MMA vs Poly vs Epoxy

[Eslader]

I know I want a hard-coat floor for my garage. I know I don't want Racedeck or similar non-permanent floors, and I know I don't want porcelain tile.

I've talked to a bunch of people. Some say MMA is the best. Some say polyuretic is the best. Some say epoxy is the best. The warranties from installers in my area would seem to indicate that poly or MMA is the best, since they're 20 years or lifetime whereas epoxy seems to top out at 15, or so I've found so far. However, warranties don't always tell the whole story, especially if the company issuing the warranty goes out of business.

It's going in a garage which will be actively used for car work - not just mine, but my car club's as well. There will be 1500+ pound tool chests rolling around on it, shop cranes with engines hanging off of them rolling around on it, floor jacks, etc. Fluid spills, the works. So, it needs to be durable and take punishment.

Installers for each material have given me examples of where they've installed it to prove durability (airline hangers, mechanics, etc), but there's an obvious bias when an installer only works with one flooring type.

What's the consensus on here? I'm good with paying extra for a floor that will last through a lot of activity and look good while doing it - I just have no clue which floor to consider.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Frankly, the abuse you mentioned is nothing that a good epoxy system with a urethane or polyaspartic/polyurea topcoat couldn't handle easily.

MMA is new, proprietary and very environmentally unfriendly.

More important than all this is prep and your contractor's reputation, references, etc...

Do your homework.

 

[hofiveo]

http://az295482.vo.msecnd.net/globa...performance urethane/hts-100-specs-2-2-09.pdf
Try this. Very tough coating, you can sand it with 80 grit sandpaper and really have to look to see if it did anything, very pricey. Also their Eco Hps 100 is very tough with more shine. But you need to know somebody to get it.

 

[thegarageguy]

Mma has been around much longer than Polyaspartics in the flooring business. It's a super tough floor, can be installed in extreme conditions and is the most rapid turnaround flooring system in the market, though not user friendly and very few Companies install them.

A correct flooring system is more important than what specific ingredient or product will be used.

For working garages, we recommend a slurry broadcast or quartz floor with high traffic polyurethane at a minimum. A thin mil, "paint job" floor will not hold up well in your type of environment.

If the garage is not heated and it needs to be installed during low temperatures, we typically substitute Polyaspartic for the epoxy in order to get the job done.

 

[hofiveo]

http://az295482.vo.msecnd.net/globa...gs/same-day/tco-mmatopcoat-specs-12-21-09.pdf
Compare this MMA tech sheet to the tech sheet above and see what the difference is. Are you doing a paint chip, broadcast, solid color, clear or pattern. I agree with garageguy, a slurry or broadcast with sand or quartz. Primer, epoxy slurry- epoxy broadcast, epoxy seal coat and a PAP(polyaspartic).

 

[Eslader]

Are you doing a paint chip, broadcast, solid color, clear or pattern.

The thinking at the moment is mica chips, mainly because I like the way they look.

Where I get stuck "doing my homework" is that there's a lot of conflicting information out there, and not being a flooring expert, I don't have the expertise to evaluate it.

It seems that material choice depends on what will be done on it and where it will be installed. I mentioned what will be done on it earlier. It'll be installed in Minnesota in an insulated but only sometimes heated (only when I'm out there) garage. I expect temperature swings ranging from 0F to 100F (it gets colder than that here, but the insulation usually means it only drops below freezing inside the garage if it's absurdly cold outside).

It can be installed at whatever temperature is best for the floor - if I had to wait till July, I'd have no problem with that. I'm also not particularly concerned about cure time. I'm already moving all my **** out of the garage - I don't care if it stays out of the garage for a day or a week.

One question I have regarding MMA, it seems the coating is harder than the poly coatings - does this mean it will crack along with the concrete underneath it? The concrete is a 3 car-sized slab with no expansion joints.

Basically what I'm looking for is a survey of sorts from people who unlike me know what they're talking about with solid floor coatings - if what I described was your garage, what would you put down?

 

[hofiveo]

Prep will be done by shot blasting and hand grinding. Apply 16-20 mils of epoxy and broadcast quartz or sand til rejection. Clean loose sand or quartz. Apply another 16-20 mils epoxy and broadcast quartz or sand til rejection. Clean loose sand or quartz. Apply epoxy to smooth out broadcast. Apply colored urethane @500 sq ft a gallon and broadcast mica chips at coverage suitable to your taste. Apply PAP(Polyaspartic) clear. That would be one tough floor.

 

[rbahr]

Hi All,

I used this product ~ 14 years ago, and it is still doing well. I have dumped (accidentally) pretty much any car chemical you can thing of - gas, oil, brake fluid, thinners, ... the garage is a high traffic area - cars in and out a lot, engine hoist, you name it...

Originally designed for airplane hangers - only problem is that it is really really nasty stuff.

http://www.airtechcoatings.com/index.html

Ray

 

[pauloman]

for serious commercial projects you want nothing less than a quartz epoxy full broadcast floor. That is one coat of solvent free epoxy saturated with sand and then a top sealing coat of more epoxy. This gives you a quartz (stone) floor held in place with epoxy (vs. a simple plastic like resin floor).

 

[dave-0]

I had a coating installed in my garage after doing a lot of research. My conclusion was that polyurea/polyaspartics were the best out there for resistance to abrasion, UV sunlight, and almost all chemical spills.(at least that's what i read) I also learned and I agree with @pauloman that a solvent free or 100% solids epoxy is a very good system but to top it off with a top coat of polyurea/polyaspartic sounds like it would be the best. I found a local guy rep for monkey bar storage to do it I have to say it has worked well so far. You can check their site to see if if they have one in your area. http://www.monkeybarstorage.com

 

[royalepoxy]

Eslader- send me a message. I own a coating company and come take a look at the floor and give you options. We do all three types of the floors.

 

[Slippin3]

Eslader- send me a message. I own a coating company and come take a look at the floor and give you options. We do all three types of the floors.

You dug up a year old post to try and solicit?

 

[Mickster144]

This is a year old post, but what did we conclude? I am in the market for some kind of hard floor coating to be done by a professional, but I am running into the same thing...the product that they promote is what they use. I just want a long lasting product that will work for a typical garage floor. I do some mechanical work and normal fix it projects, but nothing that would be abusive to the floor. I have one estimate with epoxy and topcoat of polyurethane, which I have read is a no no because car tires can stick to it. Another estimate using the Polyaspartics. I am tired of the sales pitches ..I just want to get the correct product....Help?

 

[Slippin3]

You need to dig through these forums. There is absolutely nothing wrong with an epoxy floor and urethane topcoat. If applied correctly, it will not have hot tire pickup.

 

[3/4 drive]

I am in SW Pennsylvania my buddy is in the process of taking bids to do his floor and everyone who showed up to bid the floor was pushing epoxy and used only epoxy.
there are other products out there but it seems for him finding someone to show up and give a bid is impossible, he has been at it for a month now. In the winter he will use it for butchering deer so he wants to get the best product available.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

We highly recommend PAP for a one day, full chip floor.
Mostly purchased by installers.

If you want the PAP.
Use an epoxy primer, epoxy base coat and topcoat with 70% PAP.

You get the best of both products in one system.

 

[floorcoatingsguru]

Mickster I work for the largest polymer floor and wall manufacturer in the world and I had a garage floor coating company at one time. I've been on both sides of the fence. I say that not to brag, but to help you understand my background. We manufacture all three chemistries, MMA, epoxy, and polyaspartic. I'm getting ready to redo my garage this summer and I will use epoxy primer and polyaspartic. You don't have the expertise to use MMA, nor do you want to. MMA is not a do-it-yourself friendly product. Polyaspartics don't make good primers to concrete. Epoxy does. Think of epoxy as glue. Think of polyaspartic as your wear coat. My garage was coated 11 years ago. It was an epoxy broadcast flake floor with a high wear aliphatic (non-yellowing) urethane that contains 180 grit aluminum oxide. Fantastic product. This time around I will use polyaspartic. My two cents.

 

[floorcoatingsguru]

One other quick note.....there is no such animal as a 100% solids epoxy. Doesn't exist. Period. I use the term high solids because that's what it is. A 100% solids epoxy as it's advertised is close to 100% solids but it isn't truly. Almost all of them contain alkyl glycidyl (reactive diluent), and ethyl alcohol. Look for a good two component, high solids, low modulus, low viscosity epoxy primer. You want one that does a good job of "wetting out" the concrete. Good luck.