For years epoxy has been the commercial floor of choice for resurfacing concrete. Demand is high for resurfacing concrete but until recently epoxies were the only technology available. However epoxies are not without flaws. A new breed of advanced technology products called polyureas and polyaspartics have emerged with qualities that threaten the stronghold epoxies have had for decades. Let's take a look.
Why Resurface concrete
1. Increase Lighting - concrete has little if any light reflection and makes a room dark and drab. Coatings create light reflectivity.
2. Non Slip Flooring - Concrete gets dusty from salts in concrete that push to the surface in addition to dirt tracked into a space. This makes floors slippery
3. Seamless - Epoxy coatings are seamless making a floor easier to keep clean.
4. Bacteria Prevention - Concrete is porous and harbors mold, mildew and bacteria. An epoxy coating protects from an unhealthy environment.
5. Reduces Humidity in Air - Coatings restrict the humidity in the air that is emitted from concrete.
6. Decorative Epoxy - Epoxies come in unlimited color, color chips or quartz can be added.
The Problems
Unfortunately the chemistry of epoxy coatings have limitations. Epoxies have low tolerance to moisture content and elevated alkalinity (salts and acidity). Due to what is called bleed water when concrete is poured, air holes and veins are created as the water works it's way to the surface while curing. When concrete dries the air holes remain, even though very small, while moisture in concrete, along with salts, work their way to the surface breaking down the chemical cross linking of epoxies. When this happens epoxies can start to delaminate.
Another issue is that concrete floors are never perfectly flat. They have high and low spots which are evident when you put a level on the floor. High performance epoxy coatings have a self leveling characteristic. When epoxies cure they are thicker in the low spots and thin on the high spots. This means uneven strength throughout the floor. The high spots become subject to rapid wear.
On the surface, friction from dirt and sand will cause scratches. Scratches in epoxy actually fray trapping dirt and moisiture. Not only do epoxies get a perpetual dirty look, they can breed bacteria.
The Solution
Polyureas and polyaspartics are a new technology concrete coating with features that solve the problem inherent in epoxy coatings. One of the most unique features is that they have the capability of "wetting" into concrete when the floor is ground smooth with professional grinding equipment. Floor grinding serves two purposes. First it levels the floor removing the high spots and secondly opening the pores of the concrete. Once the pores (air holes and veins) are open the polyureas and polyaspartics will "wet" or absorb into the concrete. This means that the air holes and veins are permanently sealed and the concrete is densified. This caps off the concrete stopping vapor transmission and alkalinity from getting to the surface. Coating failure is dramatically reduced.
The finish looks just like an epoxy and can be colored. Decorative chips or quartz can be applied. It's worth noting that quartz is a decorative material that is porous and polyureas will wet into the quartz. This prevents quartz from getting dirty like with an epoxy. Epoxy does nor have the wetting capability hence when quartz is exposed it gets dirty detracting from the decorative benefit.
On the surface when polyureas get scratched, the scratch is a straight line as opposed to fraying like with an epoxy. When cleaned, dirt is removed and bacteria eliminated. This is a significant benefit for medical facilities, dog kennels, restaurants and commercial kitchens.
One more unique benefit is the ability to adjust the cure time. Polyureas can be adjusted for rapid or slow cure depending on the climate. As well, the rapid cure time enables projects to be completed at a fraction of the time of an epoxy application. This unique ability to apply and put into use quickly means less downtime for companies and manufacturing facilities who are already operating. For new construction this means a significant cost savings since projects don't need to shut down for long while the flooring is being installed.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น