Studies have shown that about two-thirds of all homes in the United States have a garage or carport. These installments are crucial for keeping your vehicles safe, but what about the garage itself?
Most garages have concrete for flooring, favoring it for its low cost and high durability. However, concrete has limits and is susceptible to cracks, weathering, and staining. Finding the best garage floor coating can help you make the most of your garage while protecting your concrete.
If you’re curious about concrete floorings, we’re here to offer our assistance. Read on for a guide on polyurea vs. polyaspartic, as well as where epoxy enters the discussion. We’ll also discuss the best rubric to make your choice with.
Polyurea
Polyurea is arguably the most common and popular choice for concrete flooring. But what is polyurea, and are there different types of polyurea to know about?
Polyurea is a floor coating that offers high durability, improved safety, and fantastic aesthetics. Polyurea is easy to install, though it’s always best to let professionals install the flooring for you. Primarily, this is because mistakes or flaws can lead to the flooring being effectively useless.
Among floor coating products, polyurea is favored for the benefits it offers over its competition. Here are the most significant upsides and downsides of polyurea.
Pros of Polyurea
The greatest upside of polyurea is its durability. Polyurea is resistant to most hazards you would find in a garage. These include, but are not limited to:
- Chemicals
- Acid
- Oil
- Rust
- Scrapes, cuts, and pressure from vehicles
Additionally, polyurea is resistant to most weather. Cold and heat are both hazards for concrete, especially where water is concerned. Polyurea provides a layer of resistance to both.
Another benefit is its waterproof nature. Concrete is susceptible to water damage due to its porous nature, letting concrete sink in. Polyurea will stop water from harming or damaging your concrete.
Polyurea provides a more slip-resistant coating than other floorings. Many garage floor coating products have a slick top that becomes hazardous and slippery when wet. Polyurea instead provides grip, making your concrete flooring safer.
Finally, polyurea also has a customizable appearance. You can use different designs or solid colors to adjust your garage to your preferences.
Cons of Polyurea
The primary con of polyurea is that it’s usually the most expensive option. The price increases depending on what sort of features you’re adding. For example, an extravagant polyurea with several different customizations will have a higher cost than a simple transparent top coat.
Polyurea also will wear down over time to ultraviolet rays, mostly from sunlight. In a garage, this isn’t as much of a hazard. UV rays also will wear down most coatings, making this far from unique to polyurea.
Polyaspartic
Polyaspartic is similar to polyurea in many ways but has enough differences that they fulfill different categories. Polyaspartic is usually a two-part system consisting of both a resin and a catalyst. The catalyst is meant to help the curing process.
Here are the main pros and cons of polyaspartic.
Pros of Polyaspartic
Polyaspartic’s main pro is that it’s usually more affordable than polyurea. While this isn’t always the case, most businesses will charge less for polyaspartic.
Like polyurea, polyaspartic is a stronger alternative to epoxy. The layer is resistant to most hazards, such as impact, abrasion, heat, and UV exposure. It also has strong chemical resistance, but some highly acidic chemicals will cause corrosion.
Polyaspartic offers fantastic color retention, meaning that the appearance won’t fade as other systems will. If you’re installing a uniform color or a chip system, this retention will keep the aesthetic value over the years.
Polyaspartic also has lower VOC emissions, which makes it better for the environment. The lower fumes also make it safer and less noxious to work around. We suggest ensuring any room you’re installing a coating in is well-ventilated to avoid fume build-up.
As with polyurea, polyaspartic will make the floor more slip-resistant. Such a quality helps cut down on dangerous and harmful falls. Falling is a significant threat in a garage full of tools and equipment, so this safety benefit is critical.
Cons of Polyaspartic
Polyaspartic is tough, but it’s far from invulnerable. While it offers resistance in comparison to concrete, it still will sustain damage over time.
One of the most common places for that damage to come from is harsh chemicals. Polyaspartic is resistant to most chemicals, but strong acids will eat through the coating. We recommend keeping such chemicals and cleaners away from polyaspartic.
Polyaspartic dries faster than polyurea or epoxy, which is an upside in most applications. However, if you’re installing the system yourself, this forces you to work faster to avoid flaws.
The best way to counter this downside is to rely on professionals to install your polyaspartic flooring for you. Additionally, polyaspartic requires a lower degree of maintenance than other floorings like epoxy.
There are certainly downsides to polyaspartic, but it’s still one of the best options on the market. We recommend polyaspartic as an alternative to polyurea if you don’t require the durability and resilience of full polyurea.
Epoxy
Epoxy is worth a mention due to being one of the most popular options on the market. However, it’s worth mentioning that there’s little to nothing that epoxy does better than polyurea or polyaspartic.
Epoxy is a faux resin floor laid on top of concrete. It offers protection and a good degree of aesthetic improvement. Like polyaspartic, epoxy is a two-part system.
Epoxy hardens to concrete like glue, but most systems don’t bond with concrete. As such, there’s always a degree of separation between epoxy and concrete. In some cases, this is an upside, while others may find it to be a downside.
Pros of Epoxy
Epoxy’s greatest benefit is that it’s often the cheapest option on the market. Some customizations or alterations can lead to it having a cost in line with polyurea, but this isn’t common.
Epoxy also offers a strong benefit to the looks of your garage. Most people will go with epoxy solely for the appearance it offers to their workspace. Polyurea and polyaspartic both also offer such appearance benefits.
Epoxy also gives a layer of defense against external threats to your concrete. It’s better than nothing and will keep your concrete safer than if you didn’t seal the flooring.
Cons of Epoxy
Arguably the biggest con of epoxy is the threat to safety. Epoxy is naturally glossy and slick, making it a significant hazard when wet due to slipping.
To avoid this con, some companies will offer an anti-slip component to mix into the epoxy. Most often, this will raise the cost.
Epoxy also isn’t as durable or sturdy as other options. The polymer resin of epoxy fades when exposed to chemicals or direct UV. Given how many chemicals are often in the garage, this makes epoxy a lackluster choice for garages.
How to Choose Your Floor Coating
With so many options, how can you make the best choice for your garage? These factors are personal, as it depends on your needs and desires. Here are some ways to consider your decision.
Cost
When it comes to cost, you shouldn’t only consider how much it costs to install a flooring system. If you own the property you’re improving, you’re directly increasing the value of the property.
The lower maintenance of polyurea and polyaspartic also means you’ll save money. Furthermore, not needing to pay to repair or replace your concrete will save on costs.
In terms of raw value, polyurea is our choice. With polyurea vs. polyaspartic, your choice should depend on which will be cheaper overall rather than the upfront price tag.
Epoxy is often cheaper on paper. However, it won’t last as long, doesn’t offer as sturdy of protection, and may need replacing sooner. As such, it’s more expensive in the long run.
Garage
What sort of garage do you have, and what threats do you need to protect from? If your concrete has no exposure to UV light, this can impact your choice.
Do you use your garage as a storage area rather than a carport? You won’t need the sturdiest, strongest defense from scrapes and weight in this case.
Think of what threats you expect to defend your concrete from. Once you’ve analyzed the hazards, you can pick the better floor coating products.
Requirements and Maintenance
Finally, think of what each flooring type needs in terms of maintenance and installation. Polyaspartic is easiest to install, but you should still rely on professionals to do so.
Epoxy is simple, but is also extremely susceptible to any moisture. As such, you often have to wait for perfect “windows” to install epoxy.
For maintenance and installation, our choice is polyurea. Our professional technicians can install this flooring easily, providing you with excellent protection.
Finding the Best Garage Floor Coating
No matter what the best garage floor coating is for you, Garage Force is happy to offer our services. Our polyurea and polyaspartic coatings are certain to give you the garage of your dreams.
We suggest browsing our full chip system and our other beautiful coatings. You can contact us today to discuss what would best benefit your garage.