The Shiny New Toy Isn’t Always the Best

I would like to take a moment to explain more thoroughly the differences between Epoxy and Polyurea or Polyaspartic as a base coat.

While polyurea offers advantages like faster curing, epoxy remains the stronger contender for concrete garage floors, basements, patios and porches. Polyaspartic is in the same family as polyurea; therefore, they have similar attributes.

Firstly, epoxy can be more cost-effective than polyurea. This can be a major deciding factor for homeowners and small businesses, especially for larger spaces.

Secondly, don’t be fooled by the claims made by polyurea installers. Sales representatives often know that the common homeowner is not knowledgeable in our complex world of floor coatings. They may claim they are 4 times stronger than epoxy.  While this may be true to a point, it is still misleading. The compression strength (PSI) of concrete will give (breakdown) at between 350-400 PSI. Both epoxy and polyurea have a higher compression strength than concrete. That is all you really need to be concerned with. The facts are that epoxy was created to protect concrete. Polyurea was created to protect metal. When applied to metal it makes sense it will be stronger than epoxy applied to concrete. This is because metal is stronger than concrete. In other words, both applications are stronger than concrete.

Thirdly, polyurea installers brag that they are a faster install than epoxy. While this is true, it is actually a benefit to epoxy installers. Polyurea sets up and cures so fast that it does not have time to penetrate into the concrete surface. Epoxy cures at a much slower pace allowing it to penetrate and anchor into your existing concrete. It is like becoming one with your surface vs sitting on top. Maybe compare it to putting a carpet on top of your floor. Homeowners need to ask if one day is that important?

Please also be aware that water-based epoxy that can be purchased at your local hardware stores, can NOT be compared to the professional 100% solid epoxy. This is another marketing gimmick the polyurea installers play on a homeowner. They compare the polyurea to water based epoxy. They are not lying to a homeowner, they are just not giving full disclosure.

Each professional installer will usually use polyaspartic as their chosen top coat to these floors. It has UV stabilizers and anti abrasion benefits that make it the best top coat option. This blog is in reference to the base coat option to coating concrete surfaces.

It’s important to remember that the “better” option ultimately depends on the individual needs and priorities of each homeowner.