Every so often you hear about some new wonder material that sounds too good to be true—and that's usually because it isn't true. Recently there has been a lot of talk about a miraculous new concrete floor coating and sealer called polyaspartic polyurea. This material, according to its proponents, can be applied at nearly any temperature, bonds easily to nearly any concrete surface, cures to full strength within half an hour, is flexible enough to bridge small cracks, can withstand high temperatures when cured, and has superior stain and UV resistance.

So, you're asking, is all that really true? The simple answer is, yes, it is true--BUT. The big "but" is that you must properly prepare the floor and the moisture vapor emission rate can't be too high and you need to have the proper solids content in the polyaspartic coating to allow it to wet out the concrete surface in order to develop proper bond. When those conditions are met, polyaspartic floors are extremely successful and an experienced contractor can indeed complete a floor in a single day.

Start by understanding that polyaspartic polyurea really is an incredible material. Invented by Bayer in Germany—the aspirin company, which is now one of the world's largest chemical companies—it has been available since the early 1990s. But only within the last two years has it been incorporated into commercial products for the concrete industry. The reported applications range from a new way to topcoat concrete floors to sealers for concrete countertops to impermeable coatings for concrete bridge beams.

In the decorative concrete arena, the most intriguing potential applications are as a replacement for epoxy/polyurethane coatings for floors.

What are Polyaspartics?

What are Polyaspartics?

To begin with, a polyaspartic is a type of polyurea (actually a polyaspartic aliphatic polyurea). Polyurea as a commercially viable material was developed in the 1980s by Texaco Chemical Company (now Huntsman Chemical). All polyureas are two-part systems, meaning that a resin has to be mixed with a catalyst to create the curing reaction that hardens the material. Polyurea has been used very successfully for corrosion-resistant coatings and repair materials, although application is awkward since it has an extremely short pot life—about 3 seconds, so the two parts must be mixed at the spray tip, requiring lots of maintenance on expensive high-pressure equipment.

Polyaspartic polyurea (or simply polyaspartics) overcomes many of those difficulties, while retaining the advantages. According to Bayer Material Science, polyaspartics are "based on the reaction of an aliphatic polyisocyanate and a polyaspartic ester, which is an aliphatic diamine.

For most of us, the important thing to understand is that polyaspartics are a polymer coating material that has the following characteristics:

• Rapid curing (from 5 to 120 minutes, depending on the formulation)
• Can be successfully applied at surface temperatures from -30°C  to 65 °C
• Very low viscosity—equivalent to water—which gives it outstanding wetting ability on a properly prepared concrete floor
• High film build (up to 18 mils in a single coat)
• Bubble-free surfaces even at high humidity (although high humidity can speed up the cure time considerably)
• Pot life of 5 to 120 minutes
• UV stable so it will never turn yellow
• Made with a high solids content (as high as 100%), which means low or no volatile organics (VOCs) during application
• The cured coating can handle temperatures up to 350°F (No Hot Tire Pick Up!)
• Crystal clear and does not blush white from moisture in the concrete
• Able to resist most stains, especially from oils and garage chemicals
• High abrasion resistance— 4X higher than epoxy or urethane

Garage floors have been the first major decorative use of polyaspartics. Several companies have emerged that are selling and installing pigmented polyaspartic garage floors with embedded vinyl flecks or quartz sand beads, similar to epoxy floors. The big selling point for the polyaspartics is the speed of the application. A polyaspartic garage floor can be completed start to finish in about 5- 8 hours (an epoxy floor typically takes 5 days).

An Alternative Surfaces Floor Coating System has four times the abrasion resistance, twice the adhesion, and 95% more flexibility than Epoxy. These characteristics are combined with its ability to cure rapidly and be completed in one day at any temperature. (based on a standard 2-3 car garage).

An Alternative Surfaces Floor Coating also has a very high UV resistance, which means it doesn't yellow or fade over time compared to traditional epoxies and urethanes. Its ability to resist oil stains and deterioration from salts, gasoline and other contaminates is unmatched.

Call us today to schedule your on-site floor inspection.

Contact Alternative Surfaces
Phone: (503) 830-0207
Fax: (503) 961-8578