How much epoxy for a 1,000 sq ft basement floor?
You need about 14.3 gallons of floor epoxy for two 10-mil coats on a 1,000 square foot basement floor — 7.17 gallons per coat including 15% for absorption and roller losses, or 5 kits of 3 gallons.
How to work it out
- 40 ft × 25 ft = 1,000 sq ft
- 1,604 ÷ 10 mils = 160.4 sq ft/gal
- 1,000 sq ft ÷ 160.4 sq ft/gal × 1.15 = 7.17 gal per coat × 2 = 14.3 gal
- 14.3 gal ÷ 3 gal per kit = 4.78 → 5 kits
- Area per batch = 3 gal ÷ 1.15 × 160.4 sq ft/gal = 418 sq ft of base coat
Basements are where moisture matters most. Before buying fourteen-odd gallons of a 100%-solids coating, find out whether the slab is dry enough to take it — below-grade concrete often isn’t, at least in places.
Adjust for your project
More options: cove · waste · batch …
- Kits to buy
- 5 kits
- Per base coat
- 7.17 gal (28.7 qt · 27.1 L)
- Floor area
- 1,000 sq ft
- Theoretical coverage per base coat
- 160.4 sq ft/gal
- Wet film per base coat
- 10 mils
- Approx. dry film per base coat
- 10 mils
- Batches per base coat
- 3 batches
- Area one batch covers
- 1 × 3 gal kit ≈ 418 sq ft at 10 mils — chalk-line the floor into sections this size
- Left over in part-used kits
- 0.66 gal (2.65 qt · 2.51 L)
- What to buy: 5 × 3 gal kits of floor coating. Each kit has both parts (resin + hardener) — you don’t buy them separately. Looking at a different kit size? Change Size of the kit you’re buying above.
- Tight fit: only 0.66 gal spare. Thirsty or freshly ground concrete can use that up in the first coat — consider one more kit.
Kits and leftover for a 1,000 sq ft basement by kit size (two 10-mil coats)
| Kit size | Kits to buy | Left over in part-used kits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 gal kits | 15 kits | 0.66 gal |
| 2 gal kits | 8 kits | 1.66 gal |
| 3 gal kits | 5 kits | 0.66 gal |
| 5 gal kits | 3 kits | 0.66 gal |
What to know about a 1,000 sq ft basement floor
Test for moisture in several places, not one. Garage Flooring LLC’s instructions describe taping a 24 in square of plastic sheet to the slab for 24 hours; if the underside fogs or the concrete darkens, water is coming up through the floor and the coating is likely to blister or peel. In basements the damp spots are usually along the outside walls and around the floor drain, so put a sheet in each. Many coating makers specify their own moisture test and limit on the data sheet — use theirs if it differs.
A thousand square feet of basement is rarely one clear rectangle. Measure each room separately, leave out the footprint of the furnace, water heater and stairs, and keep floor drains open. The number you enter should be the concrete you will actually roll.
Five 3-gallon kits give 15 gallons against about 14.3 needed, so roughly two-thirds of a gallon is spare — not much across two coats. Each 3-gallon kit should cover about 418 sq ft at 10 mils once the allowance is taken off, so a coat is two full kits and part of a third: chalk-line the basement into sections of roughly that size before you mix, and you’ll know within the first kit whether you’re rolling too thick. Mix one kit at a time and get it onto the floor quickly: epoxy heats up in a full bucket and the pot life shrinks, a heat build-up WEST SYSTEM warns about for large batches.
Below grade the air doesn’t move on its own. Open windows, run a fan blowing out, and wear the respirator the safety data sheet lists; the EPA advises extra ventilation whenever you use products that give off VOCs.
For a smaller floor at the same film, see How many gallons of floor epoxy for 400 sq ft at 10 mils; for a metric workshop, How much epoxy for a 50 m² floor.
Different size? Use the full Epoxy Floor Coating Calculator.
What you’ll need
- Floor epoxy coating (by the gallon)Premium price
Two-part floor coating sold by volume rather than as a boxed garage kit. The data sheet gives film thickness and coverage.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Concrete cleaner & degreaserBudget price
Oil and tire marks stop epoxy from bonding. Degrease before etching or grinding, and rinse thoroughly.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Half-face respirator (organic vapor + particulate)Mid-range price
For fumes in poorly ventilated spaces and dust when sanding. Check the product SDS for the protection it recommends.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links to products are affiliate links — they cost you nothing extra and help keep these calculators free.
Frequently asked questions
How much epoxy for one coat on a 1,000 sq ft basement?
About 7.17 gallons at 10 mils wet, including 15% for absorption — 3 kits of 3 gallons.
How much epoxy for a 1,000 sq ft basement at 16 mils per coat?
About 22.9 gallons for two coats, since coverage drops to 100.3 square feet per gallon at 16 mils.
How many 1-gallon kits for a 1,000 sq ft basement floor?
15 kits for two 10-mil coats: the floor needs 14.3 gallons including the 15% allowance.
Other common sizes
Sources
- Spartan Epoxies — Purchase epoxy by layer (opens in a new tab) — Floor-coating coverage per gallon at a stated mil thickness (e.g. about 133 sq ft/gal at 12 mils).
- ArmorPoxy — Epoxy Primer (opens in a new tab) — Approx. 220–320 sq ft per gallon, applied at 5–7 mils on concrete.
- Garage Flooring LLC — Garage Floor Epoxy Coating Instructions (opens in a new tab) — Plastic-sheet moisture test, surface profiling, following the product data sheet.
- US EPA — Volatile Organic Compounds’ Impact on Indoor Air Quality (opens in a new tab) — Increase ventilation when using products that emit VOCs.