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What are Polyurea and Polyaspartic Garage Floor Coatings

  • Writer: Zone Garage of Central VA
    Zone Garage of Central VA
  • Oct 23, 2019
  • 2 min read

This relatively new coating has become the latest favorite for installers as an alternative to epoxy. However, it has created some confusion for homeowners.



Polyurea

Polyurea is a subgroup of polyurethane. It is formed when isocyanates react with water or polyetheramines to create a urea linkage. Like epoxy, it is a 2-part component that mixes resin with a catalyst to cause the curing reaction that makes the material hard.


It has low to no VOC’s and has an elongation rate that exceeds 300%, making it much more flexible than epoxy. Because of its extremely fast cure rate most polyureas require specialized equipment for application.


Polyaspartic

Polyaspartic is a type of aliphatic polyurea and it has a longer pot life than polyurea. So in essence, all polyaspartics are a polyurea, but not all polyureas are a polyaspartic. This means, when you see a garage floor coating being advertised as a polyurea, or a polyurea polyaspartic, it is really some formulation of a polyaspartic coating.


Benefit of Polyaspartic Coatings

The two biggest advantages of a polyaspartic or polyurea garage floor coating are temperature and time. Unlike epoxy, a polyaspartic coating can be applied in temperatures as low as -30F to as high as 140F depending on the formulation. That means you don’t have to wait till spring or summer to coat your garage floor if you live in a colder climate.

Typical polyurea and polyaspartic floor coatings are applied in just two coats; the first being both the primer and color coat and the second being the clear coat. Because of their fast cure rates, a complete flooring system can be installed in one day and returned to service the next. This means that you won’t have to do without your garage for 3-4 days like you would for a full epoxy system.


There are many other benefits to a polyurea/polyaspartic floor coating as well. These include:

  • 100% U.V. stability – they will never yellow.

  • Crystal clear finish that won’t blush from moisture in the concrete.

  • Similar high abrasion and scratch resistance to polyurethane.

  • High tolerance to heat, meaning hot tire pick up is a non-issue.

  • High film build-up that can be controlled by the applicator.

  • High gloss finish

  • High solids content with little to no VOC’s in most applications.

  • High stain and chemical resistance. This includes salts for winter climates.

  • Good flexibility for higher impact resistance.

  • Excellent wetting characteristics allowing for good penetration into the concrete for a strong bond.

  • Decreased chance of bubbles from outgassing due to the faster cure rate.

If you need to have a garage floor coating installed in less than ideal temperatures or need the advantage of being without your garage for only a day, then a professionally installed polyurea or polyaspartic floor coating may be just what you need.

 
 
 

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