Epoxy flooring in Toronto keep gaining popularity. And that’s not for nothing. This method has a range of advantages to keeping in mind. This kind of flooring can not only transform any space but fortify the concrete and protect it from harsh impacts. In this article, we’re going to highlight all the pros and cons of the method to ease your choice.
What Are Epoxy Floor Coatings?
It’s a highly resistant substance that consists of different additives as epoxide resin and many more. Being mixed, epoxy floor coatings form a certain chemical reaction so that your floor gains distinct qualities. Thus, new stability and endurance in the surface achieved by the chemical reaction are one of the key features of epoxy flooring.
Normally, it’s applied to concrete floors for creating a high-performance, durable, and smooth surface that can last many years, withstanding heavy loads. It can be used for warehouses, industrial sites, commercial buildings, and even living houses.
Epoxy Floor Coatings: Benefits and Considerations
Each method has pros and cons. Epoxies are no exception. So, let’s elaborate on epoxy floor coatings in Toronto and overlook the advantages and downsides of the system.
Pros
Durable and good-looking is a few out of the range of benefits of epoxy flooring to get. Below you’ll find a list of the key features of the method that make it worth your attention.
1. Resistance
Epoxy can fortify the basement by blocking harmful elements.
- Epoxy is shock resistant so that jarring crashes will not chip your concrete any longer.
- It can resist definite levels of heat (200 F or even more). This ability makes commercial kitchen epoxy floor coatings and garage floor epoxy coatings be on demand nowadays.
- Chemicals won’t affect epoxy. So that you can just clean them up without damaging the coating/concrete.
- The substance is water-resistant that makes it a good waterproofing solution. (see epoxy waterproofing)
2. Long-Lasting
When it’s properly installed, there is no need to redo it. Actually, some brands ensure up to 10 years guarantee. However, you can be sure that epoxy coatings endure much longer than tile, carpet, wood flooring.
3. Strength
When using epoxy floor coatings for concrete, you can enhance the ability of the concrete to hold weight. Sometimes the concrete surface strength can be increased from 3,000 pounds per square inch to 10,000 pounds per square inch. Besides that, the surface is stable enough to hold heavy loads, wear, tear.
4. Protection
Being a sealant, epoxy protects concrete from appearing various defects and wearing down. It works as a preservation overlay.
5. Covering Defects
Using epoxy floor coatings, you can turn your space into a complete, smooth, and sleek surface. Besides that, the material covers previous defects and hides imperfections. Epoxy is presented in different colors and can be mixed with decorative chips of quartz/mica for a masking effect. Metallic epoxy floor coatings are another option to increase the polished ambiance
6. Cost-Effective
Being quite affordable and lasting, epoxy flooring is a highly cost-effective solution for any purpose. Thus, epoxy coatings for concrete are the best way to go because it provides not only a great look but it waterproof and straightens it. Besides, no purchase of new tile/vinyl, as well as extra installation costs, are needed.
7. Easy Maintenance
The simple upkeep is one more strong feature of the substance. It’s pretty easy to remove any pollution. What’s more, even bacteria/germs/grime don’t adhere to the epoxy that makes it to be an effective and sanitary coating.
8. Safety
This advantage is one of the key factors to use the substance for industrial and commercial projects. So, by investing in high-quality industrial epoxy floor coatings, commercial epoxy floor coatings, garage floor epoxy coatings, swimming pool coatings epoxy, epoxy stair coatings, etc. you get not only a neat and polished look of the space but create a safe workplace.
Traction can be achieved by using anti-slip mixes. Such additives as polymer grit, aluminum oxide, mortar, gravel, sand, and others increase the stability of the epoxy flooring to prevent falls and injuries. That’s crucial for distribution facilities, commercial kitchens, assembly plants, commercial garages, etc.
Cons
Having such a long list of advantages, epoxy flooring still has some disadvantages to keep in mind when finalizing. All the cons are outlined below.
1. Weather Conditions
If you choose epoxy flooring then get ready for strict and tough requirements to meet. Thus, it’s vital to have almost perfect weather conditions:
- Temperature from 70°F to 80°F;
- Humidity less than 85%.
Otherwise, a film of moisture will be created over the concrete and it’ll affect the bonding ability of the epoxy. What’s more, moisture trapped will begin bubbling and that will result in repairs.
2. Application: Extensive Floor Preparation
Extensive floor preps are essential and highly important for any epoxy floor coatings. The process of the preparation contains the next steps:
- The floor must be power-washed with a degreaser;
- It is to be etched with either muriatic acid or alternatives;
- Any damaged concrete is to be repaired with epoxy paste;
- An epoxy primer is to be applied.
Only after that, the application of the epoxy coating will take place.
3. Drying Time
Commonly, you are to wait about a week before it’s allowed to use the floor after the epoxy coating installation.
Condition | Waterborne epoxy coatings | Solid Epoxy | Solvent Epoxy |
Dry | 1-1.5 hours | 30-40 minutes | 3.5 hours |
Tack free/cured | 5-8 hours | In about 12 hours | 24 hours |
Ready for the 2nd coat | 8-10 hours | 24 hours | 12 hours |
Lightfoot traffic | 16-24 hours | – | – |
Heavy traffic/ready for service | 2-7 days | 7 days | 7 days |
Epoxy Floor Coatings Comparison
Let’s compare epoxy garage floor coatings (though they can be used for any other purposes as well):
Feature | Military Ultra | Armor II | Armor Chip | Armor Granite | Epoxy Coat | U-Coat It | Epoxy Master | Rock Solid | Norkland 100M & UV |
Solids Based | + | + | + | + | Cyclioaliphatic | – | + | + | + |
Water-Based | – | – | – | – | – | + | – | – | – |
Epoxy Thickness | 23 Mils | 14 Mils | 19 Mils | 23 Mils | 9.7 Mils | 2-3 Mils | 13 Mils | 3.6 Mils | 32 Mils |
Top Coat | + | + | + (2 coats) | + (3 coats) | As Add On | As add on | + | – | + |
+Urethane Fortified & UV Stable | + | + | + | + | – | Additional cost | Additional cost | – | – |
Color Chips | – | – | 8 lbs | 20 lbs | 1.5 lbs | 3.5 lbs as add on | 1 lb | 2 lbs | Additional |
Adhesion | 450 psi | 375 psi | 450 psi | 450 psi | No data | No data | 300 psi | no data | 350 psi |
Abrasion | 4mg | 8mg | 20/6*mg | 20/6*mg | 24mg | 54mg | 40 mg | 40 mg | 36 mg |
Hardness | Shore D-80 | Shore D-72 | Shore D-65/75 | Shore D-65/75 | No Data | No Data | No Data | Shore D-90 | Shore D-81 |
Impact Resistance | 160in. lbs. | 160in. lbs. | 160in. lbs | 160in. lbs | 87in. lbs | No data | 160in. lbs | no data | 50 in lbs |
Gloss Rating | 80+ | 80+ | 80+ | 80+ | No data | No data | 30. Semi-Gloss | 95 | No data |
Guarantee For Wear | 10 Yrs against Wear for residential use | 5 Yrs | 5 Yrs | 5 Yrs | None | None | None | None | None |
Free Shipping | + | + | + | + | – | – | – | + | + |
Non-Slip Additive | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | – |
Calibrated Notched Squeegee | + | + | + | + | – | – | – | – | – |
Epoxy Installation Professionals
Royal Concrete Coatings serves the Greater Toronto Area for more than 15 years. The company provides a wide range of options and high-quality materials as epoxy coatings. So, making sure in the effectiveness of the epoxy flooring and you’re interested in epoxy coatings for garage floors, kitchen, industrial spaces, and so on, then our experts can install new protective and glossy surface, including:
- Metallic epoxy floor coatings;
- Concrete floor epoxy coatings;
- Cement covering epoxy coatings;
- Epoxy resin coatings, and many more.
Feel free to check other projects of the company to see if the team suits you and your project. Also, you can get free consultation, analysis of project cost and/or materials.