Conductive epoxy for rooms where a spark is a disaster
Some rooms can’t wait for static to bleed off slowly. Conductive epoxy drains charge faster than a dissipative floor, which is what you want around explosives, flammable vapors and the most sensitive work.
What goes in it
- Slab ground to sound, dry concrete, cracks filled flush
- Epoxy primer to seal the slab
- Copper grounding strips in a grid, run to ground points for an electrician to connect
- Conductive primer tying the strips together across the floor
- Conductive epoxy top coat, carbon-loaded for the low resistance range
We won’t sell you a conductive floor for a room where people work on live circuits, since a dissipative floor is the safer fit there.
What it is
Specialty floors. All specialty services
Conductive epoxy is the low-resistance version of a static control floor. It’s built much like an ESD floor, with copper grounding strips, a conductive primer and a carbon-loaded top coat, and the difference is where the finished surface lands: lower, usually under about a million ohms. That means charge leaves a person or a cart almost immediately. It gets specified where even a small discharge could ignite something, or where the work is sensitive enough that a slower drain won’t do.
ESD flooring is the twin, and it’s the right choice for most electronics work.
Typical spaces include munitions and explosives handling, areas with flammable solvent vapors or fine combustible dust, some medical and research rooms and specialized electronics work where conductive footwear is part of the dress code. Fuel and chemical storage rooms can fall in that group too. In those rooms, the facility’s safety program usually spells out the resistance range, and the floor has to be grounded properly, with the final connection made by an electrician.
A dissipative floor drains charge more slowly, which protects components without making the floor so conductive that it adds risk for someone working near live power. That’s the honest trade-off: conductive floors are for rooms where fast discharge matters more than that risk, and the people in them are trained around it. If you’re unsure which you need, start with your spec or your safety officer, and we’ll tell you plainly if we think a dissipative floor fits better. ESD flooring testing covers measuring either kind once it’s down.
Where it belongs
Explosives and munitions handling
Rooms where a single spark is a safety problem, and charge has to leave a body or a cart right away.
Solvent and vapor areas
Spaces with flammable fumes or combustible dust, where the floor is part of the ignition control plan.
Specialized electronics work
Benches where conductive footwear is required and the spec calls for a faster drain than dissipative.
Research and medical rooms
Certain labs and equipment rooms whose own safety rules call for a conductive floor.
How we install it
- 1
Confirm the need
We ask for your safety spec and target range, and why the room needs conductive. If dissipative fits better, we say so before giving you a price.
- 2
Prep the slab
We grind, repair and check for moisture, since a conductive system needs a dry, sound slab to perform.
- 3
Lay the grid
Copper strips go down to the planned ground points, then the conductive primer connects them.
- 4
Even top coat
The conductive top coat goes on at a steady thickness, because thin and thick spots read differently.
- 5
Measure and record
After the cure, resistance gets measured at points across the room and the readings go into your file.
Built for desert conditions
Heat, sun, wind and sand, as they hit this kind of floor.
Schedule a site visitThe high desert’s dry air is a big part of why static control matters here. With low humidity, charge builds faster on people, carts and containers, and in a room with flammable vapors that’s a real concern. A carbon-loaded floor is less sensitive to humidity than many other static controls, which helps, but it only works if everything touching it conducts too: footwear, cart wheels and ground straps.
Desert dust works against it. Fine sand and the residue from the wrong cleaner build an insulating film over time, so we’d plan entry mats and a cleaning routine along with the floor. Heat and cold matter during the install too. Hot afternoons speed up the epoxy cure and cold nights slow it, so we’d hold the room’s temperature steady until the floor is fully cured.
Living with it
Clean with products the coating’s maker allows, and never wax or polish it, since that buries the conductive surface. Sweep sand often. Keep conductive footwear and cart wheels in good repair, because a worn heel strap breaks the path. Have the floor’s resistance rechecked on the schedule your safety program sets.
Related services
Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) Flooring
Grounded, static dissipative epoxy that drains charge from people and carts at a controlled rate, for electronics benches, labs and server rooms.
ESD Flooring Testing
Resistance testing for ESD and conductive floors, after install and on a schedule, with every reading logged by location.
Cleanroom Flooring
Smooth, jointless resin floors with integral coves for cleanrooms, installed under containment and built to shed as little as possible.
Resinous Cove Base Installation
The floor coating curved up the wall in one piece, so there’s no floor-line gap for water, grease or sand to collect in.
From Palmdale we cover the Antelope Valley and beyond, including Quartz Hill, Acton, Lancaster, Littlerock. See finished floors in the gallery.
Questions about conductive epoxy flooring
What’s the difference between conductive and dissipative floors?
Resistance. A conductive floor sits lower, usually under about a million ohms, so charge leaves almost instantly. A dissipative floor sits higher, which slows the drain enough for most electronics work. Your spec or safety program tells you which one you need.
Is a conductive floor dangerous for people?
It can add risk for someone working on live electrical equipment, since it gives current an easier path. That’s why conductive floors belong in rooms with a specific reason for them and trained people working there. For general electronics benches, dissipative is the usual choice.
Do conductive floors need special shoes?
Yes. Conductive footwear or straps are what connect a person to the floor, and ordinary rubber soles block the path. The floor, the footwear and the grounding all have to work together. If one link is missing, the room isn’t protected.
Can you add a conductive floor to an existing room?
Usually, as long as the slab is sound and dry and there’s a way to reach building ground. Any old coating has to be well bonded or removed. Equipment needs to come out so the copper grid and coats go down evenly across the whole room.
Does a conductive floor look different from regular epoxy?
Conductive top coats tend to come in darker colors, because the carbon that makes them conductive is black. Some lighter options exist, often with a slightly speckled look. We can show you what’s available for the range you need.
How often should the floor be checked?
Your safety program sets the schedule, and rooms with explosives or vapors usually check often. Readings can drift as dirt, cleaner residue and wear build up. Our ESD flooring testing page covers how those checks work.
Let’s talk about
your floor.
Send a few photos of the floor and the room. we will tell you whether conductive epoxy flooring is the right system for it.
What to send and what happens next. Want proof first? See the floors.