December 29 2020 0Comment
What You Should Know About Polyurea And Polyspartic Coatings

What You Should Know About Polyurea And Polyspartic Coatings

Taking care of your garage flooring is important because you must consider the beating your garage floor receives every day. Polyurea and polyspartic coatings have become extremely popular in the past few years for garage floor coatings. These are different from the epoxy’s that contractors have been using.

Polyurea and polyspartic garage floor coatings are fast becoming the preferred alternative to epoxy. Expert contractors and builders alike agree that the biggest benefit of polyurea and polyspartic coatings is their fast curing time, earning them the title of the “holy grail” of garage floor coatings. They are considered to be the best of everything that floor coating can do.

What are Polyurea and Polyspartic Garage Floor Coatings?

Polyurea is a subgroup of polyurethane. It is created when isocyanates combine with water to create a urea linkage. Similar to epoxy, polyurea has a 12-part component. It mixes with resin as a catalyst, giving it its strong curing reaction, making the material hard and strong. It contains little to no VOCs, with an elongation rate of more than 300%, making polyurea much more flexible than epoxy.

It is used in projects like liquid containment lining, interior pipe coating, and spray-on bed linings. It is also used in industrial applications, such as fillers for joints and tunnel coating.

Distinctively, its fast cure rate is less than 5 seconds, and the coating completely hardens in less than 5 minutes. Because of this, polyurea needs specialized equipment during application.

On the other hand, poly aspartic is a type of polyurea. It is an aliphatic polyisocyanate with polyprotic ester, which is an aliphatic diamine. It effectively neutralizes the challenges that are usually brought about by the fast cure rate of polyurea. It is used in coating applications traditionally. It has a lower pot life of 5 to 20 minutes.

In general, all polyspartics are polyurea, but not all polyureas are polyspartic.

Why You Will Benefit from Using Polyurea and Polyspartic Coatings

Polyurea and polyspartic garage floor coatings have a lot of benefits. We have listed some of the most prominent in this article however, there are many more:

Time and Temperature

Time and temperature are the two most important benefits of polyurea coating and polyspartic coatings. These are the reasons why more and more homeowners are opting to use them. Application is possible even in temperatures reaching as low as 30°F to as high as 140°F, depending on its formulation. The good thing about this is that you don’t need to wait until the winter or summer months are over to apply garage floor coatings since polyurea and polyspartic can be applied even under extreme temperatures.

The application can be made in two coatings: first, the primer and color coat, and the clear coat.

Its fast curing time permits installation to be done in just one day, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to use your garage for more than a day. Installation takes only about 6 to 7 hours, and then you can already use the garage.

No fading

With 100% UV stability, the coating will neither fade nor change color even if subjected to extreme heat and sunlight.

Crystal clear finish

Expect a crystal clear finish when you use polyurea and polyspartic floor coatings. It won’t blush from the moisture from inside the concrete.

  • Like polyurethane, they have a high abrasion and scratch-resistance properties.
  • High tolerance to heat

You can park your car inside the garage despite having hot tires, yet expect no damages at all.

  • The specialized applicator can control high film build-up
  • Its high-gloss finish makes the floor look elegant and expensive—something that you do not normally expect from garage flooring.
  • The coating has high solids content with little to no VOCs.
  • High stain- and chemical resistance

Maintenance is not much of a problem when you use polyurea coating and polyspartic garage floor coatings.

  • Good wetting characteristics

They penetrate the concrete better, so you are assured of a stronger bond that can withstand constant wear and tear.

  • Bubbles formation due to out-grassing is minimized because of the fast curing rate.
  • Highly flexible

This makes for higher impact resistance, making your garage floor less susceptible to damage.

Watch A Simple Demo Of Polyurea Floor Coating Application

Factors to Consider Before Installation

It is understandable if you are not yet sold on the idea of using polyurea and polyspartic garage floor coating instead of the more popular epoxy. So, to further help you know more about them, here is a list of important factors to consider:

  • You will be paying for more since the installation costs about $3 per square meter, on average. The materials are twice as expensive as epoxy.
  • You may need to get a professional to perform the installation, which will add greatly to the cost. You may make this a DIY project, but at least two people are needed.
  • The average pot life of polyurea and polyspartic floor coatings is about 20 to 30 minutes on average for a professional installer. It would be more difficult for someone who is not experienced in handling the materials. You might end up wasting your time and money if the installation doesn’t turn out well.
  • There are DIY kits that you can purchase, but they don’t ensure that the final output has the same quality as a professional installation.
  • Humidity at the installation time may cause more rapid curing, so you have to make sure that you monitor the materials. This is one of the reasons why it is not recommended as a DIY project.
  • The coating tends to be slippery when wet.
  • Full paint chips need to be applied on the topcoat aggregate to add texture and make the flooring slip-resistant.

While polyurea and polyspartic are exemplary for use because of theIr numerous benefits, it is important to remember that installation and application have to be handled by a professional to ensure that the process is handled well. We recommend contacting a company such as ArmorThane. We use them as an example because they have been a staple in the industry for over three decades and always rate amongst the very best.

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