How to Install a Metallic Epoxy Floor Kit: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

A metallic epoxy floor kit is not a paint job. It is a two-part coating system that you mix, pour, and spread on a clock — and almost every metallic floor that fails does so for reasons that were decided before any pigment came out of the jar.

This guide is the install process, start to finish, using McKinnon's own published instructions. It does not cover what a metallic floor is, which colours we stock, or what one costs — all of that lives on the Metallic Epoxy Floor Kits page. This is the part that happens on your knees.

What you are actually mixing

A metallic floor is a clear epoxy binder carrying a metallic pigment. In McKinnon's system that means:

• Industrial Floor Epoxy Clear — the 100% solids, zero-VOC binder. It mixes 3 parts A to 1 part B by volume.
• Aurora Dust metallic pigment — the mica powder that creates the movement. Particle size runs 5 to 100 microns, and it is 100% solids and zero VOC.
• A primer, where the slab needs one — see the moisture step below.
• A topcoat, which is what you will actually be walking on.
• Tools — a notched squeegee, a lint-free roller, spiked shoes, mixing containers and a drill paddle.

You can see the full component list on the Metallic Floor Epoxy collection. The rest of this guide assumes you have those in the room and the room is between 65 and 90°F.

Step 1: test the slab before you buy anything

This is the step people skip, and it is the one that decides whether the floor lasts. McKinnon's instruction sheet is blunt about it: proper prep is critical, and skipping it will cause adhesion failure.

Two tests, both free:

• Is there already a sealer on it? Drip water on the floor. If it beads instead of soaking in, something is already sealing that concrete and it has to come off before anything else happens.
• Is the slab passing moisture? Tape a 2' x 2' sheet of plastic to the concrete and leave it 24 hours. Heavy condensation underneath signals a moisture problem that can cause epoxy to fail. A general moisture meter is worth using if you are unsure.

If the plastic comes up wet, do not start the floor. Vapour coming up through a slab will push a coating off from underneath months later, and no amount of surface prep fixes it. That is what the primer step exists for.

Step 2: clean, degrease and repair

Sweep and vacuum all debris, then scrub oil and grime with a heavy-duty degreaser or TSP. Pressure-rinse and let the slab dry completely — the instruction sheet allows 24 to 48 hours for that, and in humid weather it takes the longer end.

Then deal with the damage: clear loose material out of cracks and pits, fill them with a two-part epoxy crack filler or patch, and sand the repairs flush once they have cured. A pit you skip is a pit you will see through a gloss coating for the life of the floor.

Step 3: profile the concrete

The target is a clean, sound surface with a texture profile similar to 80-grit sandpaper. There are two ways to get there.

Diamond grinding is the most effective method. Grind to a uniform "salt and pepper" texture that feels like coarse sandpaper, and use a hand grinder to get the edges and corners the walk-behind cannot reach.

Acid etching is an alternative for new, unsealed concrete only. Scrub a muriatic acid and water solution until the fizzing stops, then neutralise before you wash it down — mix 1 lb of baking soda into 5 gallons of water and sprinkle it over the floor. Rinse, then let it dry 2 to 3 days. That drying time is not optional; etching soaks the slab.

Whichever route you take, finish the same way: vacuum all the fine dust, then wipe the floor with an acetone-dampened rag immediately before you coat. Grinding dust left on the slab is a bond breaker.

Step 4: decide about the control joints now, not later

Look at the garage floor above. The metallic effect is doing exactly what it should — but you can still read every saw-cut control joint running across it. That is not a defect. It is what happens when you coat straight over a joint, and it is a choice you make before you pour, not after.

The repair guidance above covers cracks and pits. Control joints are a different question, because they were cut into the slab deliberately to control where it cracks. Filling one changes how that slab behaves. If you are unsure what your joints are doing, ask before you fill them — our number is at the bottom of this page.

Step 5: prime the slab

After prep, McKinnon recommends priming with a moisture vapour barrier to reduce vapour transmission and protect the finish system. The guidelines below are for MVB Fast Cure; the full specifications are in its technical data sheet.

• Mix 2 parts A to 1 part B by volume. Mix for 3 minutes, sweeping the sides and the bottom of the container as you go — unmixed resin clinging to the wall of a bucket is a soft spot in the floor.
• Apply by pouring in 12" ribbons and squeegeeing at 100 sq. ft. per gallon. Back-roll with a lint-free 3/16" roller while wearing spiked shoes. Do not exceed 100 sq. ft. per gallon.
• Temperature between 50 and 90°F.
• Timing at 73°F: 15 minute pot life, 25 minute work time, 4 to 6 hour cure, and a recoat window of 4 to 12 hours.

That recoat window matters more than it looks. Hit it and the next coat chemically bonds. Miss it and you have to lightly sand the primer and wipe it with denatured alcohol or acetone before coating — an extra half-day you did not budget for.

Step 6: mix the metallic coat

The binder mixes 3 parts A to 1 part B by volume. The pigment goes in after: one 4 oz container of Aurora Dust is sized for 1 gallon to 1.5 gallons of clear binder, depending on how opaque you want the result. Less binder per jar reads denser and more saturated; more binder reads sheerer and lets more of the base show through.

The discipline that matters here is batch size. The instruction sheet gives a 20 to 30 minute work time at 73°F, and it says plainly: mix only what you can spread within it. Warmer than 73°F and that window gets shorter, because epoxy generates its own heat as it reacts and a full bucket sitting still will cook itself. Mix a batch, get it on the floor, mix the next one.

Step 7: pour and spread

Pour the mixed material straight onto the floor immediately after mixing and spread it evenly with a notched squeegee. Apply between 65 and 90°F.

Film thickness is the number to hold. McKinnon's instruction sheet gives these builds:

System	Thickness
Residential chip floor	10–15 mils
Residential metallic floor	20–25 mils
Industrial tinted epoxy floor	20–35 mils

A metallic floor is a thicker build than a chip floor, and that is deliberate — the depth is what lets the pigment separate and move. Spread it thin and you lose the effect you paid for.

Now the honest part. The pattern itself — the veins, the clouding, the way one colour breaks through another — is not something a spec sheet can hand you. McKinnon's own tech data says it directly: random patterns depend on the creativity and experience of the installer, and no two floors will ever be exactly alike. There is no published McKinnon procedure that produces a particular pattern, and we are not going to invent one here.

What that means practically: your first metallic floor will not look like the photograph that made you want one. Practise on a sample board with the same pigment and the same binder before you commit a room to it. There is an Aurora Dust training video on the system page, and McKinnon runs hands-on installation classes for exactly this reason.

Step 8: cure, then topcoat

At 73°F the metallic coat is tack free in 8 to 10 hours and fully cured in 7 days. The recoat window is a minimum of 10 to 12 hours; if you are recoating outside it, scuff lightly with up to 80 to 120 grit, wipe, and reapply. Clean your tools with xylene before the product gels — once it has, they are finished.

A metallic floor should not be left uncoated. The topcoat is what takes the abrasion and the UV, and McKinnon's options are all UV-stable and non-yellowing:

• Polyaspartic Clear Floor Coating — 85% solids, zero VOC, mixed 1:1 by volume and applied very thin at 2 to 8 mils. Walkable in as little as 6 to 10 hours depending on temperature, which is why it is the choice when the floor has to go back into service fast.
• 2-Part Water-Based Urethane — available in gloss or matte, with extremely low odour and a 30 to 45 minute work time at 75°F. It takes light traffic at 24 hours and heavy traffic at 72 hours.

Check the current technical data sheets for the topcoat you choose and follow its mix ratio and coverage — those differ between the two and they are not interchangeable.

The mistakes that actually ruin metallic floors

• Coating a slab that is passing moisture. The floor looks perfect for months and then lets go in sheets. Twenty-four hours and a piece of plastic would have caught it.
• Skipping the profile. Epoxy needs a mechanical key. A smooth, sealed or power-trowelled slab gives it nothing to hold.
• Mixing more than you can spread. Anything still in the bucket when the work time ends is scrap, and it will be hardening while you try to move it.
• Missing the recoat window. It converts a clean chemical bond into a sanding job.
• Working outside the temperature range. Cold slows the cure and cool concrete drags on the spread; heat shortens your work time without warning.
• Expecting to copy a photo. The pattern is a skill, not a setting.

Frequently asked questions

How thick should a metallic epoxy floor be?

McKinnon's instruction sheet specifies 20 to 25 mils for a residential metallic floor. That is a heavier build than a residential chip floor at 10 to 15 mils, because the extra depth is what allows the metallic pigment to separate and move.

What is the mix ratio for a metallic epoxy floor kit?

The Industrial Floor Epoxy Clear binder mixes 3 parts A to 1 part B by volume. Aurora Dust pigment is then added at one 4 oz container per 1 to 1.5 gallons of clear binder, depending on how opaque you want the finish.

Do I have to grind the concrete, or can I acid etch?

Diamond grinding is the most effective method and works on any sound slab. Acid etching is an alternative for new, unsealed concrete only — and it needs the acid neutralised with a baking soda solution, then 2 to 3 days of drying before you coat.

How long before I can walk on a metallic epoxy floor?

The metallic coat is tack free in 8 to 10 hours at 73°F and fully cured in 7 days. Return-to-service depends on the topcoat: polyaspartic is walkable in as little as 6 to 10 hours, while the water-based urethane takes light traffic at 24 hours and heavy traffic at 72 hours.

Will my control joints show through the finished floor?

If you coat straight over them, yes — saw-cut joints stay visible through the coating, as in the garage floor pictured above. Whether to fill a control joint is a slab question rather than a coating question, because those joints were cut to control where the concrete cracks. Ask before you fill them.

Can I install a metallic epoxy floor outdoors?

Aurora Dust is recommended for light industrial and commercial applications, offices and lobbies — interior spaces. Application temperature for the epoxy is 65 to 90°F, and cure times shift with temperature and humidity, so an uncontrolled environment makes the whole schedule unpredictable.

Why does my floor look nothing like the sample photo?

Because the pattern is created by the installer, not by the product. McKinnon's technical data states that random patterns depend on the creativity and experience of the installer and that no two floors will be exactly alike. Practise on a sample board first.

Before you open the first bucket

Every figure in this guide comes from McKinnon's published instructions and technical data sheets, and every one of them assumes a slab that was tested, cleaned and profiled properly. Coverage and cure times vary with concrete condition, temperature and humidity — test a small area first, always.

For colours, kit sizes and pricing, see the Metallic Epoxy Floor Kits page. If you want a second opinion on your slab before you commit, call us at 888-849-0588 or email info@mckinnonmaterials.com — a five-minute conversation about a moisture test is cheaper than a floor that has to come back up.