Epoxy flooring is the preferred material to prime and coat properly prepared concrete substrates, offering a build or film thickness that can hide small blemishes or hairline cracks on your floor surface. Polyurethane topcoats add additional performance and durability benefits.
Both products possess their own set of strengths, so you should assess your individual requirements and goals before making a choice.
Durability
Polyurethane Flooring Company provides highly durable and resistant to even the harshest environments, offering protection from heavy tire pickup and impact damage – an excellent option for warehouses and manufacturing facilities.
Epoxies offer an abundance of colors and aesthetic effects for creating floors that are both aesthetically pleasing and functionally useful. Furthermore, they are an ideal solution in environments requiring high levels of resistance such as chemicals or extreme temperatures.
Polyurethanes offer many of the same advantages as epoxy flooring in terms of performance and versatility, yet are sometimes superior due to heat, cold and thermal shock tolerance as well as UV resistance.
PU floors offer more versatility when installed than their vinyl counterparts, with both matte and high-shine finishes available for installation. Furthermore, their extremely low VOC emissions enable installation without respirator protection if the appropriate product is selected; additionally they allow more flexibility for working time allowing contractors to complete multicoat projects faster.
Resistance to Chemicals
One of the primary draws to epoxy flooring is its superior chemical resistance. Polyurethanes in particular boast impressive resistance against organic acids and alkalis, fuel oils and hydraulic oils, aromatic solvents and more – perfect for food and beverage facilities. Furthermore, they hold up better to thermal shock than epoxy resins do and can tolerate larger temperature swings than epoxy resins do.
Strength ensures that floors can withstand years of heavy traffic without becoming worn down or dented, and impact resistance allows materials to be dropped onto them without damaging or denting it. They are even resilient enough to withstand crushing forces – perfect for airport hangars, fire departments, and more!
Chemical-resistant coatings are far less susceptible to staining or fading than other flooring options, making them perfect for staining in an array of colors and even featuring decorative designs and logos. Installation for these floors must be handled carefully as their surface must be free from blemishes before they can be covered; professional installers should therefore be sought.
Resistance to Scuffs and Scratches
Both epoxy and polyurethane floors are extremely durable, but only polyurethane provides greater resistance against scuffing and scratches – an especially handy feature in environments with high foot traffic such as multi-deck car parks. While epoxy floorings may provide scratch resistance, polyurethane offers greater scuff resistance due to being softer and more elastic compared to them; making polyurethane much better at resisting this form of scratching than its epoxy counterpart.
Durability is of utmost importance when planning or renovating any facility or working space, and epoxy and urethane coatings are a wise investment for your business. Both types are cost-effective yet long-lasting – an invaluable asset.
Polyurethanes are well suited to food industry use as they do not react with organic acids and other foods. And can even be infused with antimicrobial additives for antibacterial growth prevention. Epoxy floorings may still be suitable for this industry. But may experience corrosion and yellowing from exposure to organic acids. Take longer to cure and are more brittle than urethanes; nevertheless. They’re highly effective at protecting concrete surfaces from mechanical abrasion.
Easy to Clean
Although epoxy floor coatings are extremely resilient, they still need regular upkeep in order to look their best. Regularly sweeping is recommended in order to remove dirt or grit that could scratch the epoxy and cause long-term damage.
When it comes to cleaning epoxy flooring, we advise using non-enzymatic neutral-PH soap and a soft brush or broom. Any abrasive cleaners could potentially damage its coating.
Polyurethane floors provide another great advantage: they can be tailored with antimicrobial additives to combat. The growth of unwanted bacteria in food processing facilities makes for more hygienic operations and 24-7 operations.
Furthermore, Flowcrete topcoats can even incorporate fine aggregate additives like silica sand, and aluminum oxide. Or even spherical glass beads to increase slip resistance. While creating rougher surfaces that hide debris or settle airborne particles more effectively.
Easy to Maintain
Though epoxy floor coatings are durable, it’s essential that they be properly maintained. Along with daily sweeping, floors should also be mopped. At least once every week in order to keep dust at bay and reduce scratching or other surface damage risks.
Any spills should be cleaned up promptly. Oil, antifreeze, and other chemicals can wreak havoc on an epoxy floor coating. If left for too long, posing an increased risk of corrosion. In such instances, use non-toxic cleaners like Simple Green to dilute it before applying it to the flooring surface. Urethane floors offer superior resistance against spills. As well as being resistant to scuffing, scraping, and gouging.
Furthermore, their construction provides them with insulation against heat, cold, and humidity fluctuations. Frequent food processing facilities experience physical impacts, point loading, and large temperature variations. To further safeguard them against dirt transference at entrances and protect machinery. They often drive on them by placing mats at all entrances to minimize. The transference of dirt grit and dirt accumulation. They help avoid potential machinery or vehicle damage on these hard floors.