A floor that is meant to be looked at
Metallic works hardest where people are actually looking at the floor. Inside the home that usually means an entry, a living area, a bar or games room, a home office or a studio. In commercial work it sits nicely in a showroom, a reception, a salon, a boutique retail floor, or anywhere a customer walks in and forms an impression in the first few seconds.
It can absolutely go into a garage, and plenty of people do exactly that, particularly when the garage is a display space for a car collection rather than where the mower and the recycling bins live. The floors where metallic works least well are the ones with poor light. The finish depends on how light moves across the swirl, so in a dim room with one small window a lot of what makes it worth doing simply does not show up.
Get a Free QuoteWhat makes a metallic floor different
A metallic epoxy floor gets its look from pigment moving through wet resin. The pigment is a very fine metallic powder mixed into a clear or tinted epoxy, and when that mix is poured out and worked across the floor, the pigment drifts, gathers and separates as the resin spreads and settles. What you end up with is depth and movement rather than a flat block of colour.
The important part is that the pattern is made by the material itself. It is not printed on and it is not applied with a stencil. The installer influences it by how the resin is poured, how it is spread, how it is worked with a roller or a trowel, and how much time it is given before it sets. Beyond that, the resin does what it does.
That is why a metallic floor is genuinely one off. Two floors poured with the same pigment, in the same room, on the same day, will not match each other. For most people that is the appeal. It is also worth being clear eyed about before you commit, because you are choosing a look and a technique rather than a specific pattern you have already seen.
The pigment is only half the decision
A metallic floor is two choices, not one. You choose the metallic pigment, and you choose the base coat colour it moves over. The base is not a background you never see. It shows through wherever the pigment thins out and separates, so it sets the depth and the contrast of the whole floor. The same pigment over a white base and over a black base are not variations on a theme, they are two different floors.
Pigment names on their own tell you very little, so these are pairings from floors that have already been laid.
- Sapphire Blue on White: the blue holds its colour and the white base keeps the lighter veins open, so the floor reads bright and oceanic rather than dark and heavy.
- Silver Pearl on Charcoal: the most requested pairing we do, and the one most people mean when they say they want a metallic floor. Soft grey movement over a dark ground.
- Silver Pearl on Black: the same pigment with the contrast pushed hard, so the silver reads like light on water and the dark areas go genuinely dark.
- Liquid Gold on Black: warm, high contrast and unapologetic. It belongs in a room that is meant to be noticed.
- Gun Metal on Charcoal: quiet and tonal, the two sitting close together in value, for movement in the floor without the floor being the loudest thing in the room.
- Ash Grey on Charcoal: a restrained grey on grey that sits comfortably under most joinery and wall colours.
The twelve metallic pigments
These are the pigments we work with, plus Gun Metal and Mercury Sun which appear on jobs but not on the chart. Remember the base coat underneath does half the work, so pick the pairing rather than the pigment on its own.
All 76 colours we work with, including these twelve pigments and the base coats they sit on, are set out on the epoxy flooring colours page.
Every floor is a one off, and it cannot be copied
This is worth saying plainly, because it comes up in every conversation. You cannot order a specific metallic pattern. You can choose the pigment colours, you can talk about whether you want a calm, cloudy effect or something with strong contrast and movement, and you can look at photos of previous work to set a direction. What you cannot do is point at a photo and ask for that exact floor, because that floor was made by resin behaving the way resin behaved in that room on that day.
If a section ever needs repair down the track, the same limitation applies. A patch will not blend invisibly into the surrounding swirl the way a patch in a flake floor can, because there is no repeating pattern for it to disappear into. Repairs in a metallic floor tend to mean recoating a full area rather than spot fixing.
None of that is a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to go in with your eyes open. People who love metallic floors love them precisely because nobody else has that floor.
Being straight with you about metallic versus flake
Metallic is a design choice first. It is chosen for how it looks, and it looks genuinely impressive in the right room. Flake is the more forgiving surface in a working space. The texture gives grip, the pattern hides scuffs, dust and hairline marks in the slab, and a repair blends into the pattern far more easily.
In a garage that is doing garage things, with bikes, tools, bins, a workbench and a car coming in wet twice a week, flake is very often the smarter call, and we will say so rather than sell you the fancier option. Where metallic earns its place is a space you are proud of and want people to notice.
It is smoother than flake, so think about grip
A metallic floor is finished smooth. There is no broadcast chip giving the surface a profile, so the topcoat sits flat and often quite glossy. That is exactly what makes the pattern read properly, and it is also the trade off. A smooth, glossy resin floor can be slippery when wet. In a living room or a showroom that is rarely an issue. In a garage where wet tyres come in off the street, near an external door, or on anything with a slope, it deserves proper thought. Anti slip additives can be worked into the topcoat, though a heavy additive will soften the gloss a little.
Looking after it
Sweep or dust mop regularly, because loose grit is what marks a gloss surface. Mop with warm water and a mild cleaner and avoid harsh solvents. Felt pads under furniture legs save a lot of annoyance. Over a long stretch of use a gloss topcoat loses a little of its edge in the busiest lanes, which is usually dealt with by scuffing back and recoating the top layer, leaving the pigment layer underneath alone.
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Tell us the room and how much light it gets, and we will talk you through what suits.
0468 333 881sales@evoepoxy.com.auWe work out of Kellyville and cover Castle Hill, Kellyville Ridge, Bella Vista, Norwest, Baulkham Hills, Rouse Hill, Beaumont Hills, Glenhaven, Dural, Kenthurst, Box Hill, Stanhope Gardens, Glenwood, Parklea, The Ponds, Schofields, Winston Hills, Seven Hills, Northmead and Marsden Park.
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Free on-site assessment and a fixed written quote. We will tell you honestly if flake is the better call.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose the exact pattern?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is stretching it. You choose the pigment colours and the general character, calm and cloudy or high contrast with strong movement, and the resin creates the pattern as it settles. That is what makes each floor unique.
Is a metallic floor slippery?
It is smoother than a flake floor, and any smooth glossy surface has less grip when wet. In a dry interior that is rarely a problem. In a garage, near an external door, or on a sloped surface, an anti slip additive in the topcoat is the sensible answer, and we will raise it with you rather than wait to be asked.
Will it scratch?
It can be marked, the same as any coated floor. Grit under a shoe or a trolley wheel is the usual culprit, and marks show up more on a smooth gloss surface than on a textured one. Regular sweeping and pads under furniture legs deal with most of it.
How long before I can use the room again?
As a general guide rather than a fixed promise, the polyaspartic topcoats we prefer take light foot traffic in around five to six hours and light vehicle traffic in around twenty four hours, and reach full chemical cure between three and seven days depending on the system. Evo’s working figure is 72 hours before a floor goes back into normal use. Weather, temperature, the slab and the system all shift those numbers, so Kian confirms the actual dates once he has seen the floor.
Can you do a metallic floor over an existing garage slab?
Usually, yes. The slab is ground back, cracks and chips are filled, and any oil contamination has to be dealt with before anything is poured. Because a metallic finish is smooth, imperfections in the slab telegraph through more than they do under flake, so the preparation matters even more on this one.
Evo Epoxy Flooring
2 Affleck Cct, Kellyville NSW 2155
Servicing the Hills District & North West Sydney