Epoxy resins have been used for flooring for over 50 years and were once considered the ultimate industrial floor. However, due to advances in flooring options and epoxy’s slow curing process, a lot has changed since then. For example, products such as urethane and MMA are better options for many applications.
Yankee offers a range of resinous floor options including ESD (electrostatic discharge) epoxy, urethane/urethane mortar and MMA (methyl-methacrylate acrylic). These resins each have unique properties, can be installed in varying thickness with aesthetic color flakes, colored silica, have varying degree of slip resistance, and resins can be used in combination to meet specific project needs.
ESD (electrostatic discharge) flooring is installed in areas where electronics or volatile chemicals are involved and where static electricity can result in damage.
Epoxy is the lowest cost resin for industrial floors. Multiple coats with silica or color flake broadcast into the wet epoxy with a clear topcoat produce a robust industrial/commercial floor. However, epoxy does not tolerate high moisture in concrete, thermal cycling, some chemicals and UV light. In addition, multi coat epoxy floors take several days to install due to dry times between coats and several more days and up to a week or more to fully cure resulting in the space being out of service for an extended time.
Urethane covers a range of products including thin film coating, polyaspartic and urethane mortars, also know as UCRETE. These products tend to be more tolerant of moisture in concrete, thermal cycling, chemicals, UV attack and cure much faster than epoxy, reducing down time. Applying top coats of urethane on epoxy can enhance performance of an epoxy floor. A thin film topcoat of urethane on epoxy enhances UV stability and chemical resistance. A clear coat of polyaspartic on a flake floor produces high film buildup of epoxy with the advantages of urethane. Urethane mortar is the ultimate, well proven industrial floor in process industries such as food, pharmaceutical, chemical and wastewater.
Methyl-Methacrylate Acrylic, considered by many the ultimate industrial floor, also known as MMA can be installed in varying thickness with a variety of color flake or quartz options. Chemical, acid resistant, UV stable, can be installed down to -20 degrees F, and can be installed and fully cured in 1 hour, dramatically reducing down time. When trying to avoid down time, MMA carries the day!
The decision between epoxy, ESD, urethane and MMA vary by project and budget. Please contact Yankee to discuss your next resinous floor installation or repair.
In addition, with the installation of any paint or coating system, the degree of surface preparation is directly proportional to the coating performance. Limited surface preparation results in limited life of the installed floor. Yankee prepares concrete floors by shot blasting and diamond grinding to create a highly effective bonding profile in the concrete.
