What Is the Difference Between Polyaspartic, Polyurea, and Epoxy Flooring?

These are three types of flooring that can be installed in garages over concrete.

Let’s take a look at them one by one.

Polyaspartic

A polyaspartic flooring is actually a type of polyurea. Without getting into a long and boring lecture on chemistry, let’s just say that they’re both types of elastomers, or polymers that show some characteristics of elasticity and viscosity upon deformation.

So, all polyaspartic materials are polyureas, but not all polyureas are polyaspartic.

What’s a polymer?

A polymer is just a big molecule that is made up of a lot of the same smaller units that are repeated over and over. Plastic is a manmade polymer. DNA is a naturally occurring polymer.

The reason why everyone gets excited about polyaspartic flooring is because the development of polyaspartic material solved some significant problems with using polyurea or epoxy flooring materials.

Epoxy

Epoxy is a different type of polymer than polyurea (or polyaspartic) and epoxy contains an epoxide group, a cyclic ether with a three-atom ring.

The biggest problem with using epoxy is that it takes a relatively long time to “cure” or set or harden, at least hours, and usually days. Epoxy also cures faster in a warmer environment.

Another problem with epoxy is that it stinks with a crash. That awful smell is toxic, too, like it is for lacquer. Epoxy has a long list of associated medical risks beyond the scope of this article.

The biggest problem with using polyurea, in contrast, is that it cures too fast, like in seconds. So, it would be impossible to install it as a flooring using conventional methods, like a squeegee or broom or hand tools.

Advantages of polyaspartic flooring

When polyaspartic flooring came along it solved most of these problems. It doesn’t cure as fast as polyurea, but it cures a lot faster than epoxy. This means that it can be installed in less than a day, and walked on the next day. Polyaspartic flooring also doesn’t stink like epoxy, and it doesn’t require a warm temperature to cure like epoxy requires. So, polyaspartic flooring has been a game changer.

We love polyaspartic flooring. And If you want some help installing polyaspartic flooring in your garage, contact us, and let us help you.

Park Place Garage has a super-experienced team that supplies and installs garage interiors throughout the Okanagan from Kamloops to Osoyoos. From powder-coated steel cabinets to custom floors, we’ll make your garage just the way you like it, handsome and practical.

If you have any questions about this article or would like to talk to us about your garage, please call us at (250) 681-4349 or use the convenient form on our Contact page.