Choosing the right flooring system for manufacturing plants, industries, and factories should be an important consideration. You shouldn’t settle on any floor type because it’s the only available option. Instead, you want to install the right floor for your manufacturing plants and industries, though it costs you a fortune.
Why is this so important? You are probably asking. As a decision-maker, staff safety should be top priority. Not because it’s a requirement by OSHA, but because you genuinely care. Besides that, you want to choose durable flooring systems.
This helps cut costs in the long run because you won’t need to do frequent repairs and replacements. Concrete flooring alone can’t help with this. That’s why you need resinous floor coating like epoxy.
We walk you through the advantages and disadvantages of industrial epoxy flooring for manufactures because we desire to help you make an informed decision.
What is Epoxy Flooring?
What is epoxy flooring, you ask? An epoxy flooring is a polymer flooring or resinous flooring comprising of a hardener and resin. Epoxy material is versatile and can be used with concrete, wood, tile, and many commercial and industrial flooring options.
Epoxy reacts with surfaces to form a robust bond. The result is an industrial epoxy floor coating with desired characteristics from the combining elements.
Benefits of Industrial Epoxy Flooring
There are more epoxy flooring systems benefits than cons. We take a deep dive into the main advantages of epoxy flooring over other manufacturing flooring options.
1. Enhances Workers Occupational Safety
Occupational safety is a standard set by OSHA and should be met by all employers. The good news is epoxy floors are 100% compliant with the OSHA safety regulations. This helps to keep workers from potential work hazards like falling because of slippery floors.
Epoxy floors are slippery. However, they’re also customizable, and you can add an anti-slip coating to create more friction. In addition, some epoxy floors have self-extinguishing properties. If there’s a fire, you can rest assured the damage won’t be so severe. Also, epoxy doesn’t promote mold growth, helping to keep structures sturdy for long.
2. Saves Installation and Cleaning Time
Epoxy floor coating is easy to install and doesn’t take much time to clean. The floor should be ready after 1-3 days, depending on the area floor area covered. Any time spent not working can affect your bottom line. That’s why you want to install a flooring system that takes a shorter time to dry.
Also, cleaning epoxy floors is seamless and stays clean for a long time. This helps save the cost of buying detergent, which you can use to finance other aspects of the business.
3. Longer Lifespan
Epoxy flooring systems have a longer lifespan, making them more durable than other industrial floor options. Frequent installations and repairs can be draining and expensive. That’s why you need a sturdy and durable flooring system for longevity.
The good news is that you only need to install an industrial or commercial epoxy floor, and you’re sorted. Epoxy floors are resistant to corrosion, regardless of the activities going on in your production rooms. Also, they have self-extinguishing properties, thus resistant to fire.
Lastly, they’re not affected by chemicals and mold infestation. It’s a guarantee epoxy floor will last longer than other options like metal, wood, concrete, and tile.
4. Improves Aesthetics
Epoxy floors are beautiful and improve aesthetics better than ordinary options like concrete, metal, or wood. Productivity increases when in aesthetically appealing environments. That’s why you want to appreciate your workers by rewarding them with an appealing work environment.
5. Low Maintenance Cost
Epoxy floors have a low maintenance cost than other flooring options like concrete, wood, and tile. Epoxy material is non-porous; thus, dirt and other substances settle on the surface with ease. You can quickly clear the dirt off the surface with a special epoxy detergent.
6. Help Brighten the Room
Light-colored epoxy floors brighten manufacturing rooms, adding more life to them. That’s what your staff wants—to be in a high-spirited mood when working. Fortunately, installing bright-colored epoxy flooring helps a long way to achieve this milestone. This will also keep the room adequately lit, thus saving the cost of energy.
7. Environmentally Friendly
Epoxy flooring is environmentally friendly and doesn’t pose significant threats to humans and other living organisms. If you’re the least worried, get it straight from us that epoxy floors are safe.
Cons of Industrial Epoxy Flooring
Below are some of the cons of industrial epoxy flooring.
- Can be Slippery: Epoxy floors are smooth and can be pretty slippery when wet. This makes workers susceptible to fall injuries, especially when you don’t add an anti-slip coating to the epoxy floor.
- Bad Smell: Epoxy floors have a bad smell when drying. This isn’t a bid deal because the floor should be ready in about 1-3 days. However, you’ll have to endure the bad smell while the epoxy floor is fully drying.
- May take relatively longer to dry: Typical epoxy floors take 1-3 days to dry thoroughly. The duration is relatively long as it varies from one person to another. For example, some people may find two days pretty long while others may be cool with three day drying period. Overall, it depends on how busy your manufacturing process is and how soon you wish to resume normal operation.
- Maybe a little Costly: An epoxy flooring doesn’t work in isolation. You also need to have regular flooring like concrete, wood, or tile to act as the substrate. This can be pretty costly, especially when building from scratch. So, you’ll need to prepare for extra spending on top of your budget.
- Incompatible with regular soaps: Cleaning epoxy flooring can be pretty demanding because you can’t use regular soaps. Regular soaps decolorize epoxy floors, so you have to use special cleaners meant for epoxy cleaning. Another alternative would be to use an ammonium and water solution.
The Bottom line
Installing industrial epoxy flooring for manufacturers is one of the best decisions you can make. If you’d like to get started with industrial epoxy flooring, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here.
