How Does Epoxy Flooring Compare To Traditional Concrete Floors?

One of the biggest questions in the flooring industry pertains to how epoxy flooring is able to compete with traditional concrete flooring and ultimately which one is better. Today we are going to be taking a deeper look into both of these flooring systems to decipher which flooring truly reigns supreme. To start off the debate, we are going to be looking at a trait that many homeowners and business owners alike take into consideration the most when choosing a flooring system, the durability.

When it comes down to the overall durability of a traditional concrete floor, there isn’t much there. While the concrete floor receives a high-grade sealer on top, you won’t see any improved weight tolerance, protection from impacts or even the ability to reduce wear and tear from high volumes of foot/vehicle traffic. As a matter of fact, when traditional concrete flooring is exposed to high volumes of use, it will frequently need to be waxed to maintain its appearance.

Epoxy flooring, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of traditional concrete flooring. Epoxy offers an increase of weight tolerance of up to 20000 psi in high-grade epoxies. Epoxy flooring is also basically immune to high levels of foot/ vehicle traffic, a wide range of dropped objects and is even able to resist damage from water, fire, and electricity. Want to keep your concrete? Use an epoxy flooring system.

Where people tend to write off epoxy flooring is in the department of customization as most people believe that epoxy flooring is a dull gray that belongs in many industrial facilities, but that isn’t the case at all! There is actually a wide range of ways that you can customize your epoxy flooring system like a huge selection of base colors, the option to use multi-colored or single colored flakes, and even the ability to have an emblem placed directly into the flooring!

While epoxy flooring has its own unique way of being customized, so does traditional concrete flooring. Where epoxy flooring has a wide range of base colors, so does concrete flooring with stains readily available to make any color you desire. Want texture? With concrete, you can use the process of stamping to make your flooring look like pavers, wood or even natural stone. Not too keen on the texture? You can have your concrete finished as a seamless and smooth floor without all the bells and whistles.

Now it comes down to one of the most important characteristics of both flooring options, how long are they going to last? This is a pretty close race between both of the floorings but the edge goes to epoxy flooring. Concrete flooring is very unpredictable as there can be complications down the road that would lead to the entire concrete slab being torn up and replaced. Epoxy flooring is able to reduce the chance of these mishaps drastically by reducing the size and chance of cracks forming, making the concrete up to 300 percent stronger and protecting the concrete from all forms of moisture and chemicals. If both flooring systems are regularly maintained and have been well installed, they can last you up to 30 years!