Miami’s Tattoo Shop Epoxy Flooring
Stations get wiped down between every client, green soap and disinfectant land on the floor all day, and stools and carts never stop rolling. We coat shops so the floor cleans like the rest of the station and looks like your shop.
Stations, Sinks and Rolling Chairs
No Joints
Grout lines and vinyl seams hold whatever gets into them. A coated floor runs in one continuous piece up to a cove at the wall.
Daily Disinfectant
Green soap, rinse water and surface disinfectant hit the floor at every station, every day. The topcoat is chosen to take it.
Casters
Artist stools, client chairs and tray carts roll over the same few feet all day. A soft finish wears a track there first.
Your Look
Black, grays, flake in your shop colors or a metallic floor. The floor is part of the shop the client walks into.
Scheduled Into Your Off Days
Walk the Stations
We look at where the chairs roll, where the sinks are, and where the floor meets the walls, and we test the slab for moisture.
Pick the Days
Artists book out ahead, so we plan early. The work goes into days the shop is closed, with cure and walk-on times in writing.
Clear and Grind
Stations and supplies come out of the room. Diamond grinding runs under vacuum to keep the dust down, and cracks get filled.
Coat and Cure
Primer, body coat, a flake broadcast if you want one, and a hard topcoat. Stations go back in once it has cured.
Why a Floor With No Joints Matters at the Station
A tattoo station gets cleaned harder than most kitchens. Between clients the chair, the arm rest, the tray and the floor around them all get wiped down. The trouble with tile is the grout. With vinyl plank or sheet goods it’s the seams and the edges. Rinse water, ink and disinfectant get pulled into those lines, dry there, and no mop gets them all the way out.
A coated floor runs as one continuous surface across the room. We grind the slab, fill the cracks and the old anchor holes left by past build-outs, and bring a cove base a few inches up the wall so the corner has no joint either. Whatever lands on the floor stays on top, where a disinfectant wipe can reach it.
Green Soap, Ink and Disinfectant on the Floor
Every station drips. Green soap solution, a rinse cup that gets knocked over, ink that falls off a cap, and the surface disinfectant you spray on everything at the end of a session. Most of it is water based and mild. Some disinfectants are strong, and bleach solutions are hard on finishes that weren’t built for them.
A cured epoxy body coat under a urethane or polyaspartic topcoat takes your normal cleaning products. Ink doesn’t soak into a cured topcoat, so a drop wipes up when you get to it the same day. Black ink left for days on a light floor is the one thing worth watching, which is one reason a lot of shops go darker. Mix your disinfectant to the label, leave it for the contact time the label calls for, then wipe. If a product leaves a film, a plain water rinse takes it off.
What a Health Inspector Looks for Underfoot
Health rules for body art shops generally call for floors in the work area that are smooth, nonabsorbent and easy to clean. Bare concrete is absorbent. Carpet doesn’t belong near a station. Worn tile with broken grout is the kind of thing an inspector notices. A coated floor with a cove at the wall is built to clean the way those rules describe.
We don’t make code calls for you. Your inspector and the current rules have the final word on what passes, so if you’re opening a new shop or moving, ask them before you pick a floor. What we can do is put down a floor that holds up to being cleaned that way every day, and hand you the product data sheets if the inspector wants to know what’s on it.
Stools, Carts and Where the Wear Shows
Watch a shop for an hour and you’ll see the same few feet of floor take all the rolling. The artist’s stool moves in and out around the client. The tray cart follows it. Client chairs get adjusted and pulled into position. Hard plastic casters on a soft finish wear a dull track, and grit picked up from the parking lot turns those wheels into sandpaper.
That’s why the topcoat matters more than the color under it. A hard urethane or polyaspartic topcoat resists caster wear much better than epoxy alone, and when it finally starts to dull, it can be scuffed and recoated without grinding the floor. Soft rubber or polyurethane casters are easier on any floor. A chair mat under the artist’s stool is fine too, as long as you lift it to clean underneath.
A Floor That Fits the Shop
Your shop has a look, and clients notice the floor more than you’d think. A solid black or charcoal floor reads clean and hides the ink that misses a paper towel. A flake floor in your shop colors hides wear and dust between sweeps. A metallic epoxy floor gives the room depth and movement, and some shops put it in the front and a plainer finish at the stations. We bring samples to the walk so you see them in your own light.
Moisture is the other thing we check up front. Florida slabs sitting on grade can push water vapor up through the concrete, and a coating laid over a damp slab can blister later. We meter the slab before we write the proposal, and when the number is high, a moisture-tolerant primer goes in under everything. Your floor comes with a 5-year warranty covering both the materials and our installation. Zach owns 343 Epoxy, works as a firefighter, and runs jobs from the Keys up through Palm Beach County. Set a site visit or call (305) 409-9022, en español (305) 310-2827.
What Artists Want Answered First
Questions we get walking a shop with the owner or the lead artist.
Will a coated floor pass a health inspection?
Will tattoo ink stain the floor?
Can we keep using our usual disinfectant?
Will rolling stools and carts wear it down?
Can the floor match our shop’s colors?
How many days will the shop be closed?
Is there a warranty on a tattoo shop floor?
Two Clients on Getting the Look Right
“Great communication, great service and a beautiful outcome. Zach answered every question and worry I had. Made me feel at ease. He completely surpassed my vision. I’m in love with my floors.”
“The process to have my garage updated for the new century was amazing, Zach and team since day 1 were active and present… From the storage of my garage stuff, through the decision of the colors and lines, everything was honest, clear and professional.”
Show Us Where the Chairs Roll
Send a few photos of the stations and tell us which days the shop is closed. Zach walks it with you, meters the slab and brings color samples.