Resin flooring and resin screed
Seamless resin flooring systems for commercial and industrial floors — selected around traffic and loading, chemical exposure, substrate condition, programme and the finish the space actually needs. Screeding.com works across London and the Home Counties, and considers larger projects further afield.
Smaller, straightforward screeding work? Get an indicative estimate
Based in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.
- Commercial & industrial
- Refurbishment & fit-out
- New-build commercial
- Heavy-duty systems
- Substrate preparation reviewed as part of the package
Resin flooring is a system, not a single product.
Synthetic resin flooring covers chemically curing systems applied to a prepared substrate. FeRFA, the resin flooring association whose guidance underpins BS 8204-6, the UK code of practice for synthetic resin flooring, describes eight broad types running from thin seals and coatings through self-smoothing floors to resin screeds and heavy-duty industrial systems.
Chemistry
Epoxy, polyurethane, PMMA and hybrid resins each behave differently under heat, impact, chemicals and UV. Epoxy is the term most people search for, but not every resin floor is an epoxy floor.
Form and thickness
The same chemistry can be applied as a thin coating, a self-smoothing floor or a trowelled screed. Form and thickness are what usually decide whether a floor survives its duty.
Duty before colour
Selection starts with trafficking, loading and impact, chemical and thermal exposure, hygiene, slip requirements and expected life. Colour and finish are chosen inside those constraints, not before them.
The specification governs
Classification types describe categories of system. Actual performance, thickness, priming and cure are governed by the selected proprietary system and its manufacturer's data.
Common resin flooring systems
The descriptions below are indicative categories used to frame a conversation. They are not performance figures, and they do not replace a proprietary system specification.
Floor seal or coating
Light to medium dutyThin applied films used to seal, dust-proof and brighten sound concrete. Quick to apply and economical, but they follow the substrate exactly and offer little to a floor that is worn, contaminated or subject to impact.
High-build epoxy coating
Medium dutyThicker coatings that give better wear resistance and cleanability than a thin seal, and are commonly considered for warehousing, back-of-house and light plant areas on a substrate in reasonable condition.
Self-smoothing resin floor
Medium to heavy dutyFlow-applied systems typically a few millimetres thick that produce a smooth, seamless finish and tolerate more traffic and impact. They need a properly prepared and usually primed substrate to seal porosity and avoid pinholing.
Resin screed or trowelled mortar
Medium to heavy dutyHeavily filled systems laid at greater thickness, generally chosen where impact, point loading or an uneven substrate rule out a thinner floor. Surface texture is more pronounced, which affects both slip resistance and cleaning.
Heavy-duty industrial resin floor
Heavy to very heavy dutyThick flowable or trowelled systems, often polyurethane-based, considered for production areas, food and wet processing, thermal shock and aggressive chemical exposure. Specification and installation conditions are tightly controlled.
Where resin flooring can fit
Suitability is judged per project. The environment, the duty and the condition of the existing floor decide whether resin is the right answer at all.
Industrial and warehousing
Storage, distribution and production floors where forklift traffic, point loading and abrasion drive the specification.
Plant rooms and workshops
Areas with oils, fuels or maintenance activity, where chemical resistance and cleanability matter more than appearance.
Commercial kitchens and food production
Possible where a properly specified hygienic system, drainage falls and coving detail are designed in from the start.
Retail and back-of-house
Circulation, storage and service areas where a seamless, easily cleaned floor is worth more than a jointed finish.
Car parks and garages
Considered only where the system suits the deck, movement, moisture and traffic conditions present.
Laboratories and technical spaces
Where chemical exposure, static-control or cleanroom requirements are properly specified rather than assumed.
Commercial refurbishment and fit-out
Existing floors brought back into use, where the condition of what is already down governs what can be applied over it.
The substrate matters more than the finish.
Concrete and cementitious sand and cement screed are the most common backgrounds for resin. Tiles, metal, asphalt and existing resin can sometimes be worked over, but only after assessment — nothing is assumed suitable.
Strength and soundness
A resin floor is only as good as what it is bonded to. Weak, friable or delaminating surface material has to be removed rather than covered, and the tensile and compressive requirements come from the system specification.
Laitance and contamination
Surface laitance, curing compounds, oils, greases, sugars and old adhesive residues all interfere with adhesion and are dealt with during preparation. See screed preparation before tiling for the same principles applied to tiled finishes.
Cracks, joints and repairs
Cracks are assessed for cause and movement before repair. Structural and movement joints should not simply be bridged by a rigid resin system; joint detailing follows the system and the project specification.
New screed and concrete
On new floors, curing, surface strength, laitance, DPM provision and moisture all need review before resin. A liquid screed and a traditional screed do not present the same surface, and programme should allow for that.
Flatness and falls
Thin systems follow the substrate profile closely. Where surface regularity or drainage falls are required, they are generally corrected in the substrate or in a thicker system rather than hoped for from a coating.
Existing finishes
Old coatings, tiles and screeds are assessed individually for bond, thickness, movement and compatibility. Removal is often the safer route on refurbishment work.
Surface preparation before resin flooring
FeRFA guidance is clear that correct preparation is essential to adhesion and to the working life of the system. Preparation is reviewed and delivered as part of the resin package rather than offered as a standalone service.
Mechanical preparation
Enclosed shot blasting, grinding or scarifying is used to open the surface and create a profile appropriate to the system thickness. The method is selected against the substrate, the contamination present and the site constraints.
Removal and repair
Weak or contaminated material and failed coatings are removed. Cracks, spalling, joints and local low areas are repaired with compatible materials before the system goes down.
Vacuuming and protection
Whatever preparation method is used, the floor is thoroughly vacuumed before resin is applied, and traffic should be kept off the prepared surface wherever the programme allows.
Testing, primer and DPM
Moisture testing informs whether a surface-applied DPM is needed. Priming requirements are product-specific: some high-build coatings are self-priming, self-smoothing systems often still need a primer to seal porosity, and resin screeds normally use one except where a particular PU system says otherwise.
Moisture and resin floor failure
Moisture is one of the leading causes of resin floor failure. Where residual or rising moisture is trapped beneath an impermeable system, the result can be blistering, osmotic defects or delamination — usually well after handover.
Test before you commit
Moisture testing is a pre-installation step, not a formality. Readings, the method used and the system's stated limits are reviewed together before an application date is confirmed.
Dry enough to walk on is not ready for resin
A screed can be trafficked long before it is ready to receive an impermeable finish. See screed drying times for how depth, type, ventilation and conditions change that picture — and fast-drying screed where the programme is tight.
Surface DPM where specified
Where readings are elevated, a suitable surface-applied DPM may be included in the build-up. Whether that is appropriate, and which product is used, follows the readings and the system — there is no universal answer or single moisture limit.
Epoxy resin flooring vs resin screed
The two terms are not alternatives in the way they are usually searched. Epoxy describes the chemistry; resin screed describes the form and thickness of the system.
Coating
Thin to high-build films that renew and protect a sound floor. Lower cost, faster to install, less disruptive — but dependent on a substrate that is already flat, strong and clean, and less tolerant of impact.
Screed or trowelled system
Thicker filled systems that can absorb impact, carry heavier traffic and correct a poorer substrate profile. More material, more preparation and usually a longer installation window.
How the choice is made
Duty and loading, substrate condition, required life, available thickness against thresholds and drainage, hygiene and slip requirements, and the shutdown window available all feed the decision. Cost follows the duty, not the other way round.
Slip resistance, hygiene and chemical resistance
These are specification properties, chosen deliberately and usually in tension with one another. None of them is a blanket property of resin flooring.
Slip resistance
Achieved by aggregate broadcast or texture, and specified against whether the floor is dry, occasionally wet or contaminated in use. More texture means more grip and harder cleaning; the balance is a project decision.
Hygiene and cleanability
Seamless floors with coved detailing and correct falls are easier to clean than jointed finishes, but only where the system, drainage and detailing are specified together for that environment.
Chemical and thermal exposure
Resistance is specific to the chemistry, concentration, temperature and contact time involved. Where hot wash-down, thermal shock or aggressive chemicals are present, they should be stated with the enquiry so the correct family is selected.
Commercial quotation and programme
Resin work is quoted from information, not assumptions. The more of the following you can send, the fewer provisional items and exclusions the quotation needs to carry. Working from a tender pack? See main contractor screeding and commercial screeding.
Drawings and floor areas
Layouts, zones and measured areas in m², with any phasing shown.
Substrate and build-up
What is there now — concrete, screed, tiles, existing resin — and the build-up if known.
Photographs
Current condition, joints, cracks, drainage and any visible contamination.
Existing coatings
Type, age and how well bonded, if known.
Traffic and loading
Foot traffic, pallet trucks, forklifts, point loads and impact expected in use.
Chemicals and environment
Substances present, wash-down regime, wet or dry, and temperature range.
Finish and slip requirement
Required colour, gloss or matt, texture and any stated slip performance.
Programme and access
Shutdown window, phasing, tender deadline, working hours, power, and access for plant and materials.
Send drawings for a commercial quotation
For screeding budget context, see floor screeding costs.
Installation sequence
A typical order of work. Durations are not fixed here — cure and overcoating windows come from the selected system and the conditions on site.
Review and specification
Step 01Duty, environment, finish and programme reviewed, and a system family selected against them.
Substrate survey
Step 02Condition, strength, contamination, cracks, joints and moisture assessed on site.
Preparation
Step 03Mechanical preparation and removal of weak or contaminated material, followed by thorough vacuuming.
Repairs and detailing
Step 04Cracks, joints, upstands, coving and drainage details prepared as the specification requires.
DPM and primer where needed
Step 05Surface DPM and priming applied where the readings and the selected system call for them.
Application
Step 06The system installed in its specified layers under controlled temperature and humidity conditions.
Cure and protection
Step 07The floor protected through cure, with return-to-service staged to the manufacturer's data for the actual conditions.
Inspection and handover
Step 08Finished floor inspected against the specification, with cleaning and maintenance guidance issued.
BS 8204-6 and FeRFA context
Educational context only, included so the terms used in specifications are clear.
BS 8204-6
BS 8204-6 is the UK code of practice for synthetic resin flooring. It is commonly referenced in specifications alongside the manufacturer's system data.
FeRFA classification
The FeRFA types — from Type 1 floor seals through Type 5 flow-applied and Type 6 resin screeds to Type 8 heavy-duty systems — are widely used to describe system type and duty. They are descriptions, not guarantees.
What this does not claim
Referencing these standards does not imply certification, accreditation, membership or manufacturer approval. Where a project requires specific approvals, say so with the enquiry and we will confirm what can be provided.
Resin flooring questions.
What is the difference between epoxy flooring and resin flooring?
Resin flooring is the broad term for chemically curing synthetic resin systems applied to a prepared floor. Epoxy is one resin chemistry within that group, alongside polyurethane, PMMA and hybrid systems. A floor described as epoxy resin flooring may be a thin coating or a thicker built-up system, so the duty, thickness and chemistry all need to be specified rather than assumed from the word epoxy alone.
What is resin screed flooring?
Resin screed refers to thicker, filled or trowel-applied resin systems, described in the FeRFA classification used with BS 8204-6 as resin screed flooring at more than around 4 mm, with heavier flowable and heavy-duty types above that. They are generally considered where impact, loading, thermal cycling or substrate condition make a thin coating unsuitable. Actual thickness and performance follow the selected proprietary system and specification.
How thick is resin flooring?
It depends entirely on the system type. Thin floor seals are measured in microns, high-build coatings sit in the hundreds of microns, self-smoothing floors are commonly a few millimetres, and resin screeds and heavy-duty systems are thicker again. The classification bands are descriptive; the manufacturer's specification governs the installed thickness for a given project.
Can resin flooring go over screed?
Cementitious screed is a common substrate for resin systems, but it has to be assessed first: surface strength, laitance or contamination, cracking, curing, flatness and moisture all affect suitability. A screed that is dry enough for foot traffic is not necessarily ready to receive resin, so testing and preparation are reviewed before any system is confirmed.
Does resin flooring need a DPM?
Not always. Where moisture testing shows elevated readings, or where the floor has no effective damp-proof membrane below, a surface-applied DPM may form part of the system. Whether one is required, and which product is appropriate, depends on the readings, the substrate and the resin system selected — it is a specification decision, not a default.
How long does resin flooring take to cure?
Cure and return-to-service times vary by resin chemistry, thickness, ambient and substrate temperature and humidity. Some systems allow foot traffic within a day while full chemical cure takes considerably longer. Programme dates should be planned against the selected manufacturer's data for the actual site conditions rather than a general figure.
Is resin flooring slip resistant?
Slip resistance is a specified property, achieved through aggregate broadcast or textured finishes, and it trades off against cleanability. A smooth, easily cleaned finish and a heavily textured wet-area finish are different specifications. The required slip performance should be stated with the enquiry so the system and finish can be selected against it.
Do you install resin floors in London and the Home Counties?
Yes. Screeding.com is based in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire and works across London and the Home Counties, with larger or commercially significant projects considered further afield. Send drawings, areas and the intended use and we will review the project before quoting.
Tell us what the floor has to do.
Send drawings, areas, substrate details, the traffic and chemical environment, the required finish and the programme window. The project is reviewed before any formal quotation is issued.