Polyaspartic floor coating

[30DodgePanel]

Has anyone here used this product? Looking to see what the real pros and cons are. I don’t want to go based solely off what the company or contractors says on their websites. 

Im curious to know about the main factors.

1.) The products durability.
2.) How it reacts to solvents and oils

3.) Is it slick or does it have a good grip (both wet and dry)

4.) Cleaning and maintaining 

5.)How it effects the  Environment and health. 

 

I’d be using it on garage floors and on concrete pool decking over the top of cool decking. Cool decking is a popular textured product used in the southwest so your feet don’t burn due to extreme temperatures when you get out of the pool. 
 

Thanks 

Dave

 

 

 

[bryankazmer]

I've not used it but "polyaspartic" and "polyurea" are both polyurethane chemistry, not epoxy.  Polyaspartic has a slower cure so can wet out a bit better and be a little friendlier to install.  You need to look at the aliphatic content.  Aliphatic urethanes weather better than aromatic urethanes.  Ideally you'd want 100% aliphatic.  One component of thermosetting polyurethanes is normally an isocyanate - use proper breathing equipment - not just a dust mask.  All these coatings will be smooth and slippery unless a grit or wrinkler of some type is included.

[60FlatTop]

Last year I designated one bay area of my garage to "heavy work" and the rest to walking around polishing. The light work floor got covered with cheap poly-vinyl flooring from Ollie's discount stores. It seems to be holding up fine to a variety of abuse and it is cheap enough to just cut out or throw out anything that gets damaged.

 

What I have secured with contact cement and transition strips is working well.

 

Always remember, if the 5# tub of contact cement slips out of you hands let it drop. Don't try to catch it.

 

[Akstraw]

I had a polyaspartic surface applied in my home garage 11 years ago.  It has held up very well to wear, gasoline and oil spills, and others.  I clean it once or twice a year with a floor scrubber and soap and water, and continue to be very pleased with it.  Mine had color chips added to give the surface some roughness, as well as for appearance.  I was told that it would be very slippery without the chips/texture.  One thing I particularly like is that it has never shown any tire marks, which I have seen in many other garages, resulting from parking long-term or from hot tires.  Attached photos are (a) brand new floor in 2011, and (b) just after a cleaning in 2018.

[30DodgePanel]

18 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

Always remember, if the 5# tub of contact cement slips out of you hands let it drop. Don't try to catch it.

You wouldn't happen to have a video demonstration of this would you?  

[30DodgePanel]

12 hours ago, Akstraw said:

I had a polyaspartic surface applied in my home garage 11 years ago.  It has held up very well to wear, gasoline and oil spills, and others.  I clean it once or twice a year with a floor scrubber and soap and water, and continue to be very pleased with it.  Mine had color chips added to give the surface some roughness, as well as for appearance.  I was told that it would be very slippery without the chips/texture.  One thing I particularly like is that it has never shown any tire marks, which I have seen in many other garages, resulting from parking long-term or from hot tires.  Attached photos are (a) brand new floor in 2011, and (b) just after a cleaning in 2018.

 

Does any outer section get exposed to UV rays when the doors stay open for any period of time? If so, how are those areas holding up to sunlight exposure? My garage and carport face west, both get the extreme afternoon desert heat.

Doubt I'll be using on my cool decking due to the grip and inability to reflect heat like I'd hoped after studying it a bit more.

Textured Polyaspartic sounds like a great alternative to epoxy for garage floors but not a good option for pool deck.

 

The wife and I have been discussing another product called Rubberstone as an alternative for going over the cool decking. If anyone has used that product I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. With the advancements in technology in various product chemistry I was hoping to find one product that could do it all but I guess we aren't there quite yet, we may still be a decade or more away before polyaspartic contains any alternative gripper properites without adding sand or texture...

 

Your point about tire marks or tire grip is an important one when considering both of these. I just don't trust the Rubberstone to handle the weight of vehicles, heat and tire marks (yet). Still researching...

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[30DodgePanel]

19 hours ago, bryankazmer said:

Polyaspartic has a slower cure so can wet out a bit better and be a little friendlier to install.  

I appreciate your input but everything I've read says just the opposite about the cure time and installation comparisons. I'm guessing you meant it the other way around? Everything I've read says epoxy is much slower cure times. If you've used both products and have experienced the opposite then this is the kind of real world input I'm hoping for. Please clarify, thank you again.

 

I'm actually looking into a product labeled Aspartic 100 slow set with 100% solids

A full face respirator is a must!  

 

[bryankazmer]

sorry for the confusion.  Epoxy generally has the best wet out and slowest cure.  Aspartic PU in the middle.  Polyurea PU is higher viscosity and fast cure.  Comments based on the chemistry and using PU in applications other than floors.

 

Aspartic 100 is advertised as aliphatic but check if it is 51% aliphatic or 100% aliphatic.  Isn't it intended as a top coat over epoxy?  Or you also having it recommended for use over concrete?

 

I'm learning too - thinking of doing this myself.

[kgreen]

I epoxied my garage floor and the lesson I'll share is that a solid light color gray is the best color and texture when searching for dropped hardware.  The flaked floor looks cool and hides slight defects in the concrete finish as well as all dropped hardware.  

[TAKerry]

I know as much about chemicals their compounds, names etc. as I do building a rocket ship to mars. But we have used a company on a couple of projects that use a floor branded by 'Penntek Industrial Coatings'. It is not an epoxy, and the selling point is that it can be done in a day. I dont think its home owner friendly as one may have to go through a franchisee for installation. But from the ones I am familiar with it is a great product.

Edited February 2, 2023 by TAKerry (see edit history)

[bryankazmer]

46 minutes ago, TAKerry said:

I know as much about chemicals their compounds, names etc. as I do building a rocket ship to mars. But we have used a company on a couple of projects that use a floor branded by 'Penntek Industrial Coatings'. It is not an epoxy, and the selling point is that it can be done in a day. I dont think its home owner friendly as one may have to go through a franchisee for installation. But from the ones I am familiar with it is a great product.

I think it's polyurea PU.

[Akstraw]

To answer your question, the small strip of my garage floor that extends outside the door has definitely faded in color after 12 years, but is otherwise holding up well.

[30DodgePanel]

16 hours ago, bryankazmer said:

I think it's polyurea PU.

It is...

 

Kerry's website (Penntek) listed dealers in my area based on zip code. Penntek had a section on pool deck coatings of which Galaxy is certified. Ironically my search began with a look into Galaxy locally, so I've went full circle with all roads leading back to them so I have the confidence this product is sufficient for both pool deck and garage floors after reading about the UV resistant possibilities. There is still a small percent that makes me question the 100% UV resistant claims but I'm going to try and have it done this spring and report back on the pros and cons if others are interested. 

 

The next step is finding out if I can purchase the product materials outright under my prior business credentials associated with the commercial and industrial painting industries (I'd like to do all the work myself). If that isn't possible then I'll have to hire Galaxy and budget that in... so obviously I was hoping to save money on labor cost especially since the product is more expensive than epoxy. We shall see...

[bryankazmer]

Some polyurethanes have enough "pot life' to be mixed and spread.  Some require a mixing head to spray them on (think pick-up bedliners)

 

"100%  UV resistant"   Notice it's not 100% UV proof.  All coatings will have some UV degradation, it's a matter of degree

[TAKerry]

2 hours ago, 30DodgePanel said:

It is...

 

Kerry's website (Penntek) listed dealers in my area based on zip code. Penntek had a section on pool deck coatings of which Galaxy is certified. Ironically my search began with a look into Galaxy locally, so I've went full circle with all roads leading back to them so I have the confidence this product is sufficient for both pool deck and garage floors after reading about the UV resistant possibilities. There is still a small percent that makes me question the 100% UV resistant claims but I'm going to try and have it done this spring and report back on the pros and cons if others are interested. 

 

The next step is finding out if I can purchase the product materials outright under my prior business credentials associated with the commercial and industrial painting industries (I'd like to do all the work myself). If that isn't possible then I'll have to hire Galaxy and budget that in... so obviously I was hoping to save money on labor cost especially since the product is more expensive than epoxy. We shall see...

I know its a specific product, but the jobs that I have been involved with have all turned out great. I was very tempted to have it done in my garage, but like you I did not want to pay someone to do what I know I can do. As an aside, we used to specialize in building fire houses. Every one that we did had some sort of epoxy floor. All were professionally done (and expensive) and everyone had some kind of issue to deal with. I think epoxy is great however it does have its limitations (as well as the penntek I suppose?) but as long as one doesnt want a miracle floor they are nice to have. I had been wanting to put some kind of coating on my floor but after years of thinking about it I decided to leave bare concrete. That seems to be the trend with commercial businesses now so I am back in vogue! I recently saw a garage with carpet squares, which are cheap and easy to replace. It looked really nice, now I have something else to think about.

[MotiveLensPhoto]

I had a polyurea floor done a few years ago and I'm very happy with it. I barely have to use any water to clean as it sweeps up well and seems durable so far. Also had it drywalled and insulated, which keeps the temperature more stable and I think that might have something to do with it.