Epoxy Flooring Pros and Cons. (Let’s Check Them All One by One!!)

If you are looking for a poster floor or a show boy that says “look at me” then you can’t go wrong with Epoxy floor coating. It is one of the toughest and long-lasting floor finishes that will completely transform your boring garage, workplace into a work of art. The epoxy flooring is the ideal option you can choose to survive the test of time while being highly chemical, heat, and stain-resistant.

But like everything in the world, even epoxy flooring is not perfect. These also have some disadvantages which are outweighed by their advantages. Let’s have a closer look at all the epoxy flooring pros and cons and find out why it has become the talk of the town.

Pros of epoxy flooring are Appearance, Variety, Durability, Protective, Resistance, Long Life, Maintenance, Affordability, and Safety. Cons of epoxy flooring are Temporary, Slippery, Preparation, Application, Smell, Adherence, Additional Costs, and Removal.

Difference Between Epoxy Flooring and Coating

Whenever you come across the word epoxy, you will be lead to confusion between epoxy floor and epoxy coating. These are separated from each other based on their thickness. So, If you come across epoxy thickness more than 2mm then, it is the epoxy floor. Similarly, for thickness less than 2mm, it is called epoxy coating.

Epoxy systems are usually made up of a combination of resins and hardeners, creating a standard two-part epoxy. A rigid compound gets formed at the end of the mixture’s chemical reaction, which is a hard, strong, and durable substance.

Epoxy Flooring Pros

Pros of epoxy flooring are Appearance, Variety, Durability, Protective, Resistance, Long Life, Maintenance, Affordability, and Safety.

Appearance

Epoxy floors are elegant, bright, and shiny to look at. These maintain a professional shape all the time. Their shiny high gloss surface finish is also known to increase the brightness of the interior spaces. Their smooth surface is also easy to clean and maintain.

Variety

Epoxy offers you so many beautiful, elegant choices to pick out the perfect design matching your needs. You can have a look at its varieties of colors, textures that add a flawless, smooth and elegant shine to your workplace. So, if you are looking to get rid of your plain old dusty floor, then check out epoxy flooring and get yourself a personalized or a traditional design only based on your own needs.

Durability

Epoxy floors are mostly cherished because of their premium quality endurance. These tend to live way longer than all the other average floor plans. Epoxy floors provide a rigid, durable surface that can withstand better resistance and heavy traffic endurance. Similarly, epoxy flooring applied above concrete increase the durability of concrete to a whole new level.

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Protective

Epoxy flooring is known to be maintenance-friendly and requires very little cleaning from time to time. Epoxy flooring protects the lower concrete from any crack, stains, or moisture that may harm it. This also saves any maintenance cost or cleaning headaches. Based on these protective abilities only, it’s worth the price to install a high-quality Epox flooring that would long way longer than a low-quality one.

Resistance

Epoxy floorings are known to be extremely resistant to almost all of the hazardous elements such as gasoline, bleach, cleansers, transmission fluid, oil, chemicals, even most industrial chemicals, and many more. Along with this enormous list of chemical resistance, Epoxy flooring is also known to be highly heat-resistant and water-resistant. Due to these high qualities, it’s an excellent choice for high-traffic environments such as garages and industrial areas.

Similarly, these are also known to be resistant to bacteria and germs, and can easily be sanitized. This makes it the perfect fit for hospitals and households having little children.

Long-life

Epoxy flooring’s largest selling point or the main reason it has gained this much popularity is its low-cost durability solution that can last decades. Based on its area of application and how it’s applied, it can last up to 7-20+ years. As mentioned, the life span of Epoxy flooring is heavily dependent on its application. For example, Epoxy flooring in an industrial area with daily heavy traffic and chemicals will not survive as long as Epoxy flooring in a basement, which can easily last decades.

Maintenance

Nobody loves cleaning busy places such as garages or offices way too often. One of the major factors that separate the best epoxy coating system from the rest is how easy it is to maintain and clean. Most epoxy coating systems are maintenance-friendly and usually need a simple wipe in case of dust or food spilling. These are also long-lasting and won’t need reapplication for several years.

When you go for the cheaper options such as floor paints, they are cheaper but not easy to maintain. These require reapplications and can even get marks and scuffing from time to time.

Affordability

When comparing Epoxy flooring to many other flooring systems in the market, you would notice that Epoxy flooring is economical and has a relatively low cost per square foot. These don’t force you to start a new floor system but can easily be placed over the existing concrete. Thus, proving to be more cost-friendly than the others.

Safety

Epoxy flooring is also a great reflector of light. This ability enhances the brightness of the interior areas providing a sense of safety to your garage or working space. Some varieties of epoxy flooring even come with anti-slip additives that reduce the chance of slipping hazards. So you can choose the right product based on your needs that can make your workspace safer.

Epoxy Flooring Cons

Cons of epoxy flooring are Temporary, Slippery, Preparation, Application, Smell, Adherence, Additional Costs, and Removal.

Temporary

One of the major disadvantages is of Epoxy flooring is that it’s temporary. No matter how hard or long life it gets, it will need to be replaced eventually. Now, this can occur even faster in industrial areas or garages where the daily wear and tear can significantly lessen the life of Epoxy flooring. Thus, increasing the chances of a replacement.

Furthermore, if you keep dropping heavy objects, small cracks can start developing over time. Cracks and chipping are the two common problems, and in the case of both, you will have to repair the floor.

Slippery

This is considered a disadvantage based on the situation of the Epoxy floor. For example, oil-covered epoxy floors are known to be extremely slippery and have this major disadvantage. Similarly, the same situation arises if the epoxy floor is wet, and this can turn into a dangerous situation. If this happens in households or areas prone to spill water on the Epoxy floor then it can lead to dire consequences.

Therefore, we need a safer alternative to this. Each epoxy floor coating has its varying traction. Some even come with anti-slip additives that reduce the chance of such hazards. So you can choose the right product based on your needs to help reduce such hazards.

Preparation

To apply the Epoxy floor over your previous concrete floor, you will need to go through a long checklist which can be considered as a significant drawback. When starting, you will need to ensure that the previous concrete floor is clean and free of solvents, oil, or grease. You will also need to fill any cracks and clean the whole concrete floor multiple times to ensure that the Epoxy floor gets applied properly.

Application

Even after the proper application of Epoxy flooring, you will have to sit back and wait for a few days for full curing. It is highly recommended that the curing process should be given a lot of time to make sure it is strong and has high endurance. Now, this time consumption is a clear disadvantage for house owners, etc.

Smell

The products of Epoxy flooring are known to produce awful fumes when they are wet and need proper ventilation to clear the environment. Darker shades of Epoxy flooring have more hardiness as compared to the lighter tones. These releases an awful ammonia smell after their application.

Adherence

An Epoxy flooring placed in a basement flooring is in an ideal spot and, these tend to live longer as compared to those placed in industrial places. But, even in the basement, things might get worse if the basement has moisture problems. As long as the concrete slab below the Epoxy flooring stays dried up, the Epoxy should adhere properly. But, if the concrete floor is moist or the basement has moisture issues, then the Epoxy might just start to lift off the floor.

Additional Costs

For Epoxy to stick properly, you would have to buy various special cleaning acids and other chemicals. You would also need to get proper protective gear such as eyewear and breathing devices while handling these chemicals. So, this not only increases the time and effort needed but also increases the total cost too.

Removal

After the application of the Epoxy floor, you can’t just change or edit a previously held color. If you persist and decide to change colors/design, then it can be costly and will require a lot of hard work. Similarly, for repairing the floor, removing the coating of Epoxy is also extensive and difficult.

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Final Thoughts

In today’s article, we discussed all the significant advantages and disadvantages concerning Epoxy flooring. Epoxy flooring has its various advantages and disadvantages but, the negative factors aren’t there to stop or confuse you. This simply means that you need to consult professionals to get a proper idea of how Epoxy flooring needs to get applied to your indoors. So, I hope you benefited from all the Epoxy flooring pros and cons. Remember to examine every single detail before choosing to enjoy a long-lasting exquisite Epoxy flooring.

That’s all from my side for today.