When it comes to commercial, industrial and residential flooring, one of the top choices is epoxy flooring. It provides durable, tough, versatile, slip-resistant and aesthetically appealing floors that lasts for many years. With 25 years of experience in the flooring industry, we at Prepco Flooring, LLC stand by the excellence that epoxy flooring offers.
This type of flooring has gained so much recognition and a great reputation among contractors and clients alike. The question, however, is, “Would you be able to say whether the surface you are stepping on is an epoxy flooring or epoxy floor coating?” Wait, there’s a difference? Yes, there is, but not a big one. In fact, only an expert contractor might be able to tell the difference.
Epoxy Flooring
This has a minimum thickness of 2 millimeters of epoxy floor coat. This thickness is ideal for high traffic areas or floors that are always exposed to heavy impact, extreme temperature, and chemicals. There are several types of epoxy flooring, each of which is suitable for the kind of facility and the environment the facility is in. Note that every type is durable, tough and long-lasting.
Epoxy Floor Coating
This has a few layers of epoxy coat with an overall thickness of less than 2 millimeters. Between the two, this is more common because the process is easier to accomplish. In fact, a lot of epoxy flooring DIY Kits are available on the market that almost anyone can coat their floors with epoxy anytime they want to. However, preparation of the floor and priming will still need to be done to ensure maximum bonding of the epoxy and the concrete. While epoxy floor coating has lesser coat layers, it is still very durable, tough and long-lasting.
Both epoxy floorings and coatings come in an array of colors which will surely meet your aesthetic requirements. Also, metallic epoxy flooring is gaining more attention from both commercial and residential clients because of the creative designs it offers.
Now that we have differentiated one from the other, you may still have this lingering question: “How then is epoxy coating really different from epoxy paint?”
Epoxy Coating is not Paint
A lot of people think that epoxy coating is paint especially that it also comes in different colors. This is just not the case. Paint is a latex acrylic product, and the term “epoxy paint” may have started after some paint manufacturers started to add a little amount of epoxy into their products and calling it epoxy paint. In fact, the term has become so popular that, sometimes, even manufacturers of epoxy coatings themselves refer to their products as “paint” just because it is what a lot of people are calling it.
Therefore, never confuse epoxy coating from epoxy paint, because the latter is not epoxy. And in terms of durability, strength, longevity and chemical resistance, the former certainly tops the other by a hundred fold.
So, there you have it – the differences of these terms. While you would probably still be unable to identify whether the surface you are stepping on is epoxy flooring or epoxy coating, at least you know what your contractor is talking about the next time he mentions these terms. And, do not let some local hardware store fool you into buying a can of epoxy coating when it’s actually epoxy paint!