Easy Epoxy Calc

How much epoxy to coat a kitchen island?

Short answer

You need about 2.59 gallons of tabletop epoxy for one 1/8 inch flood coat on an 8 ft × 42 in kitchen island — 28 square feet of top plus all 23 ft of 1.5 in edge, 30.9 square feet in all — with 30.2 fl oz of edge drips and 5% for the bucket included.

How to work it out

  1. counter 8 ft × 42 in = 28 sq ft + edge 23 ft × 1.5 in = 2.88 sq ft = 30.9 sq ft
  2. Flood: 28 sq ft × 1/8 in × 1 = 2.18 gal; edge film 2.88 sq ft × 1/32 in × 1 = 7.17 fl oz
  3. Edge drips: 23 ft at 1.25 fl oz per foot of edge per 1/8 in coat × 1 = 28.8 fl oz
  4. 2.46 gal + 5% waste = 2.59 gal
  5. Total 2.59 gal → 3 × 1 gal kits
  6. Mix ratio 1 : 1 by volume, SG A 1.15 / B 0.95 (typical, not published by the maker — type your data sheet’s SGs for exact weights) → Part A 1.29 gal (12.4 lb) + Part B 1.29 gal (10.2 lb)

An island drips on all four sides and has no backsplash, so the edge counts for more than it does on a wall run. The 23 ft of edge here is simply the perimeter: twice the 8 ft length plus twice the 3.5 ft depth.

Adjust for your project

ft
Add up all the straight runs. Don’t count a corner twice.
in
Wall to front edge. Standard is 25–26 in.
ft
Front edges plus open ends — the edges the resin runs over and drips from. Edges against a wall don’t count.
in
How tall the front edge is — usually the thickness of the top.
in
0 if you’re not coating one. It gets a thin brushed or rolled coat, not a flood coat.
Bare wood (butcher block, plywood, MDF) needs a thin first coat so air in the grain doesn’t bubble up. Over laminate or an old sealed top, pick No and use whatever primer your kit calls for.
Only if your countertop kit uses a colored coat rolled on under the clear flood coat. Its instructions give the thickness or fl oz per sq ft.
1 is normal. Some veined or metallic looks use 2.
gal
Total of both bottles together. Most “1 gallon kits” are ½ gal resin + ½ gal hardener — enter 1. If the listing says 1 gal of EACH, enter 2.
More options: waste · ratio · SG A …
%
What stays in the bucket and on the spreader. Edge drips are counted separately.
Only changes the Part A / Part B split — it’s printed on the kit. Tabletop and art resins are usually 1:1; deep pour often 2:1.
From the TDS, in g/ml. Leave blank for 1.15 (typical, not published by the maker).
From the TDS, in g/ml. Leave blank for 0.95 on 1:1 kits or 0.97 on other ratios (typical, not published by the maker).
gal
Resin + hardener mixed in one bucket. Big batches heat up and thicken sooner, so pros mix the next one while the last is being poured.
$
Optional — your kit price, for a cost estimate
Tabletop epoxy to buy2.59 gal10.3 qt · 9.79 L
Kits to buy
3 kits
Flood coat(s), incl. edge and backsplash film
2.35 gal (9.4 qt · 8.89 L)
Edge drips (runs off and is lost)
30.2 fl oz (0.94 qt · 0.89 L)
Total area coated
30.9 sq ft
Countertop surface
28 sq ft
Base + flood coats per sq ft of top (before drips and waste)
10 fl oz per sq ft
Batches to mix
3 batches
Per batch (volume, then weight)
A 1.72 qt (4.14 lb) + B 1.72 qt (3.42 lb)
When mixing — Part A (resin)
1.29 gal (5.17 qt · 4.89 L)
When mixing — Part B (hardener)
1.29 gal (5.17 qt · 4.89 L)
Part A by weight
12.4 lb (199 oz · 5.63 kg)
Part B by weight
10.2 lb (164 oz · 4.65 kg)
Left over from the last kit
0.41 gal (1.66 qt · 1.57 L)
  • What to buy: 3 × 1 gal tabletop epoxy kits. Each kit has both bottles (resin + hardener) — you don’t buy them separately. Looking at a different kit size? Change Kit size above.

For this job · affiliate link
Countertop epoxy kitYou need 2.59 gal, so 3 × 1 gal kits — or price one bigger kit, which is often cheaper per gallon. Countertop kits are coating resins meant for a base coat plus flood coats, with pigments that match between batches.
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Epoxy for an 8 ft island by depth (one 1/8 in flood coat, 1 gal kits)

Epoxy for an 8 ft island by depth (one 1/8 in flood coat, 1 gal kits)
Island depthCountertop surfaceTabletop epoxy to buyKits to buy
8 ft × 36 in24 sq ft2.26 gal3 kits
8 ft × 42 in28 sq ft2.59 gal3 kits
8 ft × 48 in32 sq ft2.91 gal3 kits

What to know about coating a kitchen island

Islands are commonly somewhere between 36 and 48 in deep, often with an overhang of about a foot on the seating side. If you change the depth, change the edge length too: it’s always twice the length plus twice the depth.

Three 1-gallon kits cover this island with about 0.41 gallons spare. The drips are the part that surprises people: all 23 ft of edge drips, about 30 fl oz, nearly a quarter of a gallon — for each square foot of top, about 1.7 times what the 50 sq ft kitchen loses. Waterfall ends (the top turning down to the floor) aren’t included. A 42 in wide panel that runs 36 in down is another 10.5 sq ft per end; at the 1/32 in film the calculator allows on vertical faces that is only about 0.2 gallons, but much more than that runs off while you work it, so buy extra — or flood the panel lying flat before it’s fitted.

The good news is access. You can reach the middle from both sides, so pour a ribbon down the center, spread it outward, and push it over the edges last. Put plastic on the floor all the way around the base and leave it there for a few hours — the drips keep coming well after you’ve finished.

For comparison with a wall run, see How much epoxy for a 50 sq ft kitchen countertop; for a much smaller top, How much epoxy for a 5 ft bathroom vanity top.

Different size? Use the full Countertop Epoxy Calculator.

What you’ll need

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Frequently asked questions

How much epoxy for a 6 ft kitchen island?

About 1.96 gallons for one 1/8 in flood coat on a 6 ft × 42 in island with 19 ft of edge (23.4 square feet), drips and 5% waste included.

How much epoxy for two flood coats on an 8 ft kitchen island?

About 5.17 gallons for two 1/8 in flood coats, drips included — 6 kits of 1 gallon.

Other common sizes

Sources