Restaurant Kitchen Epoxy Flooring Installation
A commercial kitchen floor takes more punishment in one dinner rush than most garage floors see in a decade. Grease, standing water, dropped pans, bleach, hot oil, rolling carts stacked with dish trays. At Raleigh Epoxy Flooring Pros, we build floors for kitchens that don't slow down.
We've also seen what happens when the wrong flooring goes in: cracked tile grout that traps bacteria, VCT tile that peels at the seams, and sealed concrete that stains within a month of opening.
Epoxy solves most of that. It's seamless, so there's nowhere for grease or moisture to hide. It resists the acids in tomato sauce and citrus, the alkalis in industrial cleaners, and the heat of a dropped sauté pan. Slip resistance can be built directly into the surface, not bolted on later as a rubber mat.
What the health code actually requires
North Carolina follows the FDA Food Code for commercial kitchen construction, and it's specific about floors. Surfaces in food prep, warewashing, and walk in cooler areas need to be smooth, durable, and nonabsorbent.
Grout lines in tile stop meeting that standard once they wear down, which is one reason inspectors flag older tile kitchens more often than epoxy ones. A properly installed system, with integral cove base running up the wall about six inches, closes the floor to wall seam completely. No gap left for grease or pests to collect in.
We install systems built on resins from Sherwin-Williams, Rust-Oleum's commercial line, and ArmorPoxy, depending on the traffic level and budget. A kitchen running two shifts a day with a fryer station needs a heavier build than a dry storage room or a front of house dining floor.
Get Free In-House Estimate
asterisk ( * ) are required
System options, side by side
| System | Best For | Typical Thickness | Slip Resistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast quartz epoxy | Fry stations, wash areas | 1/8 to 3/16 inch | High |
| Trowel down mortar epoxy | Heavy equipment traffic | 1/4 inch or more | High |
| Self leveling epoxy | Dry storage, prep areas | 2 to 3 mm | Moderate |
| Urethane mortar topcoat | Hot oil, steam, thermal shock | 1/4 to 3/8 inch | High |
Urethane mortar costs more upfront than a straight epoxy. It also holds up better under thermal cycling, which matters near a dish machine that swings between scalding rinse water and room temperature air all shift long. Some owners try to save money by skipping the upgrade near the dish pit. Most of them redo that section within two years.
What to expect during installation
Most restaurant jobs get scheduled overnight or during a slow stretch, since the floor needs to cure before it can handle foot traffic again. Here's the general order: grind and prep the existing concrete, patch low spots and cracks, apply the base coat, broadcast aggregate if the system calls for it, then seal with a topcoat.
Foot traffic can usually resume in about 24 hours. Full chemical resistance and equipment traffic take longer, often 3 to 5 days.
- Kitchens close for one to three days depending on square footage and system type
- We work around walk in coolers and fixed equipment rather than requiring a full gut
- Cove base and drain integration go into the original quote, not a change order later
- We test slab moisture before starting, since a vapor issue will fail an epoxy install within months
Give us a call and we'll walk your kitchen with you. We'll look at your equipment layout, your drain placement, and your current floor condition, then give you a system recommendation and a real timeline. Not a number pulled off a generic price list.