How to start an epoxy flooring business
Learn the trade, get your license and insurance in order, rent or buy the right tools and land your first paid jobs. Practical steps from EPOXIDOVO, a flooring contractor that pours epoxy floors with its own crews.
How to start an epoxy flooring business in 7 steps
- Learn the whole job before you sell it, from testing and grinding the concrete to the final topcoat.
- Check which licenses your state, county and city require, and register your business.
- Talk to an insurance agent about general liability insurance before your first paid job.
- Rent a floor grinder with a dust extractor for your first jobs and buy the hand tools you use on every floor.
- Pour your first floors in your own garage or for family and friends at material cost, in exchange for photos and a review.
- Price every job per square foot based on your real material use, labor and overhead, and send a written quote.
- Set up a Google Business Profile, ask every customer for a review and team up with garage door dealers and home builders.
Epoxy flooring business plan
Your first plan can fit on one page. Write down what you’ll offer (garage floors, solid color, flake, metallic), the area you’ll cover, how you price per square foot and where your leads will come from. Add what you rent, what you buy, and your license and insurance. The SBA’s guide to business plans shows what a full plan covers.
What equipment do you need for epoxy flooring?
The biggest one-time cost is a floor grinder with a dust extractor, and you can rent both for your first jobs. Grinding concrete creates crystalline silica dust, and OSHA’s silica rule for construction lists a dust collection system or a built-in water feed as the controls for floor grinders. The rest is hand tools: a low-speed mixing drill, a scale, squeegees, rollers, a spiked roller, spiked shoes and protective gear. Buy material job by job and build it into the quote.
Epoxy flooring training
When a coating peels, the cause is often under it: moisture in the slab or a surface that wasn’t prepared well. Our online epoxy flooring course starts there, with 8+ hours of video from our own jobs and 40+ lessons in two modules, from testing the concrete to pricing a job. A technician from our crew answers your questions in writing under each lesson, and the Standard package includes a check of your first job. Enrollment isn’t open yet, so join the waiting list on the course page.
Work with EPOXIDOVO on our contracts
EPOXIDOVO is a global general contractor, and we need flooring companies. After the final test you get our certificate, and with it you can work with us on our contracts. Work isn’t guaranteed for every graduate. We pick the best companies for our biggest jobs.
Questions about starting an epoxy flooring business
How much does it cost to start an epoxy flooring business?
It depends on what you rent and what you buy. The biggest one-time cost is a floor grinder with a dust extractor, and you can rent both for your first jobs. On top of that, you need hand tools, protective gear, a vehicle, license fees and insurance. You buy material job by job and build it into the quote, so you don’t need a stockpile of resin to start.
Do you need a license to do epoxy flooring?
It depends on where you work. Each state sets its own rules, and counties and cities often add their own. Some states require a contractor license once a job goes over a certain value, and others leave licensing to cities and counties. Check with your state licensing office and your city or county before you take a paid job. Our course certificate confirms your training, but it isn’t a state license.
Is epoxy flooring a good business?
It can be, if your floors last. You price per square foot, you know how much material each system uses, and every good floor can bring photos, reviews and referrals. The risk is the prep: one floor that peels costs you more in repairs and reputation than a job you turned down. The earnings calculator on our course page shows one job, based on our own prices.
How long does it take to learn epoxy flooring?
Our course has 8+ hours of video, and you go at your own pace. The skill comes from floors, not videos: pour sample boards or your own garage before your first paid job, and go back to the lessons when you hit a problem. Access doesn’t expire, and in the Standard package ($795) we also check your first job.
Can I start an epoxy flooring business with no experience?
Yes, if you learn the prep before you pour. Our course starts with the substrate and the materials, and every step is filmed up close on a real job. Start with garages, workshops and smaller interiors, and take on decorative floors once you have a few clean jobs behind you.
What insurance do you need for an epoxy flooring business?
Talk to an insurance agent about general liability insurance before your first paid job. Ask about coverage for your tools and your vehicle too. Once you hire, ask about workers’ compensation, because each state sets its own rules for it.