The Epoxy Floor Mystery

I found out that there is some mystery about the Epoxy Floors.
People who are connected with chemical industry or in the construction business will laugh about this issue.
Simply, epoxy is some kind of “Plastics” (but a very specific one, and also highly technologically improved)
So, the Epoxy Floor is “a plastic floor”. “What kind of Plastic Floor?” you will ask.
They differ greatly in many of their characteristics from the standard “plastic floors “like PVC Floors, Polyurethane floors, etc...

PVC Floors are very good floor coverings for damaged floor surfaces (old tiles, damaged concrete or any kind of wooded floors). They look very good, it is simple to lay them, and it is very easy to maintain them. However, their resistance to mechanical and chemical damages is very poor.

Polyurethane resins are generally applied on various wood floors.
They are also very commonly used in boat building and in the furniture industry, and can be additionally used on concrete.

Polyurethane resins applied on various wood floors can be called Polyurethane floors. Polyurethane used on wood floors can have an extremely glossy look, however
modern interior design trends prefer a more matte look. Polyurethane resins applied over classical wood floors have many advantages over standard PVC floors, but they are poorly resistant to mechanical shocks or high concentrations of chemical substances.

Polyurethane resins and Epoxy resins are part of a two-component thermo-set plastic material that requires a hardener in order to determine the majority of the handling and physical properties of the base. There are many different chemical formulations of Polyurethane and Epoxy resins (water, ammoniac, etc.)

Epoxy resins are often modified by using other products in order to improve some of the measured properties of the final product such as hardiness or tensile strength. The use of several variations of unmodified and modified epoxy resins with the same epoxy hardener will produce some variations of their properties. However, the epoxy hardener is the primary factor in the base property.

Every Epoxy Floor can be made to satisfy the customers’ demands, since it is possible to provide epoxy resin systems of specific characteristics. Epoxy Floors have a very great advantage over other classic or plastic floor coverings which are produced of fixed physical, technical and chemical characteristics.

All Epoxy Floors are resistant to all kinds of household chemicals. They are also resistant to mechanical shocks, scratches, etc., even if they are made of water based epoxy resins.
For the industrial purposes, Epoxy Floors can provide an impermeable seal that will protect both concrete and/or the underlying ground water against liquid pollutants - which are at the same time chemically corrosive - as those coming from metal processing, galvanizing, food processing (milk, meat, vegetables, etc). They are also resistant to chemicals, single and/or combined, as well as to their mutual effects (when combined) and consequences of any of the chemical reactions.
There are many types of Epoxy Floors: Self dispersing Epoxy Floors, Self leveling Epoxy Floors, Mortar Epoxy Floors, Graveled Epoxy Floors, Epoxy Terrazzo, Epoxy Antistatic floors, Epoxy Flaked floors, etc...
There are many reasons why to choose an Epoxy Floor than another floor covering. Epoxy Floors can be applied over many different materials, including steel, concrete, and wood. However, concrete is the best surface for laying Epoxy Floors.

Why don’t you choose an epoxy floor for your home?

When I talk with people aboutEpoxy floors, too often they say “They are very good, but they’re too expensive”.

Hm… ? Are they? Let’s see some facts.

Most epoxy
floors are very strong .They are resistant to all household chemicals, they are also resistant to mechanical shocks, scratching, etc. They are easy to clean and maintain.

Epoxy floors can be modernly designed and they have a very good visual appearance.
So,there are many reason why to choose epoxy floors than other floor coverings.Since it is possible to provide the Epoxy
resins systems of specific characteristics, epoxy floors may be made to satisfy the users demands. It is a very great advantage over other floor coverings produced of unchangable physical, technical and chemical characteristics.
Ok, I must admit that there are many other kinds of floor coverings that look just as fabulous as marble, granite, designed art concrete and some others. These floors are greatly favoured by architects and interior designers. That’s why they are so popular with people for whom entrance floors and living room floors have a special significance.

And what about epoxy terrazzo floors? Well, they may look almost exactly as marble, granite, etc. floors,and they are more profitable especiually when large aerias are in question.

And what about floors in basements, garages, workshops, store rooms, laundry rooms, heating rooms, or footpaths around pools, etc?

Most people don’t care much about the floors in those rooms, or they are the last thing they think of . They usually just leave it to the designer or contractor to decide what floor covering to be used.

Also, the truth is that people usually run out of money in the last phase of building or remodeling their houses so they cover their “less important” floors with the cheapest floor coverings they can buy and for which they say they are “not too bad” (usually some vinyl or tile), or they don’t cover these floors at all.

It should be remembered that thefloors in garages, store rooms etc. are in very frequent use and are very often cleaned.

Also, basement or garage floors, or footpaths around houses and pools are more often damaged than the other floors in the house.

Epoxy floors are long lasting floors. If they are done with high quality epoxy resins and correctly,they can be in use for more than 50 years.

Having all that in mind, do you still think that epoxy floors are exspensive? I am sure you will say they are not.

So when you consider investing in your floors, maybe you should reconsider epoxy Floor coverings after all.