New York’s weather is notoriously variable, with hot, humid summers and cold, icy winters. Because these extreme fluctuation place significant stress on concrete surfaces, they make proper floor coating installation essential for durability and performance. Most garage floors are installed in either one day or two days. One-day installations are attractive, simply because they’re shorter. People are busy and they want the disruptive work to be completed as soon as possible. That makes complete sense, up until they have to pay for repairs on a rush job only months after installation.
Here’s a comparison of the two methods:
One-Day Installations
Poor Moisture Management: One-day polyurea-polyaspartic systems often fail to manage moisture effectively. These systems use fast-curing polyurea-polyaspartics as both the primer coat (direct-to-concrete) and the clear top coat. The fast-cure property of these coatings allows the installers to complete the job in the promised 1-day. However, fast-curing polyurea-polyaspartics cure faster still in the presence of moisture (be it in the concrete or air). As a results of this rapid curing (<1 hr), it doesn’t allow enough time for proper penetration or bonding to the concrete slab.
Delamination due to Hydrostatic Pressure: Polyurea-polyaspartics can only go down thinly. The thin, poorly bonded polyurea-polyaspartic primer is very susceptible to hydrostatic pressure as moisture builds in the concrete over time. The hydrostatic pressure pushes up on the weak primer coat, leading to issues like blistering, flaking, and peeling. (This is why “one-day” contractors won’t warrant “moisture-related issues”).
Two-Day Installations
Moisture Vapor Barrier: Conversely, the first day of the two-day process involves applying a slower-curing, high-build, moisture-mitigating 100%-solids epoxy primer. This thick coat acts as a moisture vapor barrier because it deeply penetrates and strongly bonds to the concrete. (A full day is provided to allow for curing). Hence, this permits deep concrete penetration, creates a strong foundation, and provides for effective moisture management. Th end result is a strong bond that prevents hydrostatic pressure (trapped moisture) from causing future moisture damage.
Durability & Resilience: On the second day of the process, dual 100%-solids polyurea-polyaspartic top coats are applied. The dual clear top coats provide the UV, stain, chemical and impact resistance that polyurea-polyaspartics are known for. Hence, the right coating products are used for their intended purpose (a moisture-mitigating epoxy as primer and a polyurea-polyaspartic as top coats). As a result, these industrial-grade coating systems are built to prevent issues like delamination and coating failure.
Quality Trumps Convenience
While the speed of a one-day installation might be tempting, the long-term benefits of a two-day process are pretty obvious, especially to us! After all, we’ve been asked time and time again to repair single-day systems that someone else installed.
Investing in a professional, thorough installation ensures that your floors remain durable, safe, and visually appealing, capable of handling any moisture issues that might present themselves.
Quality work will always beat rush jobs.
Media Contact
Garage Floor Coating of New York, Garage Floor Coating of New York, (607) 697-9190, salesleads.ny@garagefloorcoating.com, https://www.garagefloorcoatingsnewyork.com/
SOURCE Garage Floor Coating of New York
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