You can get resin floors installed in your home or business, and there’s plenty of reasons to opt for resin floors over other flooring materials. There are three main types of resin flooring: PMMA, PU and epoxy floors. Epoxy is the most common form of resin floor coating. An epoxy floor is thermoset and durable, and comes in a range of thicknesses.
If you’re looking into getting resin floors installed in your home, you’ll likely be looking at epoxy floors. But before you begin the installation process, you’ll need to pick the thickness of the epoxy floor. Experts will be able to help you with this decision, but it’s important to make sure you do your own research too.
How thick can epoxy floors be?
The Trusty Tread team says that epoxy thicknesses can be anywhere in quite a broad range. Typically, epoxy floor coatings will be somewhere between 0.2 to 250 mil thick. Different thicknesses are useful for different purposes, so how thick your resin floors will be will be dependent on a few different factors.
You should always consult a professional if you’re unsure about anything to do with epoxy floor coatings, epoxy floor thickness or floor coatings in general. They will be able to help you choose between epoxy floors, polyurethane flooring and PMMA, and guide you to pick a thickness.
Thin epoxy floor coatings
Thin epoxy floors are any that are under 6 mil, and are usually plenty thick enough for low foot traffic floor coatings. They work well in places like a garage, a hallway or storage room. The epoxy floor coatings will still look good, and will maintain its durability, without having to take as long to dry as thicker epoxy flooring.
Pros of thin epoxy floors
There are a handful of reasons why you might choose a thin epoxy floor coating over thick epoxy floor coatings. They are:
Short installation time
All resin floors require installation time. This includes the time it takes to pour the epoxy floors, and the time it takes for the epoxy floor coatings to cure completely. Different types of flooring system will have different installation times, and thin epoxy resin has one of the lowest installation times.
This means that, for homeowners, you do not have to be out of the room that you’re having epoxy flooring installed in for very long. For businesses, it is perhaps even more important because it means you do not have to close the warehouse/office/factory for very long while the epoxy flooring is being installed and cured.
Thin epoxy resin is great for surfaces that need to be kept clean
From houses that Shine Queens have cleaned they have said that epoxy floors stay really clean, so if you’re looking to keep your warehouse or home nice and clean, a thin epoxy floor coating is a great way to do so. Since the epoxy floor is seamless, it is safe from the penetration of bacteria and dirt, and the surface of the epoxy floor coating is hard for dust to stick to. If that’s not enough, epoxy floor coatings are also stain resistant and unaffected by chemicals, meaning that they can be cleaned super easily.
You can have non-skid surfaces made with epoxy coating
You can equip your thin epoxy floor with a non-skid coating that prevents the otherwise smooth epoxy floor coating from being a hazard. This is particularly useful in homes with pets or young children, and offices or warehouses. It can help to protect those in the property, and does not require much more effort than installing an epoxy floor already needs.
Cons of thin epoxy floors
As with any DIY choice, however, there are also some downsides to thin epoxy flooring. For example:
Any marks on the floor beneath the thin epoxy flooring may be visible
If your floor is of poor quality, or there are scratches or dips on it, you might find that with a minimal epoxy floor thickness, these marks are still visible. This is because there is simply less epoxy floor to cover it up.
It is not possible to repair thin epoxy resin floor
Epoxy floor thickness does affect how easy it is to repair. Thin epoxy floor coatings are not easy to repair, unlike their thicker counterparts. This means that should you manage to scratch or dent your resin floor, you will be stuck with it.
Thick epoxy floor coating
For higher foot traffic areas, or places that need to be able to hold up against more wear and tear, you will need a thicker epoxy coating. Typically, the average epoxy floor thickness is between 10 and 20 mils thick, and will have multiple layers. These layers make up a resin flooring system that is much more durable.
Pros of thick epoxy floors
The benefits of such an epoxy floor coating are:
Thicker epoxy flooring is more durable
All epoxy floor coatings are reasonably durable and are definitely more durable than other floor coatings and materials. Epoxy flooring that is 10 mil or more is much less likely to be scratched or dented than thin epoxy flooring. If it does get scratched, these scratches are less likely to reach the concrete floors beneath.
Thicker epoxy floor coatings are perfect for high foot traffic areas
Since the thicker epoxy coating is more durable, it will last longer than thin epoxy resin. Even in high foot traffic areas, thick epoxy coating will last well, much longer than other floor materials.
Multi-layer epoxy resin floor coatings can support heavy equipment
Thick epoxy coating can cope with high traffic, and it can also cope well with heavy equipment like ovens, moving furniture and, in some cases, even vehicle traffic.
Cons of thick epoxy floors
There are, however, still some downsides to epoxy resin floors with 10 mil plus thickness. For example:
Thick epoxy resin needs more detailed preparation
For thicker epoxy resin, your floor needs to be in tip top shape. This means that it might need shot bursting and diamond grinding, which can cost more and take longer to do than simply installing a thinner layer of epoxy resin.
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