Short-Term Vs. Long-Term Benefits When Choosing a Concrete Coating

2018-08-29

A new concrete floor coating offers many advantages that improve the look and value of your client’s building, whether a residential garage, neighborhood bar, or educational facility. Whether that coating is made with epoxy or polyurea, both materials boast concrete surface protection that’s beautiful, low-maintenance, and durable.

However, a comparison of floor coating quality and cost requires taking the long view as well as the short-term one, to evaluate the lifetime success of the project and your client’s investment.

Cost

While searching for materials that meet your budget, keep in mind that the cheapest option isn’t always the best one—and could end up costing your clients a lot more in the long run. (And you, their continued trust, business and referrals.)

At first glance, epoxy appears to have a smaller “per-gallon” cost, but the overall cost per square foot evens the playing field. Although polyurea seems to have a relatively high material cost, when you consider cost of labor and area covered, it saves you and your customer money in the long run.

The biggest short-term cost-saving aspect of polyurea coatings is that they’re typically applied in just two coats that install and cure in 24 hours, returning the floor to service (and your team to the next job) the very next day.

Long-term cost savings are tied to lifetime durability and beauty of the coating.

Durability

Polyurea is UV-stable: 10-15 years later, the floor looks the same as the day you installed it. Epoxy can yellow, fade or discolor over time.

Polyurea is extremely flexible; it creates a strong bond with concrete (preventing bubbling or other adhesion failures), expanding and contracting with changes in the surface and temperature. Where epoxy is vulnerable to tire wear, hot tire pickup, staining and salt damage, polyurea’s chemical formulation makes it highly resistant to those things, as well as abrasions, water, oils and other chemicals.

What this durability means for the long-term is that an epoxy coating may need to be replaced after just a few years of use, while a polyurea coating, properly and professionally installed, can last well over a decade without repair or replacement—considerably lowering the long-term cost of the polyurea-coated concrete floor.

What is the short- and long-term benefit to your customer when you choose the lower lifetime and per-square-foot cost, enduring beauty and tough durability of polyurea coatings? Priceless.

So, does that mean polyurea is always the best option? Not for every application, no – which is why we also offer many other products and customizable formulas, like urethane cement for more heavy-duty industrial and manufacturing applications, for example. (Learn more here.)

Weighing your short- and long-term options? Let’s chat. Click here to schedule a call with a flooring expert when choosing materials for your next project.