The Benefits Of Using A Water Based Floor Paint
It is well known there are hundreds of suppliers selling hundreds of different types of water based floor paint from hundreds of manufactures. For business owners, finance directors or maintenance managers, this becomes a lottery as to which manufacturer you should use and what type of paint you should buy.
There is hardly a person or company that has not experienced a failure of either a floor paint or screed and has consequently wasted time, effort, and money. A cheap floor paint may appear more enticing but when factoring in the inconvenience and cost caused by production downtime, it pays to make a wise and educated decision so as not to end in premature failure and frustration.
Top Five Benefits
1) First and foremost, the main benefit of using a water based floor paint is the low odour. It is low odour, non-toxic and non-taint as well as being non flammable and therefore a much floor paint to use.
2) The water based floor paint is much more environmentally friendly, due to the low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) content. For more information on VOC’s, please visit here.
3) Polycote Flortex SG. Water-based floor paints have often been regarded as only being suitable for domestic or light commercial use. However, when fully cured, this Eco-friendly water based epoxy floor paint has been fully and successfully proven in both commercial and industrial applications, and will adhere to wood, stone and brick and has become a very competitive option.
4) If there is any dampness in the substrate, (especially after standard cleaning routines) neither solvent free nor solvent based epoxies will adhere. Water based epoxy paints are therefore the ideal choice in such circumstances due the very fact that they already contain water and are therefore damp tolerant.
5) It is recommended that new concrete floors are allowed a curing time of at least 1 day per mm thickness of the slab, before being painted. This time can be further extended in damp atmospheric conditions or in lower temperatures.
A great benefit of Polycote’s water based epoxy floor paint Flortex SG is that it can be applied in just a few days over new concrete floors, saving a lot of downtime. Available in multiple colours. However, whilst we have thousands of successful applications to newly laid concrete floors, we strongly suggest you speak with one of our technical team first, to ensure you are using the right product for your particular application.
Single Pack, Water Based Acrylic Floor Paints
Single pack paints are the easiest form of floor paints to use as they do not require mixing with an activator. The product cures ‘atmospherically’ rather than chemically. Flortex Clearseal is a clear acrylic floor paint for interior areas and used on concrete surfaces and brickwork to prevent dust and help waterproof and protect from liquid spillages.
Polycote Drive Coat is very hard wearing and has been specifically formulated for use on footpaths, driveways, and car parks. This includes a very fine aggregate to provide a slip resistant surface. The product is also UV resistant and therefore ideal for both interior and external concrete floors, timber floors and asphalt.
Polycote Sport Coat is a coloured water based acrylic that is spray applied in order to achieve a water permeable finish which minimises standing water and is therefore an ideal choice for sports surfaces such as tennis courts and running tracks.
Two Pack, Water Based Epoxy Floor Paint
Supplied in two parts, with each part being labelled as Part ‘A’ and Part ‘B’ or being identified as ‘Hardener’ and ‘Activator’, these products are mostly epoxy based floor paints.
Two Pack (otherwise known as Twin Pack) Water Based Epoxy Paints such as Flortex SG are far superior to the single pack acrylic paint formulations. They are incredibly durable and offer greater adhesion, and strength. Furthermore, due to curing by the chemical reaction, this then produces a coating that is totally impervious, stronger, and more suitable for industrial applications and areas with high surface wear and tear. Problems with dust and delamination’s of the surface of the concrete can also be easily greatly reduced.
The Pot Life
The pot-life is the amount of time the resin remains liquid after the two parts have been mixed together. The curing process begins immediately after mixing and the pot-life of such water-based products is typically between 45 minutes to 1 hour. Depending upon the temperatures, they can be quick drying and touch dry in 6-8 hours.
A benefit of a water based epoxy paint is the longer pot-life than other types of epoxy floor paints, making them more suitable for the more time consuming brush applied applications, such as under pipework and around machinery, as well as step and staircases.
Water Based vs Solvent Based Epoxy Floor Paint
The major benefit of a water based floor paint is the very low VOC’s. This low odour paint is mostly marketed as a non-taint and non-toxic product and epoxy coatings are therefore perfectly suitable for food areas, such as kitchen and abattoirs, as well as use in medical and laboratory environments, animal enclosures as well as warehouse and garage floors. Available in a variety of standard colours.
Twin Pack, Water Based Epoxy Primer
Polycote WD Primer is a low odour epoxy primer that has been specially formulated using highly advanced adhesion promoters and can be used on wooden surfaces. It has been proven with extremely strong adherence to difficult surfaces such as ceramic and quarry tiles. Tested with a pull-off tester kit, the high performance and adhesion of the WD Primer onto a ceramic tile was so great, the coating did not lift. The tile itself shattered! As for standard concrete surfaces, there are very few primers that will beat WD Primer, unless of course you are suffering with rising damp when you would use Polycote DPM Primer. If it’s an oily surface you need to seal, Polycote OT Primer is the perfect answer for this. Also available in quick drying versions.
Furthermore, we can show a concrete floor in a well-used industrial warehouse facility with constant foot traffic and forklift traffic that was coated with WD Primer (top coated with Polycote Flortex Professional), 22 years ago and STILL going strong!
Anti Slip Finish
An anti slip finish can be easily achieved by for both interior and exterior areas by applying the first coat of water based paint or primer and then sprinkling an aggregate over the top whilst wet. A second (top) coat would then be applied over the top to seal in the aggregate and give the final finish colour required. This can be applied to most types of floors including stone, brickwork, and wood.
Proven Since 1991
One thing you can be certain of when choosing a floor paint from Polycote, we don’t just print fancy promises and empty claims! We can PROVE to you by showing the many live examples of long-lasting acrylic floor paint and coatings currently in use and still going strong after 10, 15 and 20 years, in just about every type of business sector or environment.