If you’re a plant manager or safety coordinator, you’re interested in keeping the environment you’re in charge of safe. One of the ways you can do that is to make sure that repairs are being conducted as needed and that the space you and your employees work in is up to date. Floors are something that can easily be damaged and if you’re driving or moving heavy loads or exposing them to harsh elements, they can become uneven, making footing dangerous. Ideally, you want a floor that’s durable over the course of many years and heavy loads that you don’t have to worry about. One of the best ways to make sure that you have a reliable floor is to consider polymer cement overlays or epoxy flooring. Epxoy flooring for manufacturing plants or packaging areas is especially popular and help keep your floors looking pristine for years to come.
What are Polymer Cement Overlays and What’s Epoxy?
Polymer cement overlays are a resurfacing product that are used to cover up any imperfections in floors or can be used to totally resurface an area if needed. Instead of having to totally remove and replace the concrete, a good overlay can be used instead. They’re designed to stick to concrete in either thin layers or layers that can be a few inches thick. They’ll protect your surfaces from salt, dramatic changes in temperature, chemicals, or any erosion.
Epoxy is a type of polymer overlay generally composed of two parts, the epoxy resin and the hardeners. It’s strong, resistant, and adhesive, and ultimately form a hard plastic coating. Many industrial buildings and warehouses turn to epoxy coated floors to keep their floors looking pristine.
What are the Benefits of Using These Materials On Floors?
Polymer cement overlays mean that your building’s floors will stay resistant to the everyday wear and tear which can be significant. It’ll save you the cost of having to look into a total floor resurfacing every few years and will keep your existing floors looking much better. If your floors are uneven or spalled, polymer cement overlays can help re-level and smooth out the surface. Furthermore, it’s a good option if you need to redo surfaces quickly — they harden quickly and in some cases, people can walk on them even a few hours after the coat has been applied. Polymers have been used as an overlay material for concrete for over 35 years.
In terms of epoxy, these coatings for concrete are 100% non-volatile, resist chemicals or other types of abrasion, and adhere well to concrete when applied. Epoxy formulations used to coat concrete are generally 100% non-volatile, are resistant to chemicals and abrasion, and adhere well. An epoxy coat can last anywhere from five to 10 years, depending on how much traffic the surfaces receives. Epoxy coatings can also make an area look well cared for, even if there’s minimal effort — it can increase the brightness of an area by as much as 200%!
What Do I Need to Know About Resurfacing?
Before going ahead and putting down polymer concrete overlays or epoxy flooring, you want to make sure your concrete is adequately prepared for the resurfacing process. If you fail to prep correctly, your results won’t be as good, and you may run into problems with the ultimate result. Even though these types of overlays are designed to adhere quickly and efficiently, they can only do that if they have a clean and steady base to adhere to. For example, think of trying to stick a piece of tape to a dirty wall — it’s often much harder, because the tape simply adheres to the dirt or grime on the wall, instead of the actual wall.
You’ll need to totally clean and strip the concrete, get rid of any concrete that’s not totally sound, fill any major cracks (anything thicker than a credit card should be filled), and rough up the surface to give the overlay its best grip.
Choosing the right kind of overlay and preparing your concrete appropriately before resurfacing will give you flooring you won’t have to worry about, on top of everything else you need to consider.