A Guide on Comparing Epoxy Floor Coatings

Epoxy floor coating on a residential floor

When you choose new flooring for your garage floor, outdoor space, industrial use, or floor shop, epoxy floor coating is an exceptional choice. It stands out from the rest of the flooring systems for obvious reasons.

It’s durable, sturdy, takes lesser time to install and cure, lasts you a lifetime, and doesn’t require a lot of upkeep. We at Steel Coated Epoxy Floors take pride in offering floor coating services Draper. As epoxy flooring contractors, our goal is to offer the chicest and sleekest epoxy floor solutions to our clients.

If you’re wondering which type of epoxy floor coating is right for you, read this guide.

What is Epoxy?

Epoxy is a byproduct of epoxy resin. It’s a thermosetting compound that’s made from a chemical reaction. Epoxy coating is chemically different from other flooring materials such as paints.

The epoxy contains two-part systems – hardeners and polymer resins. These are mixed to create a layer of bond that is applied to the floor. The chemical reaction creates plastic material that we now know as epoxy.

What is Epoxy Floor System?

Epoxy floor coating refers to a flooring system that consists of multiple epoxy layers applied onto a floor with 2mm depth. Epoxy floors are different from epoxy floor coating based on the epoxy depth. The epoxy floor has 2mm thickness, whereas the epoxy coating is less than 2mm thick.

Epoxy-coated floor of a hangar

What Are the Types of Epoxy Floor Coating?

There’s a variety of epoxy floor coatings available in the market. The trick is to know which coating option is right for you and where to use it. We have listed all of the types of epoxy floor coating below:

1. Self-Dispersing Epoxy Floor Coatings

This type of coating is used in heavy-duty truck traffic and forklifts. The self-dispersing coating has exceptional mechanical strength. The self-dispersing coating also has a sub-type called self-dispersing epoxy quartz sand. This coating is mostly used by food processing industries or other businesses involving liquid due to its anti-slip characteristics.

Therefore, if your business involves food or beverage production, the best epoxy floor coating for your space would be self-dispersing epoxy coating with quartz sand. You can prevent on-site injuries and slip risks.

The quartz-filled coating is also used for decoration purposes because it combines stained quartz grains and high-performing polymer resin. It’s ideal for the cafeteria, locker rooms, showrooms, restrooms, lobbies, schools, and offices.

2. Self-Leveling Epoxy Floor Coatings

The self-leveling coating is typically used to apply on damaged, old, new, or cracked concrete floors. This coating has excellent self-leveling properties, so it smooths out any textured surface and leaves a seamless and shiny look.

The best thing about this coating is its versatility of colors. Hence, it can be easily used for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The best coating locations include warehouses, manufacturing buildings, kitchens, showrooms, athletic facilities, and commercial garages. You can also use it if you plan to take a floor remodeling project.

3. Mortar Epoxy Floor Coatings

Mortar coating is the most stringent system available in the market. This coating is made from 100% solid epoxies and quartz or graded sand. If your space is high impact and chemically resistant, mortar coating is the right choice for you.

This coating can withstand the daily beating of high traffic work. You can also use it to repair chips and cracks on the floor. This coating is ideal for commercial kitchens, mechanical spaces, manufacturing plants, warehouses, garages, and restaurants.

4. Anti-Static Epoxy Floor Coating

Some industrial facilities involve electro-static charge (ESD), which can be environmentally hazardous. These facilities use an anti-static coating to reduce the ESD hazard. Anti-static is a specialized coating that’s applied on the floor to accumulate any static electricity and prevent potential discharge.

This type of coating is ideal for spaces containing flammable material such as electronic, pharmaceutical, or chemical production facilities, spaces using liquid or flammable gases, or healthcare facilities.

5. Flaked Epoxy Floor Coating

Floor flake is the style of coating application rather than a type of coating itself. It consists of colored flakes that are injected inside epoxy to produce a multi-hued and vibrant look for a floor. Flakes offer a seamless and subtle groovy look and prevent the risk of falls or slips.

The flaked coating is ideal for locker rooms, clinics, commercial kitchens, sports venues, and showrooms. You can find a variety of textures, sizes, styles, and colors at our shop, including tan slate, tan steel, gray steel, and gray slate.

 Flaked epoxy floor coating in a basement

6. Vapor Barrier Epoxy Floor Coatings

Vapor epoxy is a liquid coating that’s applied on concrete floors to create an impenetrable surface. It’s ideal for basement floors because it reduces the vapor transmission to almost zero. Contractors apply this coat on hardwood, carpeted, vinyl, or tiled floors before final floor finishing.

7. Terrazzo Epoxy Floor Coatings

Terrazzo is a decorative coating made of aggregates and a mixture of epoxies to create a thin-set bond. Its decorative properties and easy-to-clean characteristics make this an ideal coating for large hallways, office buildings, commercial and school building entrances, and even homes.

8. Graveled Epoxy Floor Coatings

The graveled coating is another decorative type of epoxy coating. This coating is ideal for brand marks, logotypes, and residential properties. Graveled coating suits best in driveways because of its pea-size, multi-colored epoxies. It can instantly enhance the curb appeal of a residential property.

Now that you know each epoxy floor coating type and what type is ideal for commercial, industrial, and residential applications, reach out to us for further queries. Steel Coated Epoxy Floors has been serving in the industry for over 30 years.

 Garage floor coating done using epoxy resin

We’ve worked with varying degrees of projects which allows us to offer customized solutions for the residential and industrial epoxy floor coating needs of our clients. Whether you need steel-coated floors for your showroom flooring in Draper or concrete floors for your garage, we can deliver and install it all.

Request a free quote today or contact us for further information.