How to Choose the Best Epoxy for Your Garage Floor
With hundreds of types and brands of epoxy on the market, it can be confusing to choose the best epoxy for garage floors. The most straightforward way to determine which epoxy will work for your garage floor is to know your options. Here we will take a look at the three main types of products, what they do and how they work.
Based on the compound, epoxy is divided into three categories. They are either 100% solid, solvent-borne and waterborne. We will discuss the pros and cons of each type – allowing you to choose the best garage floor epoxy for your project.
TYPES OF GARAGE EPOXY FLOORING
100% Solid Epoxy - Recommended by Creative Maintenance Solutions
The type of epoxy recommended by Creative Maintenance Solutions is 100% solid epoxy. The 100% solid epoxy is the leading garage floor epoxy due to its stronger resistance to abrasions, stains, and chemicals compared to water and solvent-borne epoxies. 100% solid epoxy is pure epoxy mixed with no other fluid. They maintain the same thickness level until they are completely dry. Solid epoxy is the most difficult to apply because of its thickness. It also lacks a fluid carrier. Unlike epoxies with a fluid carrier, epoxy cures rather than evaporates while it dries. It is also the most cost-effective coating when you take the thickness into account. The average solid epoxy floor coating can last many years.
Solvent-borne Epoxy
Historically, solvent-borne epoxy used to be the most universal. Once this mixture gets applied, the solvent evaporates. After evaporation, only the epoxy coating remains. Relatively effortless to apply because of the thinness, solvent-based epoxy does contain high levels of volatile organic compounds. Solvent-borne epoxy is ideal for garages because it is forgiving of petroleum contaminants. While the glossier finish in this type of epoxy may be more alluring than the others, vapors are highly flammable and can be toxic when inhaled. If you're considering using a solvent borne epoxy, check the local environmental regulations. The use of this epoxy may be restricted.
Waterborne Epoxy
Water is the main ingredient in waterborne epoxy. Waterborne epoxy is water soluble and safer than other solvent-based epoxies. Waterborne epoxy is simple to apply either in thick or thin coats and has some self-leveling properties. However, it is much less durable than solvent-borne or 100% solid epoxy. This epoxy is a "concrete waterproofing epoxy" due to its lack of high chemical resistance. When applied to slightly damp concrete, which can speed up the time a task takes. Waterborne epoxy is not recommended for use on commercial and industrial floors. Waterborne epoxy is uncomplicated to re-coat and is easy to clean up if a mistake occurs during the application process.
If you're unsure of which epoxy to use, the experts at Creative Maintenance Solutions can help! As an epoxy floor coating contractor in Wisconsin, Creative Maintenance Solutions offers commercial epoxy flooring, Industrial, institutional and residential epoxy flooring.
Contact Creative Maintenance Solutions to start your project today!
