas in different colours.
6. Number of coats – the number of coats will vary the price due to there being more product and time involved in applying more coats, so more cost. The ideal number of coats is 3 – primer, build and topcoat. You can reduce this to 1 or 2 coats if you are coating over an existing coated floor or you can increase the number of coats to increase the life of it.
7. Open area or items to go around – as you can probably imagine, when we are preparing and applying a floor coating, if the area has items such as machines or racking to go around, this will increase the time it takes to complete and therefore will increase the overall price. For the best price, have the areas as open as possible.
8. Joints – most concrete slabs have joints in them to prevent cracking. When doing a coating on the floor a lot of companies choose to fill the joints to prevent a build up of dirt in them and remove the potential wheels getting caught in them. If you choose to have them filled, this will increase the cost. There is a couple of different products you can use, but it is likely to be an increase of $10-$20 per lineal metre.
9. Line markings – a lot of companies choose to line mark their floor at the same time as coating it. This is a good idea, because it means that it could be done in a 2 pack product, which is a good option. Like joints the price can vary depending on what product you choose for line marking, but this can increase the overall price by $5-$15 per lineal metre.

 

RATES & PRICES

Now that you understand the process and the variables, to give you some idea on pricing, we are going to talk hypothetical for a bit.

Let’s say you’ve got a 500 square metre factory floor that is new, with nothing inside and located in Brisbane metro area. You want all one colour and want it to last at least 5 years and not wear out in that time.

Price for all the preparation could look like this = $7500 ($15/m2)

Price for a 3 coat 2 pack epoxy product application could look like this = $12500 ($25/m2)

Because it’s in Brisbane metro we don’t need to charge extra for location.

You have 50Lm of joints you want filled with the best product = $1000 ($20/Lm)

You have 100Lm of line marking you want applied with the best product = $1500 ($15/Lm)

Total price would be $22,500. This is a guide, and the price is only hypothetical.

But to give you an example of how this can change dramatically, let’s say it’s the same size and location but an old floor that is covered in cracks and needs lots of repair work done to it.

Preparation price could increase to $10000 ($20/m2)

Product application would increase slightly due to the likelihood of more product needed = $13500 ($27/m2)

So, you can see how much it is likely to change just based on the age and conditions of the existing concrete.

When we start looking at larger floor areas like 1500m2 plus, this is when the price per square metre can start to reduce. The reason being that we are going to be there anyway and sometimes we can prepare, and coat double the floor area in the same time without increasing our base costs much at all.

If we use the first example but just double the floor area to 1000m2, the total could work out to be only $32500.

Only a $10000 increase for twice the amount of area! Not double the price.

So, to give you an exact price for your specific job, we do need to provide you a firm quote/proposal.

 

We’d love to see if we can help you with this, so drop us an email at enquiries@cotewell.ekaasolutions.com.au or fill out a fast quote request and we will respond within 2 business hours.