The new metallic floor in Steven Paul Salon & Studios dazzles clients with its rich mocha-like finish combining a black base and coffee-colored metallic pigments.
The floor’s dramatic two-tone finish was achieved by broadcasting a solvent on the floor after the metallic epoxy was applied.
Before resurfacing, a portion of the salon floor was grouted Saltillo tile, which was difficult to clean and maintain.
Instead of removing the tile, the crew covered it with epoxy mortar to fill in the grout lines and provide a smooth, level surface.
The floor surface was first covered with a black epoxy basecoat to provide a backdrop for the metallic coffee pigment.
The metallic epoxy was applied to the black base coat while still wet, and then a solvent was broadcast over the entire surface to achieve the mottled finish.
A polyaspartic topcoat treated with a nonskid aluminum oxide provides slip resistance.
Steven Paul Salon & Studios in Scottsdale, Ariz., likes to pamper its clients by giving them a spa-like experience in an upscale environment. Housed in one of Old Town Scottsdale’s vintage architectural buildings, the salon needed to replace the existing floor - a combination of Mexican Saltillo tile and old epoxy - with a more unified, seamless surface that would enhance the elegant surroundings.
“The client's goals were to replace their existing floor with an aesthetically pleasing surface that would also be easy to clean,” says Bryan Mercado, general manager of A Seamless Floor Company, which specializes in decorative concrete overlays and designer epoxy floors. “Our solution was to install an intricate metallic epoxy floor that would meet their design needs and provide an elegant, nonslip surface with easy cleanability and exceptional abrasion resistance and gloss retention.”
To achieve a luxurious two-tone finish, Mercado chose a metallic epoxy system using a solid black color as a base and, while wet, pouring a coffee metallic over the black epoxy and broadcasting solvent over the entire application. One of the challenges was to find a way to apply the metallic epoxy over the Saltillo tile and old epoxy without removal, so the project could be completed in stages with minimal downtime.
“We decided to resurface the 2,500 square feet of Saltillo tile with an epoxy mortar system that would allow us to apply our designer flooring over the top,” says Mercado. For the epoxy portion of the floor, Mercado used a special floor-scrubber-mounted surface prep system using diamond grit inserts to mechanically profile the surface and pinpoint any weak spots, which he then filled with an epoxy patching material. Before applying the metallic coating, the installation crew primed the prepared floor surfaces with a water-based epoxy and then applied a polyaspartic topcoat treated with a nonskid aluminum oxide to provide slip resistance.
Mercado says the clients are pleased with the look of their chic new floor and the ease of maintenance, which simply involves daily sweeping and weekly cleaning with a neutral cleaning product. “We strive to increase the value people find in decorative concrete and resinous floor systems. We believe good work will spread awareness of the benefits these floors offer when compared to the conventional alternatives such as carpet, tile, and wood,” he says.
Materials and equipment used
Surface preparation equipment: Diamabrush floor prep system from Malish
Floor primer: Epoxy 100 two-component water-based epoxy from Arizona Polymer Flooring
Topcoat: Elite Crete polyaspartic coating
Epoxy floor system: Epoxy 400 low-viscosity, 100% solids resin system from Arizona Polymer
Metallic pigment: Elite Crete Reflector Enhancer (coffee)
Floor sealer: Starbrite 25, from Farwest Supply