This article highlights some of the major advantages of using concrete epoxy floor coatings and solutions

 Floors are an integral part of our day-to-day life which enhances productivity and safety. Concrete surfaces of floor are porous, hence vulnerable to water, abrasion and chemicals. An epoxy floor coating is made up of two parts: a resin and a hardener. When mixed together, these two components form a rigid, plastic-like substance and create a layer of protection when applied on concrete surface. Epoxy floor coating enhances aesthetics, hardens the surface and increases the durability of floor.

The most important application for epoxies is flooring. They play a major role in meeting the standards required for high quality flooring. Especially in public buildings like hospitals or food processing plants, where hygienic floors are of the utmost importance epoxy coating can lengthen the life of the  floor and achieve a great appearance.

Epoxy flooring can be applied over different materials including steel, concrete and wood. However, Hasan Rizvi, Vice President of STP Limited believes concrete is the best surface for laying epoxy floors.

Here we dive into some of the major advantages of using concrete epoxy floor coatings and solutions:
• Aesthetic appeal: Concrete epoxy floor coatings are beautiful and available in an array of colours and patterns to fit specific requirement.
• Durable: Epoxy floor coatings are recognised as a tough and durable finish. Concrete floors coated with epoxy last longer and resist considerable wear. The coatings are also resistant to water and detergents therefore offer longer life.
• Safe: Epoxy coatings are anti-skid therefore offer greater safety. They are also resistant to temperature and degradation caused by moisture, acids, impact etc.
• Versatile: Concrete epoxy floor coatings are versatile and found applications for residential areas, commercial spaces, workshops and industrial environments.
• Low maintenance cost: A floor coated with epoxy coating will have no porous hence low retention of dust and dirt. It gives ease of cleaning hence maintenance cost is lower.

Epoxy floor coatings are widely accepted in industries such as automobile industries, pharmaceutical industries, power plants, nuclear power plants, moulding industries, food industries etc.

“Thousands of possible combinations of epoxy resins, curing agents and aggregates are available for use in epoxy flooring systems. Each combination offers a different balance of performance properties, so it is essential that the designer prioritise performance requirements when selecting materials for a particular flooring application,” Amit Anand, GM Projects & Marketing, Conpro Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. said.

Some products and solutions
STP’s epoxy floorings and coatings are suited for a variety of applications. STP has a range of anti-skid, anti-static, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial floorings which are formulated to withstand the movement of men and material. Monolithic or speckled, dark or light coloured, STP epoxy floorings are ideally suited for showrooms, computer rooms, hotel and restaurant kitchens, hospitals, operation theatres, sports facilities and gyms, shopping malls, cinema halls, galleries and lobbies, shop floors, auto showrooms, garages, chemical factories and laboratories etc.

STP offers ShaliScreed SL UL – a self-levelling epoxy underlayment screed flooring material. It is a three component epoxy system with selected aggregates. It has excellent adhesion and provides good abrasion resistance on floors. It can be coated over with any epoxy coating, self-levelling system or polyurethane coating. It is suitable for pharmaceutical units, food factories, operation theatres, manufacturing units, power houses and other places where cleanliness and hygiene is required.

Construction chemicals manufacturer Fairmate offers epoxy based self-levelling screed FAIRSCREED SL. The product has been designed to provide a hard wearing, impervious, seamless floor finish which is hygienic and easy to clean. FAIRSCREED SL is suitable for use in laboratories, pharmaceutical plants, hospitals, food preparation areas, electronics assembly factories, etc.

Commenting on the advantages of FAIRSCREED SL, Prerak Mehta, Manager – Q.C. at Fairmate said, “Fast application, hard wearing, hygienic and easy to clean, excellent chemical resistance, and very good adhesion to concrete are some of the major advantages.”

Perma Construction Aids, an ISO 9001-2008 certified company, manufactures and markets various construction chemicals of international standards. Perma offers a range of epoxy coatings for flooring applications.

Perma MASTER FLOOR-SL is a three component epoxy resin based mortar for application to a variety of subfloors as a joint less, thin, self-levelling topping. MASTER FLOOR-SL quickly provides a permanent, hard wearing chemical resistant finish for floors and corridors subject to pedestrian and light wheeled traffic. It provides a smooth, hygienic and dust free floor that can be easily cleaned.

MASTER FLOOR-HD is a high performance three components epoxy resin based concrete that provides a rough looking extremely strong bedding mortar or screed mortar to industrial floors.

Perma Floor Coat-WD is a single component liquid material available in selected colours, used for coating concrete floors in heavy duty applications. The product is based on high performance polymers specially developed for heavy traffic applications.

PERMA MASTER FLOOR (HDM) is a high performance three components epoxy resin based concrete that provides a rough looking extremely strong bedding mortar or screed mortar to industrial floors. This product is also used in heavy duty
repairs of dams, tunnels, spillways, bridge girders etc.

Ensure proper surface preparation
Epoxy floor coating performance is directly affected by surface preparation. The integrity and the service life will be reduced significantly if the surface is improperly prepared. Mr Rizvi said, “A proper surface preparation ensures epoxy coating adhesion to the substrate and prolongs the life of the epoxy coating system.”