What you need to know about epoxy flooring

“Not all epoxy coatings are the same! That’s the reason we made this guide of what you need to know about epoxy flooring. A large number of cheap products are also available in the market to cheat you, therefore a careful evaluation of different products is required to choose the one which is the best. Now the question is, how to choose the epoxy floor coating?”

Have you seen wonderful glossy floors or classy floors with a matte look? This is all thanks to the epoxy flooring system that made it possible to create an unmatched, attractive, and seamless reflective surface. Epoxy Flooring is highly recommended to use in your garage, hospitals, hotels, and even in your home.

You might have heard about the three terms- epoxy paint, epoxy coating, and epoxy flooring. However, what is the differences between them? First, we need to understand the following:

It is one part oil or water-based just like an ordinary garage enamel or semi-gloss, as well, epoxy paint is used for walls or ceilings but is not recommended to use on the floor as it bears lots of vehicle and foot traffic.

According to the patents.google.com, the chemical composition of epoxy contains the following:

1. At least one silicon epoxy resin,
2. Minimum one hydroxyl-containing compound
3. At the very least one anhydride curing agent
4. One ancillary curing catalyst

The optional compound could be one of the following:

1. A thermal stabilizer
2. A UV stabilizer
3. Coupling index agents or
4. Refractive index modifiers.

When deciding which epoxy coating is best you need to know the basic qualities that are present in a good epoxy. Keep in mind that you can choose the best epoxy among the rest. Now, let us briefly understand what these qualities are.

Criteria to Choose the Best Epoxy Coating

Easy to Clean

A good epoxy floor coating is the one that is stain proof and easy to clean.

The best floor epoxies are 100% solid based; 50% solid epoxies are bad because that means 50% of the coating will evaporate as it dries up.

The best epoxies require floor preparation. Marketers that are claiming their epoxy does not require any floor preparation are deceiving you.

Make sure that you use a primer before the first coat. Primer soaks deep into cracks/uneven surfaces and seals the floor. It also saves your epoxy from being wasted. You can increase the epoxy coverage by 25% using a primer.

Epoxy provides thickness to your floor but the layer that comes in direct contact with the traffic and tires is the Top Coat. When urethane is present in the topcoat, it makes it hard, reflective and resistant to UV rays, water and oil, so, make sure that your epoxy contains the topcoat.

Pot life is the maximum time limit under which you have to work on epoxies once you mix both parts. The longer the pot life is, the cheaper the epoxy. Typically, the pot life of a good epoxy is 45 min at 70°C. Any epoxy with pot life above an hour is of cheap quality.

Checking the abrasion rating is crucial. To get the abrasion rating the Taber C-17 abrasion test is performed. The lower the abrasion rating is, the better quality of epoxy. A good quality epoxy has an abrasion rating maximum of 5mg.

Epoxy flooring is one of the most versatile types of flooring products. You can apply it to multiple places used for various purposes, for example, it can be used in:

1. Old or new concrete floor
2. Commercial or industrial flooring
3. Entrance of a hotel or lobby
4. Warehouse floors
5. Commercial and residential garages
6. Airplane hangers
7. Manufacturing and distribution facilities
8. Retail stores and showrooms
9. Hospitals
10. House, kitchens, and gyms.

There is a four-step process of installing epoxy flooring on surfaces. Typically, epoxy can take about 20 to 30 hours to set and walk on. But for complete curing, the epoxy takes 30 days to completely harden and take its final form. Before understanding the process of installation, you should be aware of what comes in a standard epoxy kit.

The standard epoxy kit contains the following items:

1. A ‘Part A’ that contains resin of the color that you want to install on the floor.
2. A ‘Part B’ that contains the hardener

Our first step is to prepare the surface for bonding through diamond grinding. This step produces a very smooth surface, eliminates all the imperfections, unevenness and opens up the pores of the concrete so that it can absorb the base layer properly. After that, we use an industrial vacuum cleaner to remove even the finest dust from the floor.

Next, we apply the primer to do all necessary patch and fill work in order to repair cracks and others surface imperfections. The primer also eliminates the risk of bubbles and gases which, if not removed, may create bubbles on the epoxy flooring, and also extends the life of the epoxy and provides better adhesion to the base surface.

Our next step is to apply the first coat of polyaspartic or epoxy colored base coat with a full chip broadcast coat.

The last step is to apply a polyaspartic protective clear top coat and allow the surface to completely dry.

It’s better to call in professionals to do the job for you since it is a technical and time-consuming process. However, if you want to do it by yourself, follow these next steps:

Step: 1

Check whether the epoxy has cured properly or not as per the institutions.

Step: 2

Remove all the dust and oil from the floor.

Step:3

Use 80-grit sandpaper to sand the floor.

Step: 4

Vacuum and wipe the floor to make sure that no dust is left.

Step:5

Finally, apply the epoxy and wait for another 12-24 hours.

The epoxy adhesives market value globally stood at an estimated 7.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. This market is forecast to increase its value in five years, reaching around 9.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2024.

Global Market Value of Epoxy Adhesives

The statistics show that the global market value of epoxy resin in 2015 was 40% amounting to 7.9 billion U.S. dollars. That number is expected to rise to 11.22 billion U.S. dollars by 2021.

Epoxy Resin Market Size, Share, and Trends Analysis Report, By Application  Segment Forecasts To 2024

Source: Grand view research

Global Resin Market Value of Epoxy

Source Statista