The EpoxyTimes Learning Center
Everything here is written to one standard: you should learn something a contractor selling you a floor would not tell you. No coating gets pitched as the answer to everything, every recommendation carries its honest drawback, and every guide is reviewed by a flooring contractor with roughly 25 years in the trade. If a page could have been written by someone who has never stood on a slab, it does not belong here.
Reviewed by Nick Shushan, founder. Last updated: August 31, 2026.
Start with what you actually came to work out.
Coatings: which system, and why
The coating you pick sets the price, the lifespan, and how the floor ages. This section explains each system in plain English, names what it is genuinely good at, and names what it is not, so you can hold your own with a salesperson.
Start with epoxy versus polyaspartic, the decision most people are actually trying to make, which includes the hybrid system most searchers do not know exists. Then read the honest polyaspartic guide, the one that admits the short pot life and the higher cost. The full section lives at the coatings hub.
Cost: what it really runs
If you came for a number, the cost guides are built from real installed jobs, not national averages, and they explain the one thing that moves your price most, which is prep. See how much epoxy flooring costs, the garage cost breakdown, and the basement cost guide that leads with the moisture test. Or price your own floor in about a minute.
Lifespan and problems
The guides that catch a floor after it has already failed, or before you buy one that will. How long an epoxy floor actually lasts explains why the same coating lasts three years or fifteen depending on eight hours of prep. And the one every honest floor site owes its readers, the real disadvantages of epoxy, including who should skip it entirely and what to pick instead.
Quick answers
Short, straight answers to the questions people ask most, each built around a diagram or table rather than a wall of text:
- How long does epoxy take to dry? and when can you park on it?
- Is epoxy toxic?, is it food safe?, and is it slippery when wet?
- Is epoxy waterproof? and does it scratch?
- Can you epoxy over tile?, over painted concrete?, and how to remove epoxy from concrete
Spaces, DIY, and countertops
Deeper sections are being built out: space-by-space guides for garages, basements, patios, and commercial floors; honest DIY guides on when a kit is a reasonable call and when it is not; and countertop coatings. As each guide publishes it links from here, and each carries the same standard as the rest of the site.
How to use this section
- Deciding on a system? Start with the coatings section and the epoxy versus polyaspartic guide.
- Pricing a project? Start with the cost guides and the calculator.
- Already have a floor with a problem? Start with the lifespan and problems guides.
- Hiring someone? Read the guide, then compare verified crews in the installer directory, and have your quote checked before you sign.
Everything on the site is priced from one rate card and reviewed against real data. How that works, and how we verify installers, is on the methodology page.
How this page is maintained
Written and reviewed by Nick Shushan, founder of EpoxyTimes, a flooring contractor with roughly 25 years in the trade, most of it in hardwood in New York, working in epoxy since 2019. Last updated August 31, 2026.