What Is the Best Epoxy Floor Coating for Commercial Flooring in 2024?
Epoxy floor coatings not only help protect concrete floors from damage and wear, but they also help prevent slipping and make cleaning easier. For commercial and industrial buildings, it’s important to choose the right product to protect your concrete floors. In this helpful guide, we’ll take a look at some of the best epoxy floor coating options.
What Is Epoxy Flooring?
Epoxy floor coatings are ideal for many commercial applications because of their durability, chemical resistance, and aesthetic appeal. Epoxy is a blend of resin and a hardening agent that creates a hard surface with a clear gloss finish. It also comes in different colors, which can help mark areas for certain functions (loading bays, walkways, etc.).
While epoxy isn’t UV resistant, installers can apply a UV stable topcoat that will protect it from sunlight and prevent yellowing over time. In the heat of the greater Charlotte area summer, UV protection is especially important for floors that see frequent exposure to sunlight.
How Epoxy Compares to Other Concrete Floor Coatings
Although many people use the term “epoxy” interchangeably with other floor coatings, they all have different ingredients and applications.
Polyurethane
In addition to epoxy, polyurethane is one of the most popular choices for concrete floor coating. The key differences between epoxy and polyurethane are:
- Flexibility: Epoxy forms a more rigid coating, while polyurethane can flex and bend. This means polyurethane can withstand more extreme temperature changes, but epoxy is more resistant to scratching.
- Durability: Epoxy is more resistant to heat and chemical damage than polyurethane, making it the more common choice in industrial facilities.
- UV resistance: Polyurethane is naturally resistant to UV rays, while epoxy will yellow with prolonged sun exposure.
Novolac
Novolac is actually a specific type of epoxy rather than a completely different floor coating. The chemical processes used to make novolac epoxies result in a more dense resin. The added density makes novolac more durable than standard epoxy in certain applications.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of epoxy vs novolac:
- Chemical resistance: The main advantage of novolac’s dense composition is that it stands up to chemicals much better than regular epoxy. This makes novolac a better choice for chemical processing facilities, labs, and other environments with corrosive substances.
- Durability: Novolac and epoxy have comparable strength against scratching and impacts. However, novolac is ideal for chemical and heat resistance.
- Cost: While novolac offers extra protection, it’s also a more expensive option than regular epoxy in most cases.
Urethane Mortar
Urethane mortar uses a blend of resin and silicates, giving it a cement-like property. To give it the high-gloss look of epoxy, installers apply a layer of epoxy and top it with a coat of polyurethane. These are the factors to keep in mind when comparing epoxy and urethane mortar:
- Cure time: One of the key advantages to urethane mortar is its fast cure time. This makes it a good option for minimizing disruption to a facility’s operations.
- Thermal resistance: Urethane mortar also resists extreme temperatures better than other floor coatings.
- VOCs: Epoxy coatings contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while urethane mortar doesn’t. VOCs like solvents contribute to the consistency and adhesion of epoxy, but they also result in odors and fumes during the curing process.
Choosing the Right Floor Coating
Each floor coating has advantages and drawbacks. Which is best for your facility depends on your budget as well as the hazards of your industry’s day-to-day operations. As a result, different industries will benefit more from certain coatings.
- Medical: Polyurethane is the top choice for hospitals and clinics because it’s easy to clean and sterilize.
- Food and beverage: Kitchens and food processing plants should consider urethane mortar for its heat resistance and lack of VOCs.
- Manufacturing: Epoxy is usually ideal for production environments due to its hardness and fire resistance.
- Automotive and aerospace: Garages and aircraft hangars may benefit from a chemical-resistant coating like novolac, but epoxy is also a good choice.
- Schools and city buildings: The aesthetic appeal of polyurethane and ease of cleaning makes it a good coating for floors in civic buildings.
- Chemical and pharmaceutical: Novolac offers the best chemical resistance of any concrete floor coating.
Get Started Protecting Your Concrete Floors Today
When choosing the best epoxy floor coating for your facility, there are several factors to keep in mind: your industry, your budget, and how much time you can spare while the coating cures. The environment your concrete floor needs to withstand is also key.
If you still have questions about protecting your concrete floors, schedule a free consultation with us. We’ll inspect your facility, make recommendations that suit your unique needs, and provide a free quote. We proudly serve commercial and residential clients throughout the greater Charlotte area. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation!
