It's not all bad for epoxy
Epoxy resin has been the backbone of floor coating systems for around a century.
In terms of cost, epoxy is a mid range product, and it’s versatility makes it a sound choice for many applications.
Epoxy is a thermoplastic. Often reffered to 2 pot, it uses 2 liquid chemical components to mix, react and harden. It generates heat during the chemical reaction stage, hence the term Thermo.
Material science has developed over the years and now we have a lot of alternatives to epoxy. And Epoxies have also developed to have so many different performance characteristics that almost make one formulation unrelated to another.
Pros of Epoxy.
1) Cost – as a floor coating Epoxy applied as a roll coat can be at the lower end of the scale. But you need to consider the thickness of the coating. While a thin coating may be fine for foot traffic, you need to increase the thickness to withstand heavier weight and impact. Note water and solvent based epoxies reduce in thickness when curing.
2) Ease of application – many formulations are easy to apply, mostly due to their long “working time”.
3) Can be applied in thick layers. Some formulations can allow 2-10mm to be applied at one time. This can be good for impact resistance.
4) Good chemical and abrasion resistance. Different formulations can be used to resist different chemicals.
5) Low odour – waterbased and solvent free epoxies usually don’t have strong odour or harmful fumes (low levels)
Cons of Epoxy
1) Slower application and return to use. Other products like polyaspartic can save days in application and return to use times.
2) Will discolour with UV exposure – if exposed to sunlight or other forms of UV, the colour can change, lighter colours are more effected.
3) Easily scratched – most epoxies have a hard brittle finish, and can quickly show scuffs and scratches
4) Abrasion resistance – While epoxies are not terrible for abrasion resistance, products like Polyaspartic offer 3-5 times higher resistance.
5) Heat resistance – epoxies can typically only handle 50-60 Deg C, then they expand and lose bond and structural integrity. Not good for floor subject to heat or steam cleaning.
