Epoxy or Polyurea for Your Garage?
The two most popular and wisest choices for durability and lasting protection for your garage floor are epoxy floor coating and polyurea floor coating. But what exactly are these two options, and which is right for you? Below, we lay out the key differences between the two garage floor coatings so you can choose the right garage floor coating for your Boise area home.
Epoxy Floor Coating
Epoxy comes in many different forms and colors, which are available at a vast range of price points and designs. Generally speaking, though, epoxy can be described as a flooring system developed from a combination of hardeners and resins that create a seamless finish over your concrete flooring. The end result is a hard surface that is poured into place, provides extra traction, color and design to your garage flooring and can take up to half a day or longer to set and dry.
Epoxy has been a durable flooring option for homeowners for decades, offering chemical resistant protection while delivering a large number of options for aesthetics. If installed incorrectly, epoxy can require repairs and maintenance every few years due to abrasions, freezing or hot temperatures, and UV exposure – all things that are certainly possible when coating your garage floor.
From a design aspect, a professional contractor can enable some great colors, flecks, or design trends that will turn your garage into the talk of the neighborhood.
Polyurea Floor Coating
A far newer option available to homeowners is polyurea, which is a type of polyurethane created by a two-part mixture involving a chemical reaction to create a hardened surface above your concrete flooring. It offers a high-gloss finish for maximum appeal as well.
Polyurea has a high heat tolerance and is UV-resistant, ensuring your flooring will not discolor over time during those hot Boise summers. It& is also highly resistant to scratches, chemical damage, and abrasions, making it a higher cost protector for your garage flooring, no matter what you use your garage for.
While Polyurea often requires a higher initial investment for installation, in the long run, its durability and minimal maintenance needs will save you time and money over. Just keep in mind that Polyurea has a significantly shorter cure time, meaning you have a smaller margin of error during installation, so in order to guarantee proper installation without wasting materials, it is best to call in professionals like the experts at Idaho Epoxy Pros.
What to Choose?
Overall, when evaluating design, function and costs, we recommend high quality epoxy paint for your garage floor.