AAA Sexy Eco Friendly Floors Features in HIA Housing Magazine

designing emotions

Sexyfloors has invented a product that can make a creative statement about any floor. Amanda Williamson reports.

Sexyfloors makes environmentally friendly and unique flooring from epoxy resin. Indeed, as finalists in the HIA GreenSmart Awards 2010, the colourful, yet durable floors caught the eye of the judges in the GreenSmart Product of the Year category, and on 15 October the company won the prestigious award.

The company started trading in 2000 under the name Kelvin Shaw All About Floors before changing its name to Sexyfloors, as a result of a customer's emotional response to her newly designed floor. The product has been building its name, and a passionate following, since then.

Robyn Cooper, who has been involved in marketing at Sexyfloors since it began, says that emotion plays a big role in the company her husband Kelvin has developed.

The company's latest development is a colour changing floor.

'We sell a floor based on emotion because we deal one-on-one with customers. And every customer has a story. It's not just picking a carpet colour, getting someone to come out and lay it, and that's that. This is a very personalised product. The hardest part is picking what colour and design they want.We work closely with them on that,' she explains.

Robyn says that Kelvin came from a flooring background, and had worked on a range of different finishes, including epoxy, until 2000 when he 'could see that epoxy could really take off' beyond industrial applications. He has since gone on to complete more than 1000 floors in domestic, commercial and industrial situations, almost all of them unique; each time developing new ideas and refining the finished product.

There are four steps to laying an epoxy floor. Initially arriving on site, Sexyfloors will repair any minor chips or cracks to an existing concrete floor, which is included in the total price, and can assist with major repair work such as levelling and waterproofing if required. They then grind the surface to ensure the concrete is clean and porous for the prime coat, which is then applied to help protect the concrete and stabilise the epoxy top coat. Finally, the 'designer', commercial grade, non-slip top coat is added.