Your garage floor needs an effective coating to protect it from stains, oils, and other damaging elements. If you’re considering applying floor coating, your best options will be polyurea and epoxy. However, it can be challenging to determine which is best, and getting more information about their differences will go a long way.
What is Polyurea?
Polyurea is a flexible, highly adaptable substance made of an inert elastomeric substance created by combining an isocyanate compound with a synthetic resinous compound. It combines two relatively harmful chemical components into a single inert, environmentally friendly product. The physical properties of polyurea make it one of the best protective coatings when cured.
What is epoxy?
Epoxy is a type of polymer, a group of chemical compounds with large molecules with repeating subunits. That molecular structure is the source of epoxy toughness and hardness.
Which is the best?
Your choices will depend on various aspects. These include;
1. Installation
Polyurea has little or no odor and will dries faster than epoxy. You’ll have minimal downtime of 4-8 hours to walk on it and 24 hours for a car to drive on it after installation. However, epoxy garage floor coating will need more time or 12-48 hours to walk in and a week to drive the vehicles in the garage.
2. Durability
The durability of your epoxy floor coating will depend on the material you’ll use. You can choose from its three main components, i.e., solvent-based, water-based, and solid. Though it’s more expensive, solid is the sturdiest and thickness. Water-based and solvent-based are less durable and thinner but cheaper. Therefore, they won’t last long as the 100% solid epoxy.
Polyurea garage floor coatings are more robust and flexible. The main feature of epoxy is hardness, but a flexible coating system is more valuable in the long run.
Similarly, Polyurea is more durable but more expensive than epoxy. It’s also UV resistant, making it the best option if your garage floor is exposed to the sun.
3. Wetting ability
Wetting ability is the degree water or moisture seeps into the ground. In terms of wetting ability, polyurea is superior to epoxy. The feature is vital regarding waterproofing as it allows the coating to form a tight bond with the ground beneath it. And since there’s a high chance that your garage will face water exposure, having a barrier against their negative impact is the ideal choice.
4. Pricing
Epoxy garage floor coating is cheaper than Polyurea coatings. So, depending on your budget, you can choose the best one. Be ready to spend more on a floor coating that will serve you longer and in good condition. It will save you regular maintenance costs or the need to regularly install new garage floor coatings.
5. Maintenance
If you choose epoxy for your garage, you must quickly remove grit, dirt, and chemical spills from the surface. If you don’t, the spills and dirt will ruin the appearance of your garage floor coating.
Polyurea is more resistant to chemicals and physical impacts and will require less maintenance. But to maintain the appearance and keep the floor in radiant condition, you should remove spills soon as you notice them.
Conclusion
Epoxy or polyurea? This is the most common question garage owners’ face when installing garage floor coatings. From the above information, it should be easier to choose what best suits your needs.
