Epoxy vs Polyaspartics
I get asked all the time “why are Polyaspartics better than Epoxy for Garage floors.” The simple answer is that they are 3 times Harder than Epoxy, have 3 times the Chemical Resistance and the garage can be done in one day. But, let’s talk more about what this means and how we know this is true. Remember we are the “Concrete Nerds” and when you want something done right turn to the Nerd with the specialty you seek.
ASTM International is the American Society for Testing and Materials. It is an international standards organization and they develop and publish technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems and services. Basically they are Nerds like us. The graph below is the summary of their testing of our Polyaspartics, Epoxy and Polyurethane.
Floor coatings comparison
Epoxy vs. Urethane vs. Global Garage Polyaspartics
|
Property |
Testing Method |
Epoxy Results |
Polyurethane Results |
Global Garage Polyaspartic |
GG Polyaspartic Advantage |
|
Adhesion |
ASTM-D4541 psi |
400-600 |
400 |
1000 |
2X the adhesion |
|
Abrasion Resistance |
ASTM-D4060 mg loss |
83-105 |
60-65 |
22-28 |
3X the abrasion resistance |
|
Wear Resistance |
ASTM-D968 litres sand/mil |
8-10 |
25-30 |
30-38 |
3X the wear resistance |
|
Impact Resistance |
ASTM-D2794 in lbs |
40-20 |
80/40 |
160/160 |
4X the impact resistance |
|
Flexibility |
ASTM-D522 |
Fails |
Passes |
Passes |
Greater Flexibility |
|
Color & Gloss Retention |
ASTM-D4587 |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
2X the color & gloss retention |
|
Foot Traffic |
n/a |
12-16 hours |
24 hours |
2 hours |
Walk on hours sooner |
|
Vehicle Traffic |
n/a |
4 days |
4 days |
36 hours |
Drive on days sooner |
Let’s talk about what the different terms mean.
Adhesion comes from the word Adhere and for our purposes it means that once the products stick to the concrete how hard is it to pull them off.
Abrasion Resistance is the technical term for how hard is it to wear this stuff out.
Wear Resistance for our purposes this means the same thing as Abrasion Resistance.
Impact Resistance means that if you drop a rock on it how hard and how big of a rock do you have to drop on it to make an indent. Or, how hard is it?
Flexibility means that when your concrete cracks, how far can the coating stretch before it shows thru and the coating cracks.
Color & Gloss Retention basically means how long will it look pretty.
Foot Traffic is not an ASTM standard but in this case it asks the question “how long until I can walk on it?”
Vehicle Traffic is looking at the same thing as Foot Traffic except that is asks the question “how long until I can drive on it?”
So, now that you can see what the testing numbers are and you understand the different terms that are being tested you know that Polyaspartics are better for garage floors than either Polyurethane or Epoxy because:
A). Your becoming a Concrete Nerd like us.
or,
B). Polyaspartics are better at sticking to the concrete, wear longer, are harder, won’t crack as easily, look pretty longer and can be walked on and driven on sooner.
Lance Jensen
Global Garage, CEO
