Choosing the perfect floor coating for your commercial space might sound like a relatively easy task—pick a style, material, and color, and you’re ready for application. But it’s not quite that easy. In fact, you might be surprised by the numerous factors you will need to consider in choosing the right concrete floor coating for your North or South Carolina-based business. Consider these basic issues to start:
- · Safety
- · Durability
- · Cleanability
- · Installation
- · Aesthetics
- · Regulations
- · Cost
And realize that there is no one-size fits all floor coating, and that all of these issues will need to be factored together in the decision-making process. While one floor coating option might address specific durability and cleanability issues, it might not meet your distinct safety and regulatory needs. Another coating might be perfect for your aesthetics, but not meet your safety criteria.
The good news is that Concrete Coatings of the Carolinas offers more than 60 different floor coating types made out of the four most popular coating materials:
- · Epoxy
- · Polyurethane
- · Novolac
- · Urethane Mortar
This ensures our ability to find the perfect floor coating to address all pertinent factors involved in your flooring choice. So, let’s take a closer look at the seven primary factors you need to consider in choosing your floor coating.
1. The Need for Safety is Obvious
This factor hardly needs raising, as every facility manager knows the importance of safety. However, safety concerns may be dictated in part by the type of business, and/or may be dictated by federal Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA) regulations. Safety considerations can include slickness, grip, fire resistance, and impact absorption in the event of slip and falls or material breakage. Potential chemical reactions between the floor coating material and facility substances also needs consideration.
2. How Will Wear and Tear Will Affect Your Flooring?
Durability is another common sense consideration. You need to consider what activities are going to impact the flooring on a daily basis and the level and type of resistance your floor coating needs in order to sustain its durability over time. Durability can be affected by foot and machinery traffic, chemical reactions, UV light, material/machinery weight bearing, thermal shock, temperature extremes, and more.
3. Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
No matter what your business, keeping the premises clean is likely a key daily consideration. However, some business operations need to be cleaner than others, whether from a regulatory or customer standpoint, or perhaps both. Different flooring types and styles offer different levels of cleanability, and we can help you find the one that perfectly meets your cleanliness needs.
4. Installation is a Matter of Timing
Different floor coating types and styles come with varying installation needs and application time frames. Some floor coatings are relatively quick and easy to install, while others may require long curing times or otherwise have complex installation processes. It all comes down to considering your timing needs along with how the installation is going to impact operations in your facility.
5. Do You Need Your Flooring to be Pleasing to the Eye?
Aesthetics will likely come down to personal preference. Are you seeking a unique look to your floor, or perhaps want to incorporate brand colors? Maybe you need different floor colorings for different rooms in your facility, or need color-designated walkways and/or forklift lanes. Whatever the case, aesthetics will have to be dictated in part by floor coating material type and the other listed factors.
6. Meeting Regulatory Requirements
We’ve already touched upon this factor in relation to safety and cleanliness, but the bottom line is that your floor coating may have to meet certain regulatory requirements. This could be due to OSHA, state laws, and/or local building permits.
7. What’s it Going to Cost?
We would all like to live under the paradigm of “cost is no object,” but you’re running a business, so obviously cost is a significant factor. Costs of the different concrete floor coating options vary widely, so the costs for your specific floor coating should be weighed through a cost-benefit approach with these other listed factors.
Consult with the Experts at Concrete Coatings of the Carolinas
Serving businesses and municipalities across North and South Carolina, Concrete Coatings of the Carolinas stands ready to help you choose the perfect commercial floor coating option for your business. Our dedicated experts can help guide you through the seven considerations listed above and address any other floor coating questions you might have. For a free consultation to thoroughly assess your floor coating needs, fill out the form below.