Garage Design Source

Locally owned and operated independent garage storage, garage flooring and garage door repair and installation company. We can install the right products at the lowest price.

 

201 Davis Drive, Suite AA,
Sterling, VA 20164

202-930-9091

info@garagedesignsource.com

  /  Blog   /  Polyurea vs Epoxy Coatings

Polyurea vs Epoxy Coatings

 

When you are searching for a coating to protect your floors from stains, chemicals, wear and tear, oils, and damage, you may come across two main types of coatings, epoxy, and a family of polyurethane-based products, including polyurea. It can be hard to find a whole lot of information on either type of these floors and knowing which one might be best for your needs is even harder.

This post will help by tackling the pros and cons of both epoxy and polyurethane, giving you a clearer understanding of how each one works.

 

Epoxy Floor Coatings

 

Pros

  • Epoxy coatings come in various degrees of thickness.
  • When concrete is correctly prepared Epoxy bonds very well.
  • This bonding makes it great for resurfacing or bringing old floors back to life.
  • Thick epoxy  coatings can be impact resistant.

 

Cons

  • Epoxy will yellow when exposed to sunlight.
  • If your garage floor is not prepared properly the epoxy may have a harder time bonding.

 

Polyurethane, Polyurea, and Polyaspartic Coatings

 

Pros

  • Polyurethane is flexible helping it to absorb impact better than epoxy.
  • This flexibility also helps when it comes to being abrasion resistant.
  • Polyurethane is more resistant to chemicals than epoxy.
  • A polyurethane floor coating is UV stable so it won’t yellow over time.

 

Cons

  • The thickness of polyurethane can not be adjusted and is usually only around 2 to 3 mils.
  • Polyurethane does not bond well to concrete and will not fill in cracks and damage to the floor.

 

What’s the Best Choice?

 

All types of floor coatings have their pros and cons, but at Garage Design Source, we believe that polyurea based products offer the best performance. They offer superior abrasion and chemical resistance compared to standalone epoxy systems and more flexibility–allowing the coating to remain intact if the foundation shifts. Epoxy on the other hand is very rigid and can crack if the foundations shifts even a little bit.

Further, poly-based coating systems cure much faster, allowing for minimal disruption. Epoxy systems often require at least a full day, and sometimes up to 72 hours before floors can return to normal use. Polyurea systems like we use at GDS can put your floors back in operation within a few hours of completion.