Differentiating Epoxy Polyurethane And Polyaspartic Floors
If you’re planning to have your concrete floor professionally coated, then you might be stuck between choosing either an epoxy, polyurethane or polyaspartic coating. Each have their own differences and benefits, so to help you choose, our garage floor epoxy team Guardian Garage Floors made a quick comparison below:
Epoxy
Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer that’s sold in three formulations: water based, solvent based and 100% solids. These allow for varying degrees of thickness from three mils to over 10 mils for a single coating, but if you want an extremely thick, hard and impact-resistant surface, we recommend going for the high-solids coating.
Epoxy is relatively easy to apply as it has special bonding characteristics and low VOC. Epoxy bonds extremely well to properly prepared concrete and can sometimes be used as a resurfacing agent for old or worn concrete. The 100% solids formulation has a self-leveling thickness that contributes to filling in the small hairline cracks and imperfections of your concrete floor while providing protection to make it resistant to stains and oils.
Polyurethane
While this can also be used for concrete and garage floor coatings, polyurethane coatings can’t really be used on their own, so they’re mostly used as top coats over epoxy coatings. Different formulations are also available, but aliphatic polyurethane is the desired choice as it has more flexibility than epoxy and aids in absorbing impacts better.
Polyaspartic
This coating and sealing product, especially in formulations such as 100% solids, are low or zero VOC and have nearly identical properties as polyurethane coatings. They’re long-wearing and abrasion, scratch, chemical, UV- and impact-resistant. What makes polyaspartics a popular choice is that it can be used as a complete flooring system as well as a top coat and that they provide faster drying time and high film builds.
As one of the Guardian Garage Floors is one of the most trusted installers garage floor finishes in the area. Call us today at (615) 645-3696 or fill out our convenient contact form to get started! We serve Nashville and neighboring areas.
