However, some rumours say epoxy flooring is a short-term type of flooring system which requires constant refinishing. Well, that’s not true! The lifespan of an epoxy floor is directly affected by various factors.
From preparation to post-care, all of the steps matter. Having good floors that last long is an investment. So if you’re looking for a flooring solution that best suits your need and your budget, Epoxy Flooring Brisbane is ready to help.
We specialize in the design and installation of hard-wearing epoxy flooring solutions. As the best flooring specialist in Brisbane, we guarantee quality service from floor preparation to post-care and everything in between.
So, let’s talk more about what makes epoxy flooring last. There are things to be considered to ensure that you’ll get the most out of your floor.
Strength Of The Concrete Floor As The Base
The layer of concrete floor that lies down there practically is the first factor to be considered. The concrete base directly affects the lifespan of your epoxy flooring. If this is a renovation project, it is best to consult a flooring specialist first before doing any step.
In some cases, such as an overlay project, the base could be the existing tile or terrazzo flooring you have.
Additionally, old floors have been subjected to certain factors like heat and heavy traffic that may have affected their stability. This calls for a thorough assessment to ensure that the base floor is ideal for epoxy and strong enough for further usage.
Preparation And Installation
If your base is good, then did you prep the floors. Who installed your flooring? Is it a personal DIY project? Or did you hire a professional to do it? Firstly, as much as the base should be stable, floor preparation is important, too. A clean, dry, and roughened surface should hold your epoxy just fine.
How Long Do They Last?
If you’re looking for a tough, attractive, safe, and durable flooring solution for your garage, home, or commercial premises, chances are, epoxy floors are on your radar. Epoxy floors are easy to care for, come in almost limitless finishes, and crucially, are long-wearing.
But, how long exactly can you expect your epoxy floors to last? What is the average lifespan of epoxy floors? And what can you do to extend the life of your investment and get the most bang for your buck?
What Is The Lifespan Of Epoxy Floors?
There is no cut and dried answer to this question. How long your epoxy floors will last will depend on several factors (outlined below). That being said, we’ve seen stunning, expertly installed epoxy flooring last a decade or longer.
Three Factors That Influence The Longevity Of Epoxy Floors
Because epoxy covering is such a diverse flooring solution for homeowners, businesses, and industrial operations, it isn’t easy to pinpoint precisely when your flooring will need to be replaced. However, the following three factors greatly influence the longevity of epoxy floors.
The Installation Of Your Epoxy Floor
Going the DIY route may seem like a cost-saving choice, but in reality, you’ll end up paying a whole lot more for your epoxy floors. This is because achieving a strong, beautiful, resilient floor depends on how the material is applied.
Epoxy specialists like the team at Tough Floors understand how the various chemicals involved react and know how to achieve flawless results that meet strict Australian standards.
The Foot Traffic Your Epoxy Floors Endure.
A car that drives 100 km daily will burn out a lot fast than one that’s used exclusively for the weekly grocery shop – the same logic can be applied to epoxy flooring. Epoxy flooring is not likely to endure much foot traffic in the home.
It’s just you and your family, visitors a few times a week, and maybe a furry friend or two. Commercial floors will be put under a bit more stress, particularly if heavy equipment is dragged over the floor regularly.
Be sure to let your trusted epoxy flooring contractors know how much traffic you expect your floor to receive. That way, they can ensure they deliver a flooring solution that stands up to wear and tear for as long as possible.
Epoxy Floor Maintenance
Caring for your epoxy floor will extend its lifespan considerably. How often you’ll need to clean your floor will again depend on how it’s used and how much traffic it endures. Typically, we suggest a quick daily sweep and deeper clean every week or two. If your floor looks dirty – clean it. It is that simple.
FAQs About Industrial Epoxy Last
How Long Does Garage Epoxy Last?
Depending on the additives present in a coating and the levels of foot traffic, drop impact, wear from vehicles in space and other factors, an epoxy garage floor coating can last between two and ten years with proper maintenance.
Does Epoxy Floor Add Value To The Home?
Epoxy Garage Floors: The Most Cost-Effective Way to Increase Your Homes Value. Epoxy garage flooring can increase a home’s value by up to $8 per square foot! Considering that an epoxy floor is a relatively fast and comparatively inexpensive upgrade, that’s a lot of money.
Do Epoxy Floors Scratch Easily?
Because of its hardness, Epoxy flooring easily scratches when an abrasive tool is rubbed or dragged on it. Avoid dragging heavy furniture and objects unless you use rubber guards for protection.
What Is Considered A Finished Garage?
A finished garage has drywall covering the beams and gaps. It may or may not have insulation and electrical work. Sometimes we refer to a finished garage as a converted garage. This generally means that space has been optimized for a specific purpose.
Does Having A Finished Garage Add Value?
Get Creative with Extra Space: In fact, according to HomeAdvisor data, the average cost of converting the garage into a finished room costs an average of $11,986, with an 80% return on investment. So, not only does a finished garage provide more living space options, but it also provides substantial growth in home value.
Factors That Influence How Long An Epoxy Coating Lasts
Many factors influence an epoxy coating’s lifespan:
- The Strength of the Concrete Flooring Itself: The initial layer of concrete is the base of your floor and is the first factor that will determine the lifespan of your epoxy floor coating. Usually, concrete floors in industrial or commercial establishments have a minimum of 3000 PSI. A concrete floor with a 2500 PSI or less strength is not recommended. If needed, densifiers can be added to help with this issue.
- Surface Preparation: One of the main prerequisites of a well-performing epoxy flooring is how thoroughly the surface was prepared before application. The surface should be free from dust, oil or other liquids and have no damage. (Here are the elements a proper surface preparation process entails.)
- The thickness of the Epoxy: An epoxy coating can range from 400 to 1,000 microns on industrial floors (that is, between 0.4 mm and 1 mm). The thinner your epoxy coating is, the sooner it will wear down and need replacement. In some industrial settings, the thickness of the epoxy system can sometimes exceed 1,000 microns.
- Quality of the Topcoat: Often, a floor coating contractor will recommend the epoxy has a urethane topcoat applied to resist abrasion and scratches. A thickness of 50 microns or more is recommended in industrial floors.
- The extent of Traffic: High levels of pedestrian traffic can wear down even a well-installed epoxy coating. Forklifts and other wheeled vehicles will take their toll as well. If your facility is subject to heavy traffic, consider an additional topcoat.
- Exposure to UV Light: Epoxy floor coating has very poor UV resistance. The binder will chalk, turning powdery when exposed regularly to sunlight. This is why epoxy coatings are not typically recommended for exterior applications.
Why Do Epoxy Floors Peel?
Epoxy is a very tenacious and tough coating to remove when applied properly. That is why there are so many successful, long-lasting epoxy garage floor coatings that people love.
Just about every problem you may have heard about epoxy flooring can be avoided by paying attention to the details. With that in mind, we have listed the seven most common reasons for epoxy peeling up, along with the solutions to avoid them.
Poor Surface Profile
As we stated earlier, a poorly prepared concrete surface is the main culprit to epoxy peeling. The number one problem associated with that is a bad surface profile.
The surface profile is the roughness and porosity of the concrete that allows for the mechanical bond of the epoxy. To obtain the correct surface profile for epoxy, you need to acid etch the concrete at the very minimum.
Grinding the concrete is the preferred method, but it’s not always feasible for the average DIY install. You can read more about acid etching versus grinding here.
Profiling the concrete exposes the pores so that the epoxy can sink in a little to get the bite it needs to adhere to. If not done correctly, the epoxy will not adhere well and can peel at some point after application.
Once the concrete is profiled correctly, it should have a lighter appearance and a rougher texture to it that is similar to 100 grit sandpaper. Test it by dripping some water onto the concrete in various areas.
The surface should immediately turn dark and absorb the water in less than a minute.
Beware of the clean and etch solutions with the lesser expensive, single coat garage floor epoxy kits. These solutions are often not effective enough to create the proper surface profile.
This is because these solutions generally consist of citric acid crystals. The main reason for using citric acid by these manufacturers is that it is safe for the environment, and it is much more difficult to harm yourself if used improperly. We have more info here if you are concerned about etching with safer alternatives.
The problem, however, is that citric acid is the weakest of the concrete acid etching solutions, and it will not profile a hard troweled or machine troweled surface effectively. It does not work well on extremely dense concrete either. Another problem with these citric acid products is that they are touted as a cleaning solution. If these solutions are applied to a dirty concrete surface, they do not work well at cleaning and etching the concrete simultaneously.
Moisture
The second most common problem associated with the peeling of epoxy garage floors is moisture in the concrete. Water vapour cannot pass through epoxy.
However, suppose you have moisture under any part of your slab below grade. In that case, the hydrostatic pressure created from water vapour trapped under the epoxy coating can create enough force to lift the epoxy right off the surface.
Inspect your floor for signs of moisture. Efflorescence is the very first sign that you may have a moisture problem. So are dark spots on the floor.
If your slab is below grade on any side, you must do a simple moisture test before starting an epoxy floor project.
Oil And Contaminants
Once you have achieved the correct surface profile for epoxy, it’s important to check that any oil stained areas that were previously cleaned are absorbent and not repelling water.
You will want to check these areas with the water drop test. It’s not uncommon for a previously oil-stained area to be darker in colour than the surrounding concrete. As long as it absorbs water, it will absorb epoxy and provide good adhesion.
Other contaminants such as silicone from tire dressing products and polymer compounds that leach out of warm tires will not allow the epoxy to adhere.
Be sure to perform a water drop test around the areas where the car tires sit. Acid etching will not remove silicones and tire polymer residue. If your acid-etched the concrete and these areas do not pass the water drop test, you will need to grind the concrete to remove the residue.
Acid Etch Residue On The Surface
When your acid etches your garage floor, the acid solution works by reacting with the free lime in the concrete. This causes a breakdown of the calcium at the surface, which exposes the concrete’s open pores.
This calcium is then deposited onto the surface in a very fine white dust. Many epoxy floors had peeled up because this fine white dust was not effectively removed before the epoxy was applied.
Because the dust is so fine, it likes to stick to the irregularities in the surface and can be difficult to remove.
If epoxy is applied over concrete with this fine white dust, the epoxy sticks more to the dust and not the surface. It will eventually peel up, exposing the white dust on the underside of the peeled epoxy coating.
The amount of dust left on the surface after acid etching is dependent on how much free lime was present on the surface of the concrete to begin with and how well the floor was neutralized and flushed afterwards.
Never let the floor start to dry during the acid etching process, and use liberal amounts of water when flushing the surface. It helps to use a deck brush to scrub the surface as it is flushed lightly.
It can be removed if you end up with this white residue, but it may take multiple scrub downs to get it all off the surface. A pressure washer works best.
If you don’t have one available, wet the floor down in sections and use a TSP and hot water solution to scrub the surface. Flush it well with a high-pressure nozzle and move on to the next section. It will come off, but it may take a few tries.
Remember that the less expensive garage floor epoxy kits will eventually wear out in high traffic areas.
This is not the same as peeling. You will notice that the floor in these areas will become dull, and the concrete will start to show through. Again, this is a result of abrasion at the surface of the coating and not from peeling.
Hot tire picks up is not necessarily a sign of bad floor prep either. Again, the lesser expensive epoxy products can be prone to this no matter how well the floor was prepared.
The reason is due to the low solids content of the epoxy and the chemical makeup. Applying a successful epoxy garage floor coating that does not peel truly is difficult. It just requires some attention to detail and knowledge of how your garage floor concrete should be prepared and tested before application.
Except for moisture issues, most of these common problems with epoxy peeling can easily be avoided by grinding the garage floor.
However, whether grinding your floor or acid etching, you should have a successful epoxy coating that will not peel after application if you pay close attention and follow these tips.
Conclusion
Our floors are probably the most heavily used part of our spaces. It’s subjected to constant traffic and other factors that cause it to be worn out over time. The epoxy flooring system is an ideal flooring solution designed to last long.
But no matter how tough it can be, epoxy flooring is still far from perfect. Proper installation and maintenance are the keys to getting the most out of it.
Remember that it is important to invest in something that will last and is worthy of your money. If you want to know more exciting possibilities for your floor, Epoxy Flooring Brisbane is more than willing to help you out! Every floor is unique and needs a specific innovative solution.
How much does it cost to epoxy garage floor?
Epoxy garage floors cost between $1,447 to $3,006, with the national average at $2,227. If you’re tired of the plain concrete flooring in your garage, you may be interested in long-lasting epoxy flooring. Epoxy is a rugged and durable finish that will transform dull garage flooring into a gleaming surface.
Is it worth it to epoxy garage floor?
Epoxy flooring protects the underlying concrete from moisture, stains, grease and cracks. In the long run, this can save you a great deal on cleaning and maintenance costs by eliminating the need to clean carpet or grout. It’s also very reasonably priced for the duration and level of protection that it offers.
Why you should not epoxy your garage floor?
Steer Clear of Epoxy on Your Garage Flooring- #1: Epoxy has Weak Adhesion. Compared to paint, epoxy has far stronger adhesion. …
- #2: Epoxy Takes Multiple Days to Fully Cure. …
- #3: Epoxy Fades. …
- #4: It Can Stick to the Wrong Places! …
- #5: Poor Flexibility. …
- #6: Cooler Temp Applications Are Tough.
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