Are you considering redoing your garage floors? Maybe you want to look at something more than just rough concrete. Some may consider splashing some paint on those floors to make it look pretty, but you’ll also be sacrificing protection to the floors itself. You may also see many companies offering epoxy floor coatings, but did you know there are more options than just epoxy?
An alternative product is polyurea. Polyurea has characteristics that epoxy doesnt have, and we’ll go over them in this article. If you’ve been debating redoing your floors with epoxy, we’re letting you in on the hottest trend that provides many substantial benefits.
Read on to learn more about epoxy vs. polyurea.
Epoxy Coatings
Epoxy is a thermoset resin that helps shield the floor from the elements and damage. They come in different thicknesses and is good at bonding with concrete. The good about epoxy coatings is that they are resistant to moisture, durable, and looks beautiful.
Some drawbacks about epoxy are that the color tends to fade over time and isn’t very flexible, which can lead to repairs and maintenance more so than often.
Epoxy can also blister and, in some cases, bubble if not installed correctly. Cold and freezing temperatures are also not your friend if you have epoxy. Freezing temps can cause abrasions, peeling, and even cracking in prolonged winter weather.
Epoxy coatings also have a cure time of 48 to 72 hours.
Polyurea Coatings
Polyurea is a two-part synthetic mixture of diamine and diisocyanate. This mixture causes a reaction that creates a fantastic product for floors.
Polyurea coatings, unlike epoxy, is flexible – which means it won’t peel or crack, fade-resistant, and is more reliable and more durable than epoxy. If you love working on cars and leaving the garage doors open, have no fear! Your floors won’t fade or start to yellow when you have a polyurea coating.
The great thing about polyurea is that it has a fast cure time, which can be as short as 24 hours. But, with this short cure-time comes the possibility of an error during installation, so its best to contact a professional polyurea installer to make sure the job gets done right the first time.
Epoxy vs. Polyurea: Who Wins?
When it comes to the battle between epoxy vs. polyurea, who wins? Answering this is up to you! If you are ok with occasional maintenance and repairs, you live in a climate that rarely gets damaging weather, or if you don’t mind the color of your floor fading, go with an epoxy coating.
If you want a coating that can take a beating, has flexible qualities, and don’t want to deal with repair and maintenance, polyurea is a solid choice. Whatever choice you end up choosing, feel free to contact one of our professionals. We can make sure your needs are met, and you get the flooring installed that you deserve.