Water Based Epoxy Resin Flooring Materials
Water dispersed epoxy resin products are also commonly, but wrongly, called ‘water-based’ (wrongly because these are of course ‘epoxy resin based) and this epoxy resin is then ‘water-dispersed in the product formulation. Water dispersed epoxy resin flooring materials and systems are now becoming increasingly popular as the technology has greatly improved in recent years. There are two international companies, Conica Flooring AG from Switzerland, and Remmers Bautechnik GmbH from Germany that have been the clear technology leaders in water dispersed epoxy flooring product development. This is the reason why we now propose their advanced ranges of extremely durable and colourfast, water dispersed epoxy resin flooring products including mostly Types 1 to 4 priming and coating systems, but also with Type 5 - SL systems, and Type 6 – Trowel Finished, which are highly filled mortar products for repair and detailing works.
The Main Advantages of Water Dispersed Epoxy Resin Flooring Materials:
The main advantages of water dispersed (water-based) epoxy resin floor materials, is that they contain no dangerous solvents, or VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) as they are also now referred to, so therefore they can be used safely in occupied areas, or where people and other trades are working immediately adjacent to the area being treated. This is an increasingly important aspect of sustainable construction for buildings with a healthy indoor environment. Also water dispersed epoxy floor products are not flammable at all, they are not sensitive to naked flames or static electrical charges, plus very importantly for many industries and businesses, they will not contaminate open or adjacent foodstuffs or beverages in production or storage during their application and hardening, allowing works to be completed in occupied areas and premises without expensive closures and halting production.
The performance of all water based epoxy floors against mechanical abrasion and chemical attack, whilst now good for the Conica and Remmers products, is still somewhat lower than that provided by good quality and higher build, solvent free epoxy resin products (normal dry film thickness applied >300 Microns per coat versus the 100 to 150 microns applied with water based epoxy resin flooring products) – However the high quality Conica and Remmers water based epoxy resin products are ideal for many domestic, commercial and light industrial, high build resin floor coating jobs (BS 8204 Classification - Resin Floor Types 1, 2 and 3) - These can therefore be the ideal solution to specify and use in many areas such as for all kinds of garage floors (domestic and commercial), and all kinds of workshop floors and factory assembly, storage and distribution areas for example.
Water based epoxy resin flooring materials have another distinct and important advantage over other solvent and solvent free epoxy flooring materials when they eventually need to be refurbished and over-coated / refreshed. This is because only minimal surface preparation (e.g. thorough cleaning) of the remaining coating system surface is necessary, rather than the thorough mechanical surface preparation (keying) that is necessary to ensure a good bond when overcoating solvent-free epoxy and most other types of resin floors. Additionally, water dispersed epoxy resin floor coatings are the easiest to use for maintenance and overcoating works without disruption or danger because they have zero VOC’s and are non-tainting materials; this is particularly important when there are any other trades and people working, or sensitive products such as foodstuffs used or stored in the same or adjacent areas.
Therefore in many instances the best water dispersed epoxy resin floor coatings are advantageous for many reasons and whilst there may be some compromises on performance in terms of mechanical and resistance, they can also have considerable advantages over solvent containing, and sometimes also over solvent-free epoxy resin products. They are also much safer products to use and readily available in almost any colour, plus for projects where a resin floor coating and / or broadcast system is perfectly adequate to meet the performance requirements in service, then water dispersed epoxy resin flooring materials will perform extremely well for a long time, and they will allow easy over-coating with refresher coatings of the same water based product to be applied, whenever they are required - And all with the minimum of surface preparation, disruption and cost.
Conica Remmers BS 3000 or Sikafloor 2530W water based, epoxy resin based floor coating systems are both therefore absolutely ideal to meet the higher performance floor painting and high build floor coating requirements of garages, workshops, light traffic production assembly and storage areas - together with many other applications.
If you would like help and assistance with your water dispersed epoxy resin flooring, please call any of our offices on 01257 266696 and one of our Resin Flooring specialists will be pleased to assist you.