Seven reasons why epoxy floors fail

Seven reasons why

epoxy floors fail

Epoxy coatings are fantastic products that can create great seamless resinous floors

And yet….

Many times things can go wrong when applying epoxy floor products….

So what causes industrial flooring projects to fail?

Here are the top 7 reasons:

1. Poor surface

Preparation

Always grind (or shot-blast) the surface

before installing the new floor!

1. Poor surface Preparation

1. Poor surface Preparation

A surface needs to be properly prepared. This means it should be

• clean

• dry

• dust-free and

• the substrate must be ground or shot-blasted

2. Humidity

Solvent based Epoxy products do not bond well with humidity

2.Humidity

Make sure that

• the surface is completely dry

• no pipes or taps dripping

• no rising humidity from beneath the ground.

2.Humidity

3. Weak Substrate

This happens when the Epoxy floor product is much stronger than the substrate (for example low –quality cement)

What ends up happening is that you don’t actually have the epoxy layer detaching from the cement

3. Weak Substrate

but the cement detaching itself from the cement.

3. Weak Substrate

4. No (or wrong)

Primer

4. No (or wrong Primer)

Always use suitable primer for Industrial Floors!

Floors experience heavy wear and tear

Don’t assume the industrial floor screed will simply just stick to the substrate.

Always make sure that the primer is suitable for the substrate

4. No (or wrong Primer)

5. Incompatible

Surface

Make sure the substrate is compatible for epoxies both in terms of adhesion as well as tensile strength.

5. Incompatible Substrate

For example never coat epoxy on wood!

Wood is far more flexible than epoxies which leads to the epoxy cracking simply because it cannot follow the expansions of the wood floor.

5. Incompatible Substrate

6. Contaminated

Floors

Such problems occur in old installations (for example food and drinks factories, car service shops, workshops) that want to install an epoxy floor coating over the old contaminated floor.

6. Contaminated Floors

6. Contaminated Floors

All oils, greases, residues must be properly cleaned before attempting any type of fresh coating. Don’t expect proper bonding otherwise.

7. Faulty Resin/

Hardener mix

7. Faulty resin/hardener mix

Ever seen the coating not cure properly?

Did it remain sticky or soft long after the application was finished?

7. Faulty resin/hardener mix

This was caused by a faulty mix between the resin and the hardener:

- Mixing incorrect or inaccurate proportions of the components

- Not mixing the material properly or for a long enough time

Any Questions?

Do you require any further information?

Any advice on how to repair your floor?

Do you want to share your experiences with us?

Davari and Christodoulou Street

19002 Peania GREECE

email: office@ktisis.eu

http://www.ktisis.eu

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This presentation originally appeared as a blog article. To read the original article click here:

http://blog.ktisis.eu/2012/07/23/six-reasons-why-epoxy-floors-fail/

Thank you for watching!