Seamless flooring systems make beautiful and long-lasting surfaces for industrial and decorative applications. They can be done in as little as one day. But are quick curing resinous floors right for your purposes?
The amount of time it takes from starting a project to walking on the finished floor will ultimately depend on how you use the floor.
Epoxy Coating Specialists always respects your time, and finishes projects on schedule, on budget, no matter the size of the job. Request a quote to find out what a project looks like for your situation. Or contact us, and let’s set up a time to see what you’ve got going on.
Understanding the difference between project speed and project goals will help you choose the right system for wherever you want a new seamless floor.
The ECS Resinous Floor System
When we talk about quick curing resinous floors being a “system,” we mean it. Our flooring systems consist of building a matrix of layers that adhere one level to the next, creating a unified bond of strength and resiliency. Layer by layer they bond together and become a single unit of strength and durability. These accelerated system are comprised of a mixture of the following three product categories: Polyaspartics, Urethane Cement, and Methyl Methacrylate (MMA for short)
As part of our process, when we come out for a quote, ECS does a site survey, then a needs assessment. From there, we can recommend several different products to determine what works best for your situation. ECS has the in-house staffing along with expert manufacturer backing to adjust for your needs and your time restraints.
Your usage goals for the flooring system will define how many of the following are applied.
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Prepared Substrate
Though not technically a layer, our substrate preparation gives the flooring system its base adhesion. The substrate is your base concrete floor, the foundation upon which all the rest of this is built.
This first step makes sure your concrete or cement floor is clean, secured, and ready to support your new epoxy flooring system.
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Primer
The initial layer of your flooring system, primer, penetrates into the capillaries of the substrate. The primer layer creates the initial bond, forming a foundation for the next coat.
Every floor gets a primer, even if it’s a self-priming floor coating.
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Mortar
Mortar is a thicker layer application that resurfaces areas that have pitted/spalled concrete. Mortar builds improved structural integrity, making the floor more smooth and level while protecting the good concrete. The mortar layer gives all of the floor improved topical strength for longer life.
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Grout Coat
Once the mortar layer cures, we reprime it with a grout coat, saturating the mortar coat and sealing it, making it ready to bond with the next layers.
As you might see by now, each layer creates stability and cohesion for the next layer.
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Build Coat
To ensure maximum smoothness and durability, the ECS technician applies a second thick, self-leveling layer. This is part of how you get that liquid-smooth seamless surface, and it builds further strength into the quick curing resinous floors.
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Top Coat
The top coat is the final, high-wear urethane coating applied to protect against wear. The top coat also provides high chemical resistance for longevity in more abusive environments.
ECS utilizes every one of the 5 layers outlined above in our Heavy Duty Epoxy Mortar System. This top-of-the-line system combines industrial aggregate with high-quality resins to restore eroded or worn-out concrete, and create a long-term lifecycle for the floor.
Your floor may or may not have all of these layers, depending on the expected use of the floor, and where you want your budget to be. An ECS specialist can walk you through all of the specifications—including how you want to use the floor, and where.
We can customize any plan to suit your needs!
Specialty Layers
The required strength level of the floor affects how long quick curing resinous floors takes to be completed. However, the application of specialty layers for your aesthetic preference don’t affect that time. Your resinous flooring system incorporates these preferences into one of the above layers so that it’s still done on schedule.
Here are some of the most popular specialty layers we offer.
Broadcast Coat/Silica Sand
This layer is the same as mortar, but not as thick. However, unlike mortar, it’s not troweled onto the surface. Rather, it’s spread via a hand-operated aerial broadcaster.
Broadcast Coat/Decorative Flake
This purely decorative coating is also applied with a hand-operated aerial broadcaster, but it doesn’t take the place of a layer. Instead, it receives two clear coats put on top for final durability and beauty.
Broadcast Quartz
Broadcast Quartz is another coat applied via a hand-operated aerial broadcaster, giving the flooring system the look and appeal of decorative flake, but with more surface texture. This can add a non-slip/non-skid benefit to the floor.
Troweled Quartz
This layer works similarly to mortar, except colored sand is used instead of industrial particulates. The troweled quartz layer still provides heavy-duty fortification, but with decorative appeal.
Why is Building Layers Important for the Lifespan of a Resinous Floor?
Think of creating your epoxy flooring system like baking a cake.
You can look at each ingredient and realize that flour is used in cakes—and in noodles. Sugar makes the cake sweeter, but can also help your lawn’s grass flourish and fight weeds (bet you didn’t know that!). Eggs can give a cake structure, but also make a heckuva omelet.
The flavor of what you’re making can’t be defined by any single ingredient. However, when the ingredients are combined correctly, in the right order, using the necessary tools, and then treated to the right environmental conditions, suddenly you have a delicious cake!
And you customize the ingredient list for the cake’s purpose. A carrot cake doesn’t need the same ingredients as a German chocolate cake. Neither of those recipes will work for an angelfood cake. What you want to accomplish requires different ingredients for different needs.
A epoxy flooring system follows the same rationale:
- Using the right ingredients for the floor’s intended purpose
- Choosing the correct layer combination
- Taking the proper steps for application
- Using the correct tools at each level
- Managing timing for ultimate curing and cohesion
When these coats and layers bond, it’s almost like melting them together. When all specialty layers are combined and the matrix is built, they create a single floor system that works well for your needs, for a long time.
How Long Does It Take?
Because Epoxy Coating Specialists focus on your full flooring goals—usage, location, time schedule, and budget—we can fully adjust our application process to make it happen for you.
Our top-of-the-line coating system usually takes about 5 days from start to usage, regardless of the facility size. Other systems take less time because of less layers, but most take at least two days or more.
If you have a 1-day window to get your new floor done, we have customized hyrbrid systems that can be catered to your needs.
Check out our blog on timelines for bidding and installing your flooring system. We address what it takes to create a schedule, and why. Transparency isn’t just a clear coat, it’s a great way to do business.
Our Quickest-Curing Flooring Systems
When time is the most important governing factor for installing your flooring system, ECS is ready with choices that provide high quality with minimum installation time.
Polyaspartic Coatings
A polyaspartic coating cures fast enough to allow for multiple layers in a single day. It’s a great choice for projects requiring a strict, expedited timeline, as it cures in hours rather than days. A polyaspartic coating has other properties that make it advantageous as a flooring system:
- Single-coat (self-priming) for metal
- Excellent corrosion resistance
- Improved weathering
- Lower emissions during application
- High-gloss appeal
Along with floors, polyaspartic coatings are frequently applied to exposed metal girders and beams for the same protective reasons.
Methyl Methacrylate MMA
Similar to polyaspartic coatings, methyl methacrylate (MMA) resins cure quickly and resist wear.
When applied to concrete floors, the coating excels at repelling water. And the seamless surface doesn’t allow for microbiological growth, making it easier to decontaminate. MMA flooring systems can work well for:
- Sites requiring sterilization before installation
- Facilities with consistently wet floors
- Areas where staining or damage from solvents/salts/etc could occur
- Tight installation timelines
- Seamless surface will adhere well to future refresher coats.
The MMA vapors can irritate the skin, lungs, and eyes, so protective gear and appropriate cross-ventilation must be included as part of installation. Though fast curing, enclosed areas may require adjacent employees to be relocated for the duration of the installation.
What If It’s A Floor System for My Home Garage?
We’ll treat your home flooring system with the same respect and product integrity as an industrial project. We use the same highest-quality products and tools, just on a smaller scale. This also means it will take the same amount of time to install the floor.
Questions We’ll Ask
Here is a sampling of some of the questions we’ll ask as we determine which systems to suggest for your quick drying epoxy flooring:
- How long can the area be shut down?
- What is the condition of the area?
- What’s the use/workload?
- Is it wet/dry?
- Will the floor be industrial, decorative or a combination?
- What is the life expectancy?
- How do you clean it?
- Will the building be occupied?
One of the great things about using ECS is that one system may not fit every part of your location. We can customize the application so that the heaviest-use areas get the most durable floor system, and the lighter-usage areas get more appropriate floor systems.
An expert resinous flooring specialist shouldn’t simply apply a one-size-fits-all system to every part of your space. Any areas with different uses should have a specific floor system applied to best fit that use.
Contact Epoxy Coating Specialists With Your Questions
ECS can install quick curing resinous floors just about anywhere. But which system makes the best solution for your situation? Contact us today with your questions about system strengths, applications, and flexibilities. Our team of dedicated pros are ready to share their knowledge.
And not to toot our own horn, but the better educated you are about the realities of resinous flooring systems, the better ECS looks. So let’s talk about what you’ve got. From residential to aviation, arenas, restaurants, industrial facilities and more, there’s no project too big or too small for Epoxy Coating Systems.
Request a quote today.