Business

How to Choose Concrete Coatings

There are different coatings available for concrete floors. But choosing which coating is best for your floor can be a little difficult. You can always get the advice of a professional in the building industry such as architects, engineers etc. and they will be able to recommend a product they have tried and tested.

You can also find a variety of concrete coating products on concretecoloursystems.com.au. It is recommended to have a coating on concrete so that it lasts longer. There can be a lot of accumulated damage when there is heavy vehicular traffic on the concrete without a coating. For example, if you happen to have concrete without a coating in a warehouse, there can be a lot of stress on it from forklifts and other machinery and at the end of a few years, you will need to repair the concrete floor. But you can mitigate much of the damage by using a coating. You can never tell what your concrete floor can be subjected to. There can be chemicals spilled on the floor which can further reduce the life expectancy of the concrete. Especially if you have a concrete floor in an environment with chemicals, you need to coat the floor to protect it against accidents. And having an understanding of the concentration of the chemical will give you an idea of what type of coating is best.

In addition to protection

Coating the concrete gives it a shiny finish and it becomes so much easier to clean it. You can also improve the safety of the workplace by choosing a coating that has a non-slip property. There are certain coatings that can give you better traction and this is good for public areas with a lot of foot traffic. Before you select a coating, you should have an understanding of the condition of the current floor. Maybe it already has a coating system or it can be bare concrete. You can do a recoat considering the condition of the floor. You should make sure that the floor is structurally sound and very clean in order to receive the coating. So if there is grease, dirt or any chemical contaminants, you need to make sure these are cleaned before you put a coating on it.

You also need to consider how much foot or vehicular traffic is going to be on the floor. Check if you need a non-slip surface and if you expect chemicals to be spilling on the floor. While there are a variety of coatings available, the most common ones you will come across are polyurethane and epoxy coatings. An epoxy coating can be used as a top coat, intermediate coat or a primer. They are very resistant to chemicals and they come with good adhesion. With polyurethane coatings, you will have high wear and abrasion resistance. It will have a gloss finish and it will retain the colour beautifully. You can even find low odour polyurethanes that can be used in different environments.

Kaylen Dalby
the authorKaylen Dalby