Epoxy Floor Coatings

Epoxy flooring systems

As a durable solution, epoxy floors are a top-pick for businesses looking for safe flooring that is easy to maintain, clean, and customize. Replacing and repairing flooring can be expensive, so sustainable options like epoxy are highly sought after in many industries—including manufacturing, education, food processing, and healthcare.

What is Epoxy Flooring ?

Epoxy flooring—also called resinous flooring or polymer flooring—encompasses a two-part mixture consisting of resin and hardener, placed over concrete. A skilled contractor can even apply epoxy over wood, VCT, tile, and many other common industrial and commercial floors. The chemicals react together, bond to the substrate, and form a hard plastic. It also creates a surface that’s easy to design and clean, especially when paired with Epoxy cove bases.

Because a quick return to service is important to customers, there are epoxies available that cure faster than the typical 24-72 hours.

What is Epoxy Cove Base?

Most rooms have a 90-degree angle where the floors meet the wall, leaving a place for mold, bacteria, and moisture to congregate. An epoxy cove base creates a seamless, smoothly curved slope between floor and wall, and it covers the bottom section of the wall. This eliminates the need to scrub crevices, which is critical in many industries that have high sanitation standards, such as healthcare or food processing.

Types of Epoxy Floors

The nature of your business will determine the type of flooring needed to meet your industry demands and challenges. To choose the option that works best for your space, you must understand the types of epoxy floors.

Anti-slip Floor Coatings

Epoxy coating is smooth, which means it can be a slip hazard. Adding a special coating with sand, gravel, or other additives transforms the floor to have a non-slip texture. Anti- slip flooring can be found in factories that have high machinery traffic or tiled floors, healthcare facilities, commercial food plants or restaurants, etc. Coatings may be transparent or decorated.

Antimicrobial Floor Coatings

For food manufacturers, medical facilities, and other FDA-regulated entities prone to bacterial growth, antimicrobial flooring is the only option. In these facilities, bodily fluids, product spills, and residue are no strangers to the floor, so frequent cleaning is a must. Unfortunately, concrete holds moisture and is porous, making it vulnerable to microbes like mildew or mold that grow in damp spaces. Antimicrobial floor coating dries fast and releases agents to form a non-porous surface that’s seamless and absent of any holes or cracks where microbes may grow.

Decorative Floor Coatings

Add your company’s logo, images, or other decorative elements to create a unique design. Decorative floor coatings have a dual appeal, as they look good while being durable and low maintenance. You can also enhance the appearance of other types of epoxy flooring. For instance, add decorative specs to anti-slip floors or tint the color of ESD floors for a coating that’s aesthetically attractive and practical.

Thermal Shock-Resistant Floor Coatings

When you need floors that can withstand long-term wear and tear, thermal shock-resistant coating can be a great choice. The thermal shock option is slow to deteriorate, preventing floor cracks or breaks. It’s the safest option for facilities with extreme temperatures, cleaning procedures, or large equipment, such as food and beverage plants or facilities with ovens or coolers. With an excellent team of experienced field managers and foremen.

ESD (Electrostatic Dissipating) Floor Coatings

Floors can hold an electrostatic charge, which is a common, natural build-up of static electricity. When most of us think about static electricity we think of the fun children enjoy rubbing a balloon on their hair and then sticking the balloon to a wall, or when indoor humidity is low and we get a shock when we touch a doorknob. It is often harmless, but it can damage equipment—particularly electronics—or even lead to personal injury when there’s a large static charge.

Epoxy is an insulating material, so electronic assemblies, labs, or medical centers and spaces with high electronic activity need ESD floor coating to prevent charge build-up and outages. ESD flooring reroutes electrostatic charges to deter build-up and reduce damage to electronics and people. Keep in mind that it does require some upkeep to get the best results.

Benefits of Epoxy Floors

There is a range of visual and practical advantages to going with an epoxy floor. For high-traffic locations or surfaces that may be overexposed to weather elements, epoxy flooring provides a durable, safe, adaptable, and easy-to-clean option.

Durable

The resin and hard nature of epoxy adds a protective layer to old or unfinished concrete, making it more resistant to high impact, including stains, climate, weight, trauma, fire, or water. Epoxy floor have a long lifespan and outlast carpet, wood, or tile. Plus, they don’t require frequent repairs.

Cleanable

Epoxy floors contain a sealant that is resistant to moisture, dirt, chemicals, and dust. Because epoxy is very smooth, it’s an easy surface to clean. It can be wiped free of stains or swept without damaging the coating. Plus, antimicrobial coatings can be added to epoxy to make it even easier to sanitize. This feature is extremely important—and a part of regulations—in healthcare, commercial kitchens, and food processing facilities.

Safe

With durable, anti-slip choices, epoxy helps to fortify a safer work environment, with better traction to decrease the chance of falls or injury. The protective finish also is light reflective, improving visibility in garages or warehouses. Additionally, epoxy is essentially non-toxic—once cured, it won’t release fumes in the air or trace amounts of chemicals in water.

Attractive

Epoxy coatings are available in various colors and customizable options. It’s a cost-effective way to transform the look of commercial spaces. For example, decorative flakes and colorful finishes can dress up a restaurant for the ideal ambiance, while simultaneously covering up blemishes and imperfections.

How Epoxy Flooring Works

Step 1: Prep

Diamond grind the floor to open up concrete pores and prepare the floor.

Step 2: Crack Chase

Cut any cracks or joints in the flooring.

Step 3: Patch

Patch any cracks or holes to get a smooth epoxy finish.

Step 4: Prime

Prime the floor with 100% solids epoxy.

Step 5: Finish

Apply a finishing layer of color or clear coating over the epoxy.

Step 6: Optional coating

Broadcast your new epoxy floor with an anti-slip aggregate.

Business Uses for Epoxy Flooring

It once was believed that concrete floors were only for industrial or recreational locations. But options in coating and style make epoxy appealing to businesses from many different industries, including:

Food processing Facilities: Adhere to sanitation and health requirements with epoxy floorings.
Walk in freezers: Especially for large frozen goods warehouses and distribution centers where sanitation is critical with epoxy thermal-shock flooring..
Warehouses: Provide a secure and injury-free workspace in warehouses with anti-slip coatings for epoxy flooring.
Production floors: Reap the benefits of durable and practical, cost-saving epoxy flooring for plants and production lines.
Manufacturing facilities: Meet the many needs and regulation requirements with epoxy flooring for chemical plants, electronic production factories, and food processing plants.
Hospitals and Medical facilities: Gain ESD, anti-slip, and thermal epoxy floor coatings benefits, as well as an added level of sanitation and protection.
Commercial Kitchens: Easily meet antimicrobial and anti-slip requirements for restaurant kitchens with epoxy flooring.
Airports: Meet safety and high-traffic durability flooring needs with epoxy floors.
Schools: Help your elementary schools, colleges, or universities stand up to high traffic and give you a professional appearance.
Laboratories: Deliver safety and cleanliness, as well as meet regulation requirements, with epoxy floors.
Retail Stores: Enjoy the durability of epoxy floors for convenience stores or shopping centers.