“Probably 90 percent of where we get our jobs from is just word of mouth,” Matthew Roder says as we stand outside a house where he’s about to finish one job, cross the street, and begin …
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“Probably 90 percent of where we get our jobs from is just word of mouth,” Matthew Roder says as we stand outside a house where he’s about to finish one job, cross the street, and begin another.
This is typical for Roder Epoxy: every basement or garage floor he and brother Kyle transform creates a few more projects.
“For instance, we were up in Iowa City yesterday, and I had four of the neighbors come by and want a quote,” he says.
See one, want one, get one has become a trend for the polyaspartic flake flooring Roder Epoxy is known for. The concrete floor coating, often referred to as epoxy flooring, consists of fast-curing resin embedded with colored vinyl chips, creating a durable surface that can be customized with dozens of color combinations.
Matt didn’t invent polyaspartic flake flooring, but after three years of experience with an Ankeny company, he thought there might be a market for it in his hometown. In 2022, he started Roder Epoxy in Washington, and the customizable, hard-wearing concrete coatings have spread like wildfire since.
Because they’re nonslip, permanent, and easy to maintain, Mid-Prairie, Highland, and Winfield-Mt. Union schools have all chosen polyaspartic flake floors for hallway, locker room, and classroom spaces. That was a bit of a surprise for Matt, who expected most projects to be residential.
Which means the two-man team stays busy.
“We’re going around doing bids every day, so it does add up, it does fill in fast,” he says, noting that they are currently booking about two months out. “There’s a bit of a wait list.”
Why homeowners choose epoxy for basements
Earlier this year, a Washington homeowner saw the Roder Epoxy truck pull up to his neighbor’s home and wandered over to see what was going on. He’d heard of epoxy concrete coating before, but learning there was a local team that could transform his basement floor tipped him into making the commitment.
We headed down to his basement, where his family enjoys watching TV and playing cards at a retro-cool dining table and chairs. The cement had been covered in green and yellow shag carpet before he tore it out in preparation for the epoxy.
“It took me two days to get those staples off,” he said.
Polyaspartic flake flooring would be less expensive than new carpet, he found, and he appreciated that it would work with the new bathroom he’s planning to put in. He and his family choose blue and gray flakes for their floor from Roder Epoxy’s catalog of options, of which there are dozens, because the colors would go well with their area rug.
He explained the application process he had watched over the past two days: Matt and Kyle ground and patched the cement floor, poured the epoxy, scattered buckets of colored resin chips, scraped off the excess, and vacuumed up the debris. Today the topcoat will be poured, and that will be that.
While being applied, the scent of curing epoxy was noticeable, but not insufferable, he said, and Matt suggested Dawn dish soap or lemon scented mop water would put an end to that once work was complete.
Would he recommend these floors to others, I ask?
“Oh yeah,” he said.
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Outside with Matt, I mention my surprise that resin floors might cost less than carpet for this particular home. Roder Epoxy’s website gives a range from $4.75 to $15.00 per square foot while noting that every project is different.
“His concrete’s a little different down there. He had some patch spots that he wanted fixed up, and then his floor is pretty wavy down there,” Matt says. “It’s hard to put a tile or a [luxury vinyl plank] flooring down just because of the wave. So, an epoxy coating is a great alternative to it.”
Not only can epoxy adapt to an uneven base, but “The nice thing about it in the basement, too, is it’s all waterproof,” Matt says. “If you ever get water damage in your basement or anything like that, you don’t have to rip up or replace your flooring.”
He lists additional advantages to epoxy floors in basements: they’re seamless, so there’s no place for mold to hide. They help seal your basement against radon entry. And if fashion favors carpet in the future, you can lay it right on top.
Garages offer another opportunity to customize your space with custom colors and shine, but here, too, there are practical reasons to choose a resin floor.
“It looks nice, but it also protects your concrete,” Matt says. “For example, in this garage here, the concrete has a lot of pitting from salt damage. Our coatings are chemical resistant, so salt in the wintertime doesn’t affect it. When it gets nice out, you can just hose it down and squeegee it off and it looks brand new again. It also repels oil, so if you have a car or lawnmower or whatever that you park in your garage and it leaks oil, it doesn’t affect that. It just wipes right up and cleans.”
I ask if anyone chooses epoxy floors for kitchens and baths, but apparently that is not a thing.
“It’s more of your industrial look. I would say it’s not a homey look,” Matt says.
But front stoops and back patios are also great places to customize and protect your concrete, and resin can handle four seasons of exposure. “It’s all chemical resistant, UV stable, everything,” Matt notes.
If you aren’t familiar with polyaspartic flake flooring yet, wait until you see the Roder Epoxy truck parked on your street, and then go poke around and see what your neighbors are up to.
But be warned: once you see how cool the floors are, you’re going to want them too.
Roder Epoxy
Washington, IA
319-461-8162
roderepoxy.com
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