What are the disadvantages of epoxy flooring

Epoxy floor coatings are one of the leading flooring solutions for commercial and industrial facilities with a growing demand for residential use as well. While no flooring system is perfect, the advantages of epoxy resin outweigh the drawbacks for many applications. To help you make an informed decision, here are the most important pros and cons of residential and commercial epoxy flooring.

Pro: Economical Flooring System

Compared to many other forms of flooring, epoxy floor coatings have a low cost per square foot. The epoxy system can be installed directly over existing concrete without the need to install a separate floor system. The initial cost of epoxy is higher than some alternatives like concrete polishing. However, when the epoxy eventually wears out and needs to be replaced, the replacement cost is lower because the concrete substrate does not need to be prepared. This gives epoxy flooring a low lifecycle cost compared to other solutions.

Pro: Excellent Resistance to Damage

Commercial epoxy floor coatings are extremely resistant to most hazards, including cleaners, gas, oil, transmission fluid, and even most industrial chemicals. Along with resisting damage from chemicals, an epoxy coating is water-resistant and heat-resistant. This makes it an excellent choice for high-demand environments like auto shops, factories, labs, medical facilities, and retail stores.

Pro: Long Life

Epoxy’s longevity is a big selling point for facility managers, business owners, and homeowners who want a low-cost and durable flooring solution that lasts. Depending on the application, professional commercial epoxy floor coatings can last for 7 to 20+ years. Industrial epoxy flooring tends to have the lowest lifespan because it is exposed to frequent vehicle traffic, chemicals, and heavy loads. Epoxy basement floor coatings, on the other hand, can easily last decades.

Pro: Easy to Customize

With epoxy floor coatings, you can achieve the precise look you want. Along with almost limitless color options, epoxy flooring can be customized with unique and beautiful effects like flake flooring, geometric patterns, logos, and metallic epoxy flooring. Epoxy flooring can be customized with the design or pattern of your choice which makes it an ideal solution for home basements, garages, retail stores, and shopping centers. It can also improve safety and foot traffic in commercial and industrial properties with striping and warnings.

Con: Difficulty Adhering in Moist Environments

An epoxy basement floor is an economical solution for home basement flooring because it’s seamless, easy to clean, attractive, and resists moisture. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to use in a basement with moisture problems. As long as the basement concrete slab is properly dried and prepared, the epoxy should adhere properly. If the floor is moist or the basement has chronic moisture issues, the epoxy may lift off the floor.

Con: May Be Slippery

Epoxy flooring isn’t as slippery as it looks and it’s easy to add a skid-resistant additive to the topcoat to make the floor very safe, even when wet. Without a nonslip additive, epoxy flooring can become very slippery when wet, especially with oil spills.

Epoxy coatings have been the best available option for concrete floors for a long time. They’re definitely a fine solution for a lot of situations, offering some solid benefits that are tough to ignore.

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Unfortunately, it’s often assumed that if they’re right for a huge warehouse, they MUST be right for a garage or driveway. But the times they are a changing!

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For a few big reasons, epoxy is NOT the best option for your residential garage.

Steer Clear of Epoxy on Your Garage Flooring

Let’s take a look at why!

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#1: Epoxy has Weak Adhesion

Compared to paint, epoxy has far stronger adhesion. Compared to polyurea, it’s not even in the same league. Polyurea comes with a 15-year warranty covering chipping, peeling, and delamination. You don’t get that with epoxy.

#2: Epoxy Takes Multiple Days to Fully Cure

With epoxy there’s a minimum 5 days until you can drive on the floor. Enough said. Our system- 24 hours. With Polyurea, in 24 hours you can drive and be back in business- quite literally if you’re a business owner! That would mean 5 days of a plant being shutdown while they “watch the paint dry.” 5 days of keeping your kids and pets out of the garage, without you parking in the garage, and 5 days with all of your stuff that was in the garage somewhere else until this is done. That can feel like a lifetime. The long cure time invites greater risk of bug and other contaminants to your beautiful floor. 1-Day installations makes polyurea perfect for nearly all applications.

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#3: Epoxy Fades

Sure, it’s tough but that super cool color your flooring company mixed is going to fade when it encounters UV exposure. That’s a major bummer. That means no patios, no walkways, and you should probably limit how long your garage door stays open… Polyurea is 100% UV stable. That means a lifetime warranty on UV stability.

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#4: It Can Stick to the Wrong Places!

Let’s say you park your car on it during a sweltering summer day. All that heat, plus the weight of your vehicle, can cause some of the epoxy to peel up with your tires when you leave. Hot-tire pickup is a massive cause for failure with epoxy. Your option, buy rubber mats and cover up your pretty floor. Polyurea chemically bonds with your concrete, sending roots deep within the concrete. Literally, the concrete pulls up in an adhesion test. Seriously.

#5: Poor Flexibility

Epoxy never fully cures, it perpetually hardens and the coating becomes increasingly brittle over time. This results in increased failure over the lifetime of the coating. With extreme temperature changes in the days/nights epoxy is unable to flex with the expanding and contracting of the concrete. Polyurea is 10x more flexible than epoxy.

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#6: Cooler Temp Applications Are Tough

The weather has to be just right for the epoxy to cure well, unlike other coating options. This greatly restricts the ability to apply these type of coatings in winter conditions. Polyurea can be applied at temperatures below 32 degrees.

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What Makes a Floor Coating From Webfoot Concrete Coatings Different?

Our coatings are made by flooring professionals for flooring professionals; we think you’ll take notice—we use the very best products in our industry. Our coatings are a multi-layered pure polyurea system. Some of the great advantages of a Webfoot Concrete Coating product include:

Read our blog on polyurea vs epoxy for more details.

More on Concrete Coatings

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Polyurea vs. Epoxy

In the comparison of polyurea vs epoxy, polyurea comes out on top for a number of reasons. Webfoot explores the benefits of polyurea in comparison to epoxy coatings.

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What is Epoxy?

Webfoot dives deeper into epoxy and its popularity as a floor coating option.

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The Cost of a Concrete Coating

Polyurea concrete coatings are a great choice if you are willing to invest more money upfront for a type of coating that will last long-term. The overall total cost of your project will vary based on the 5 Cost Factors of a Concrete Coating Project.

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Every type of flooring has pros and cons. This is especially true depending on what location you will be putting it in. Different types of flooring work better for different spaces and locations. You need to be sure that you pick a floor that will fit nicely with the needs of your specific space. 

Spaces that have heavy foot traffic need flooring that is durable and can withstand the elements that it will come into contact with on a daily basis. This may cost more money initially, but it will end up saving you money in the long run. With limited maintenance and cleaning, you will save money on repairs and replacement with a durable, strong floor. 

If you own an auto shop and need something durable for your flooring, you should consider polished concrete! It is durable and low maintenance, which is perfect for this location! You may be likely to consider epoxy flooring, which is common in some garages. Here are some reasons you should avoid garage floor epoxy.

Temporary

One of the major drawbacks of getting epoxy flooring is that it is only temporary. Even though it is very durable, you will eventually have to replace it. Everyday wear and tear and cracks can take a toll on the flooring. The floor needs to be replaced when this happens.

Slippery

Most epoxy floors are skid resistant, but this doesn’t apply to floors that are oil-covered. These floors can also be very slippery when they are drying. Epoxy floors are not good in areas that are prone to spills or water on the floor. Since garages are privy to this, garage floor epoxy is not recommended.

Preparation

A lot of effort goes into getting floors ready for epoxy coating. The concrete has to be cleaned and free of any grease or oil and cracks need to be filled.

Application

Not only is the preparation time consuming, but so is the application process. The first coat has to completely dry before you can add on the second coat and the drying time can take several days.

Smell

Wet epoxy coating can have extremely strong fumes. Darker shades of epoxy tend to have a stronger ammonia smell after you apply it.

Sensitivity

Epoxy flooring needs to be applied according to the directions. If it is not applied like it is supposed to be, then it will not last as long as it should. Leave it to the professionals to apply your epoxy flooring.

Adherence

Epoxy does not adhere well to floors that are in moist environments such as a basement. If applied in a damp environment, this can cause the paint to peel up. Of course, professionals can help combat this drawback.

Additional Costs

The business owner installing the flooring might need to buy additional cleaning products to ensure that the epoxy sticks.

Removal

Once the epoxy is applied, changing the colors and the design of your floor can be really labor intensive and very costly to the business owner.

If you are considering new flooring for your garage space, polished concrete is a great option. If you are still considering garage floor epoxy and have more questions, contact us today! We can help you pick what flooring is best for your space and handle the installation from start to finish!