Mile High Coatings Podcast

Why Pros Choose Polyaspartic Flooring Over Traditional Epoxy

• David Nanninga • Episode 4

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What Is Polyaspartic Flooring, And How Does It Differ From Epoxy?

The battle between concrete coating materials has a clear winner, and in this episode, David Nanninga reveals why polyaspartic has become the gold standard for quality flooring solutions. Developed initially in the 1950s as a steel coating, polyaspartic technology has evolved into the premier choice for concrete surfaces across residential and commercial applications.

David walks us through the compelling advantages that convinced Mile High Coatings to switch almost exclusively to polyaspartic systems. Most striking is the dramatic difference in cure time – you can walk on polyaspartic floors after just 2-4 hours compared to epoxy's 8-12 hours, with full curing happening significantly faster than epoxy's seven-day timeline. For homeowners and businesses alike, this translates to minimal disruption and faster project completion.

Beyond practical considerations, polyaspartic delivers superior performance characteristics that justify its slightly higher cost. Unlike epoxy, it's completely UV stable, meaning it won't yellow or amber with sun exposure. Its exceptional hardness provides superior scratch and scuff resistance, maintaining that showroom-quality gloss finish for years longer than traditional epoxy systems. For those seeking an exceptionally smooth surface, David explains how combining epoxy's self-leveling properties with polyaspartic's durability creates the ultimate flooring solution.

Whether you're considering options for your garage, basement, patio or commercial space, this episode offers invaluable insights into modern concrete coating technology. David even shares how clear polyaspartic sealers can enhance natural concrete for those wanting a minimalist aesthetic without sacrificing protection. With Mile High Coatings' lifetime warranty on garage floors, it's clear they stand behind the remarkable performance of polyaspartic systems.

Ready to transform your concrete surfaces with the industry's most advanced coating technology? Visit Milehighcoatings.com for a free quote or call 970-314-1023 to discover how polyaspartic flooring can elevate your space to new heights of beauty and durability.

To learn more about Mile High Coatings visit:
https://www.MileHighCoatings.com
Mile High Coatings
970-314-1023

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Mile High Coatings podcast, where we elevate your spaces to a new peak in quality. Hosted by David Nanega, president of Mile High Coatings, this podcast explores how expert residential painting, concrete coatings and epoxy flooring can transform garages, basements, patios and commercial spaces across Colorado's front range. So grab your favorite beverage, sit back and dive into the world of high-quality coatings.

Speaker 2:

Polyaspartic flooring is turning heads as a high-performance alternative to epoxy, but what sets it apart? In this episode, we dig into why it's becoming a game changer for garages and commercial spaces. Welcome back everyone. I'm Millie M, co-host and producer. Back in the studio with David Nanega, president of Mile High Coatings. How's it going, david?

Speaker 3:

Going well. Today we have a beautiful Friday.

Speaker 2:

Yes, excited about that and also excited to dive into the pros and cons of polyaspartic. Sounds like it's giving epoxy a run for its money, so what is polyaspartic flooring and how does it differ from epoxy?

Speaker 3:

So polyaspartic has certainly become, I would say, probably the gold standard at this point. We started installing polyaspartic coatings in 2011 and really never looked back. Prior to that, we were using epoxy and when we first started in 2011, we still used epoxy up until around COVID. But just to kind of give a little bit of a background on polyaspartic, it was developed in like the 1950s by Bayer and they had a patent on it and then it was originally developed and used as a coating for steel to prevent corrosion on steel, and I believe the patent expired in the early 90s and then it became sort of redeveloped, if you will, and chemists realized that the coating I guess the chemistry of the coating could be manipulated and reformulated in ways that were beneficial for concrete. So you know you've got cure time, which there's a huge difference in cure time between polyaspartic and epoxy. For instance, you can walk on polyaspartic after a few hours, so typically two to four hour walk on time, whereas epoxy you might be eight to 12 hours and, as far as actual cure time, epoxy could be seven days. Another benefit to polyaspartic over epoxy is that it's UV stable, so epoxies will amber with light UV exposure over time and polyaspartic does not do that, which is which is a huge advantage. Another advantage is the abrasion resistance and durability that polyaspartic exhibits over epoxy. So when I say abrasion resistance and durability that polyaspartic exhibits over epoxy. So when I say abrasion resistance, think of, you know, scratching or scuffing the coating. So the hardness of polyaspartic will resist scratching and scuffing much more than epoxy will. Epoxy is essentially softer and so it's going to scratch and abrade much easier and that also translates to gloss retention. So you start out with a shiny coating and as you abrade it and scratch it and scuff it, it becomes dull over time over time. So polyaspartic, being harder and having better abrasion resistance, is going to maintain its gloss for much longer than epoxy will. So those are probably maybe some of the key differences.

Speaker 3:

Polyaspartic is more expensive than epoxy. However, since COVID especially it was either, I think, in 21, we really saw a big run-up in the cost of epoxy resins. I think that summer of 21,. Epoxy resins jumped like 40%, so it really closed the gap in the cost difference between epoxy and polyaspartic. It was kind of around that time that we kind of just said you know what? There's really no advantage at this point to using just epoxy along with polyaspartic and so we kind of switched to just doing a full polyaspartic coating system. We do a lifetime warranty on our garage floors and it's certainly kind of the creme de la creme of coatings. You know it's used with industrial spaces, heavy, heavy manufacturing equipment, storage. Yeah, it's just a great all around coding and and I think that's reflected also because practically all you know, most, most if not all competitor competitors are using polyaspartic anymore. So, like I said the beginning, it's kind of the gold standard.

Speaker 2:

So Well, it sounds like it's just a stronger, more durable product, and, especially if the prices are comparable, you might as well go with the higher quality products, and I can see this as being something that's great that cure time being faster for investors and even for home remodels to get things going a little bit faster. So what makes quality aspartic better suited for like cold or variable climates.

Speaker 3:

You know, it doesn't really matter, temperature doesn't affect it too much. Another consideration is moisture or humidity, rather, and so it's used across the country. I mean, certainly here in Colorado, you know, along the Front Range, we install, you know, 10 to 15 garage doors a week and we very rarely, if ever ever, have any issues, you know, related to temperatures certainly in a extreme cold environment.

Speaker 3:

It's going to take longer to dry and cure, but it still will. The chemistry, will you know? It's a part a and a part b and are mixed together and they it creates a chemical reaction. That chemical reaction still happens regardless of the temperature. It just might be slower when it's, you know, 10 degrees outside, and so what I typically tell people is you know, if it's, if it's going to be a high of, say, 20 degrees or something, if it's going to be pretty cold that day, we may want to look at potentially delaying, you know, an install of, say, a garage floor coating, mostly not because of the coating that can't handle it, but the guys will get cold and it's bundled up and it's just not to do your job when you're freezing.

Speaker 3:

It doesn't tend to work as well, so there's just kind of some challenges on that side. But yeah, I mean you know hot, hot weather too. It's fine. I mean, our guys we installed this year round. It's a great effective coating in all sort of temperatures and climates.

Speaker 2:

You got to keep your guys comfortable for sure. Quickly. Are there any drawbacks to using polyaspartic instead of epoxy, Because it seems like the polyaspartic is winning on all fronts.

Speaker 3:

I would say there's maybe one or two drawbacks. One might be if someone's looking for for, say, a really just flat sort of smooth I guess for lack of a better word floor epoxy is going to have an advantage. There you can do what's called 100 solids epoxies, which get applied fairly thick, and so that's going to have a quality of self-leveling. So that's going to have a quality of self-leveling.

Speaker 3:

Because the epoxy doesn't cure as fast, it stays wet longer and it'll level out and so that thickness will help kind of bridge.

Speaker 3:

You know waves and undulations that you might see, you know, on a concrete floor for instance.

Speaker 3:

So epoxy I'm sorry, polyaspartic because it cures so fast it doesn't necessarily have time to level out.

Speaker 3:

In that same way we use a really high solids polyaspartic, but because it cures fast it doesn't exhibit the same sort of characteristics that epoxy would in terms of leveling. So in that case what we do for people that really want that just really smooth, flat look, we'll use an epoxy as like a base coat or a primer coat and get that build and get that you know, that flatness, and then we can still top coat it with polyaspartic. So you still get the benefit of the UV stability, you still get the benefit of the performance of the polyaspartic coupled with the sort of the flatness that the epoxy will give you, and I'd say that's maybe the one advantage that epoxy might have. I mean, it's a little bit cheaper, I guess, per gallon, but you end up using more epoxy. So really the cost, you know, end up being kind of even so, and people don't realize that if they're comparing a gallon of epoxy and it's half the price of a gallon of polyaspartic. But if you're using twice as much epoxy, then your costs are the same.

Speaker 2:

The's been the same about. That sounds like the best of both worlds to use the polyaspartic and the epoxy. So excuse my ignorance, but I know there was a trend at some point of people going with just bare concrete floors. So do you use that epoxy on the inside as well as that polyaspartic to get, I guess, a smoother finish if someone decides to do just plain concrete floors on the inside?

Speaker 3:

So we can do a couple different things For people that want just a regular concrete finished floor, that you're probably going to start exploring polished concrete, which we do polished concrete as well and that's almost a completely different type of application. I was just asking.

Speaker 2:

You said level and I was like, oh well, people do concrete on the inside.

Speaker 3:

So I thought maybe absolutely, and we do have a an application for people that that want the finished concrete look.

Speaker 3:

They want the look of polished concrete, but we can use polyaspartic as a clear coat so give a nice shine. Of course it seals the floor. We call that a grind and seal. So when we prep a garage floor or really about any concrete floor we do we use a diamond grinder which is like a sander for concrete, so it's not like super duper aggressive or anything like that, but it preps the floor adequately and properly for for the coating, for adhesion purposes, and so for people that want a finished concrete floor but they want it to just look like concrete, we can do a grind and seal and so we prep the floor with the diamond grinder, clean it all up and then we apply a clear polyaspartic sealer over the top so you still get the advantages of of it being sealed. You know chemicals and water and whatever other potential contaminants aren't going to soak into the concrete at that point, and so that's a nice advantage over something like a polished concrete, where polished concrete can be susceptible to staining and certain contaminants.

Speaker 2:

So see, I knew you could could use polyaspartic on the inside.

Speaker 3:

You got it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, thank you for that deep dive. David Polyaspartic clearly has its place in elevating concrete surfaces. We appreciate your insights and we'll see you on the next episode.

Speaker 3:

Sounds great.

Speaker 2:

Thanks.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the mile high coatings podcast. Ready to give your space a fresh, durable finish, visit milehighcoatingscom for a free price quote or call 970-314-1023. At mile high coatings, we're not just painting walls. We're setting a new peak in quality. Until next time, keep your standards high and your coatings. We're not just painting walls. We're setting a new peak in quality. Until next time, keep your standards high and your coatings higher.