Epoxy Flooring: Advantages and Disadvantages

Epoxy flooring is one of the most common choices for floors. However, before you use it on your floors, you must know its advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage of epoxy flooring is its strong and durable finish. The paint comes in a two-part formula; the resin and hardener. When combined, it forms a strong finish that can withstand heavy impact, foot traffic, and vehicle traffic. 

The main disadvantage of epoxy flooring is that it takes a long time to harden (dry), and removing this paint after it has cured is hard.

What Is Epoxy Flooring?

Epoxy flooring, also called resinous flooring, is a finish common for its strength and durability. This paint contains additives in its formula that reinforce the finish and also comes in two parts; hardener and resin. The combination of these compounds produces a thick plastic finish.

Because of its formula, epoxy flooring is moisture-resistant. As a result, water, oils, grease, and other solvents can’t penetrate its finish, meaning the finish doesn’t peel off.

Epoxy flooring comes in different types and colors. The most common type is self-leveling epoxy because it can be used on any type of floor, regardless of the texture. 

You can use epoxy flooring:

• To cover garage floors.
• For outdoor surfaces, including composite decks. 
• Over high-traffic surfaces. 
• To protect floors from damage and dents.
• To make floors moisture resistant. 

Advantages

1. Strong and Durable

The main advantage of epoxy flooring is its strength and ability to decrease wear and tear on the floor. The paint won’t crack, peel, or tear, regardless of the impact or traffic on the floor. Its ability to withstand impact is why epoxy flooring is common on garage floors and workshops where heavy machinery is used.

The finish will last over 10 years on a floor. 

2. Weather Friendly

Epoxy flooring is weather-friendly, meaning it won’t get washed off or damaged by rainfall, wind, or dust. Due to its flexible nature, the paint will retain its finish if exposed to weather elements. You can also use this floor finish on outdoor floors and decks. 

3. You Can Seal it

Epoxy flooring is one of the few elite floor finishes that accepts a topcoat and can be sealed. However, you must sand the finish before applying a topcoat. Polyurethane is a good choice. 

4. Easy To Apply

Applying epoxy flooring is easy, but it takes some time to apply it over large floors or surfaces. All you have to do is to mix the hardener and resin and apply the mixture to the floor. The self-leveling epoxy floor doesn’t need prep work because it will stick and dry evenly, even on uneven surfaces.

5. Moisture Resistant

Because of its formula, hard finish, and compact paint particles, the epoxy finish won’t allow any form of liquid to penetrate its coating. 

6. Easy To Clean and Maintain

The hard and moisture-resistant nature of the finish makes it hard for stains to stick to the floor finish. Most stains can be wiped off with a damp rag. You can also use cleaning solvents safely since they can’t penetrate or damage the finish. 

Disadvantages

There are a few worries about epoxy flooring, but most of these can be avoided. So to make this guide helpful, we’ll check out the disadvantages of the finish and ways to avoid them.

1. Removing It is Hard

After the epoxy flooring is cured (dried fully) over a surface, it’s hard to remove without damaging the surface. The finish sticks to a surface through a chemical reaction, allowing it to adhere strongly to the floor. So, removing it is hard.

To remove epoxy flooring from a surface, sand the finish and apply paint over it. By sanding, you will soften the finish, and once it gets soft, you can remove it. Or, you can keep the epoxy flooring coating underneath and paint over it.

2. Long Dry Time

Epoxy flooring has a slow dry time. It takes 3 days for the paint to cure (dry fully) and become hard enough to withstand foot traffic. To speed up the drying time of epoxy, expose the coating to increase heat — this makes the solvent evaporate faster, and the finish will dry faster. 

3. Noisy Finish

The hard nature of epoxy flooring gives it a noisy finish. The sounds from the floor, such as foot traffic, are further amplified. Sadly, there isn’t a way to avoid this. But you can reduce the noise by using moisture-resistant floor mats.

Things To Know

Things to know about epoxy flooring:

1. You can mix it with oil-based paints to enhance the appearance and performance of the finish. 
2. It can be used over several types of floors, including wood and concrete floors. 
3. The reason epoxy flooring has a hard and moisture finish is that the particles are cross-linked, so there’s a greater bond between them. 
4. The paint is usually applied at a depth of 2 millimeters. 
5. Because of its weather-friendly qualities, the paint can expand and contract after temperature changes.

Final Words

Epoxy flooring is a great choice for high-traffic and busy floors. There are a ton of advantages and minimal disadvantages that can be avoided. 

Remember: The finish must fully cure (up to 3 days) before you can use it. Also, follow the manufacturer’s instructions while applying the finish.