There are a lot of facts floating around out there about industrial epoxy flooring, and as a facility owner or manager, it’s worth your while to know some of these facts, while others can simply be disregarded. This discussion will center on those facts that are worth knowing and considering when you’re looking to install a new industrial epoxy floor coating at your facility.

 

Difference Between Epoxy Floor Coatings and Floor Paints

Standard floor paints are all one part oil-based or water-based, whereas epoxy floor coatings are usually two parts solid-based, consisting of a hardening agent and a resin component. Floor paint coatings come ready to use and can be applied to your floor surface after ensuring that the substance is well mixed.

An industrial epoxy floor coating has to be combined from the two components to create the final product, and it will adhere to a concrete floor—or whatever your factory flooring might consist of—much better than any floor painting will. An epoxy floor coating will also have some highly desirable characteristics after application, including being waterproof, stain-proof, and mold- and mildew-proof. It will also be very easy to clean and might well last more than 20 years.

 

Is A Primer Necessary for an Epoxy Floor Coating?

For industrial floor epoxy coatings, the answer is usually yes, simply because it involves laying down two coats of epoxy, and for the heavy traffic common to a manufacturing facility, it’s better to take advantage of that extra protection. Some epoxy flooring products claim to be an all-in-one kind of product, with primer, epoxy, and topcoat all included, but in an industrial setting, you’re better off not taking chances and simply applying an epoxy primer before the actual floor coating.

 

What Is an Epoxy Topcoat?

Most types of epoxy are either considered a base coat or a middle coat, but all of them are intended to have a coating applied on top of them, and this is the coating referred to as the topcoat. Since topcoats are made to be chemically harder than the base coat that they are applied to, they are ideal for protecting the underlying base coating. While base coatings are meant to offer adhesion and thickness, topcoats offer ultraviolet protection and durability.

 

What Is Meant by Pot Life?

Pot life in the context of industrial epoxy floor coatings is the window of time you have to work with an epoxy after it has been mixed. A high-quality epoxy coating will generally have less than an hour of pot life that you can work with at a normal interior room temperature. Epoxies that have a longer pot life than one hour are generally of somewhat lesser quality, and they can often leave seam lines that are visible and cure to a softer finish. High-quality epoxy floor coatings will generally cure to a high gloss finish, which is rock-hard and very appealing to the eye.

 

Epoxy Floor Coating Ratings

In order to predict how durable your epoxy floor coating and topcoat will be under stress, you need to know what the abrasion loss rating is. The standard industry test for this is called the Taber C–17 Abrasion Test, and it works by applying an abrasion wheel with a specific weight on it to the coating and then spinning it at a specific speed for a predetermined amount of time.

The amount of epoxy coating material that gets worn off by this process is measured in milligrams and approximates the wear and tear that would be applied by traffic, and that the coating has to withstand. For industrial epoxy flooring, the abrasion test reading should be less than 10 mg.

There are two other ratings that are somewhat important to know about your epoxy floor coating. The PSI adhesion rating refers to how well your epoxy sticks to the flooring, and this should be at least 350 psi. The impact rating refers to how much of an impact your flooring can take before it will break or crack, and this should be in the neighborhood of 150 psi or above for industrial applications.

 

Industrial Epoxy Flooring in Albuquerque

To get the best epoxy industrial flooring in Albuquerque, contact JTC Inc. to have the ideal commercial epoxy flooring applied at your facility. You can be sure of getting the perfect coating for your needs with expert installation and professionalism. Don’t leave your floor coating to chance—contact JTC Inc. to have the right product applied and the job done right.