Epoxy and urethane floor resin systems both provide safety, maintenance, and aesthetic advantages. Their strong chemical, temperature, moisture, and thermal-shock resistance makes them the ideal choice for use in breweries, commercial kitchens, warehouses, production plants or production sites.
However, they also vary in other key areas, including UV durability, abrasion resistance and chemical-resistance. This article will help you select a product suitable for your commercial facility.
Flexibility
Epoxy and urethane offer different levels of flexibility, chemical resistance, water protection, and longevity – each one suitable for commercial flooring environments. Determining which floor would best suit your facility depends on several factors including size, layout and what you intend to use it for.
Epoxies can withstand high volumes of traffic, can support heavy machinery and are tough against scratching or denting, making them popular choices in restaurants and food production facilities. Epoxy can even be mixed with antimicrobial additives to ensure it meets stringent food safety requirements.
Polyurethane coatings feature much thinner film thickness and more flexible surface quality compared to epoxy coatings, and can withstand higher temperatures without cracking under pressure. They’re UV stable too – meaning they won’t yellow like an epoxy when exposed to sunlight! They’re even ideal for mixing with anti-slip aggregate to make an anti-slip surface, plus are resistant against tire staining stains – making them the ideal choice for garage environments.
Durability
Epoxy flooring tends to be more resilient in the short term than polyurethane epoxy flooring due to its hard surface’s resistance against impact and abrasion, making it suitable for environments involving heavy machinery or vehicles. When it comes to long-term durability, however, urethane clearly stands out. Due to its flexibility it can withstand more damage while being resistant to chemicals such as solvents and alkalis; making urethane an excellent choice for food processing floors where lactic acids found in dairy will likely be present.
Notably, both types of floor coating are relatively easy to maintain despite their durability, thanks to creating single, seamless surfaces resistant to microbial growth and abrasion; heat and chemical spills; UV stability (no yellowing over time); these features make both options suitable options for airports, customer handling points, and industrial plants; the right one will depend on your individual circumstances and needs.
Chemical Resistance
Your industry and facility may require resinous flooring that is resistant to certain chemicals or solutions, which is why many clients opt for a chemical-resistant urethane floor coating system like Resudeck which offers resistance against light to medium chemical attacks such as acids and solvents, making this the perfect option for food processing facilities, laboratories and other places that use harsh cleaning solutions.
Epoxy can withstand exposure to some chemicals, but if your work involves handling acidic materials such as lactic or sulfuric acids, urethane provides better protection. With its superior resistance and more durable cured-film thickness, urethane offers enhanced impact/abrasion resistance compared to epoxy systems.
Epoxies can also be sensitive to humidity levels and yellow over time, making them not the ideal solution in environments with higher relative humidity levels. While epoxies may yellow over time, polyurethane offers far less humidity sensitivity while being more stable than epoxy systems with faster curing times – this makes polyurethane systems an excellent way to quickly get your floor back into use after damage occurs.
UV Resistance
Epoxy can yellow over time when exposed to sunlight. Urethane offers resistance against UV light without turning yellow – making it the better choice for commercial floors that will be regularly exposed to direct sunlight.
Epoxy and urethane floor coatings are both long-term durable solutions with excellent chemical resistance, impact resistance, and strength properties. You’ll find both options available in various textures and colors to meet any design aesthetic you might have in mind.
Making an informed decision between epoxy and urethane depends on a thorough assessment of both your space and use case, including chemical resistance, UV sensitivity, texture preferences, installation timeframe and cost considerations. Urethane boasts superior abrasion resistance than epoxy which makes it more suitable for heavy foot traffic and equipment usage; its flexible nature can withstand crushing forces from machinery or vehicles as well as crushing forces from machinery being crushed underfoot; furthermore it can be mixed with sand to form non slip surfaces that resist crushing forces from crushing forces from machinery/vehicing vehicles when under compression forces from machinery/vehicing forces from machinery/vehicing forces from machinery/vehicing forces than epoxy makes it suitable for warehouses, manufacturing facilities as well as back of house areas in hospitals, hotels and casinos – perfect for warehouses, manufacturing facilities as well as back of house areas found within hospitals, hotels or casinos!
Aesthetics
Epoxy and urethane both provide comprehensive floor coating systems designed to offer protection, maintenance, safety, aesthetic appeal and long-term longevity. Both create shiny surfaces which reflect light, making rooms appear brighter while helping with energy efficiency and glare reduction. They both protect floors against liquid spills while offering chemical resistance – as well as offering decorative styles in various colors to maximize aesthetics within spaces.
Polyurethane offers longer lifespan and superior abrasion and gouge resistance than epoxy, along with greater UV light resistance that won’t yellow over time. Unfortunately, however, its thin dry film thickness means it may not work well as a self-levelling coat or fill small cracks and divots in the floor surface. Furthermore, humidity levels can pose issues which make this flooring choice less ideal in areas with humid conditions.
PU can be used either as an overall system or topcoat on epoxy, offering quicker prep times and shorter cure times than epoxy – ideal when working in tight spaces with limited downtime.