There is no question that a professionally applied epoxy-based industrial floor coating can look great. The deep shine gives the floor a striking finish, especially when the floor has been blended with bold colors. However, if you believe in our leading industrial customers, our flooring system offers important advantages over an epoxy resin floor.

Of course, you’ll think, „You have to say that!“ and continue to trust the traditional industrial floor . But before you do, why not take a minute or two and read through the benefits of our floor system below? Make sure you make the right decision for your soil project.

KICK-OFF!

The strengths of an industrial floor coating made of epoxy resin

Epoxy resin is hard. Installed on a smooth concrete surface, it becomes one with the substrate and harder than the actual concrete. When used in industry, a layer of 2-4 mm is applied for moderate loads. For heavy-duty applications, it is usually coated with a luscious 9 mm. The epoxy protects the underlying concrete against impacts and spills chemicals. It is easy to clean and can be provided with anti-slip properties when mixed with particles in the base layer.

We can say that an epoxy-based industrial floor coating is strong, safe, easy to care for and forms an impenetrable protection for the substrate.

Installation and maintenance – The big disadvantages

Two key factors to consider when choosing the right industrial floor. Consider this from two angles: laying on an existing floor and completely reinstalling.

DUEL 1

1. The repositioning on an existing floor

The biggest disadvantage of epoxy resin flooring here is the fact that you have to completely clear your production or your warehouse. The installation takes place as a whole and not in individual phases. To do this you must interrupt your operation and empty the building. In the daily business this is difficult without precious time and thus losing money. Large, heavy machinery and tools also incur high transport costs.

The PVC tile system from Ecotile, on the other hand, can be installed around existing plant installations and machines. You can also work in sub-areas so that your business can continue to run while the floor is being laid.

Ecotile 1: 0 epoxy resin floor

DUEL 2

Preparation of the underground

For the preparation of the underground often existing layers must be removed. This often involves heavy grinding work. In addition to the resulting dust and grime, you lose time and money. At the same time you must ensure that the surface is not contaminated by chemicals or has moisture.

Do not make the mistake this is superfluous. Both chemicals and moisture can be hidden deep in the concrete and gradually come to the surface. This can lead to ugly cracks on the beautiful epoxy floor. The professional pre-treatment for this is costly and time consuming. With the installation of the industrial floor coating you still have not started!

The Ecotile floor system is placed directly on the surface of almost any surface and does not require an expensive and time-consuming preparation process.

Ecotile 2: 0 epoxy resin floor

DUEL 3

2. The installation in a new plant

When installing epoxy resin on new concrete, you must wait until the concrete is fully cured. The problem here: The curing process of concrete is agonizingly slow. A 6cm concrete layer takes 8 weeks to fully cure. However, this is not strong enough for forklift traffic or heavy pallet loads. Realistically, complete curing of the concrete can take a year before it can be loaded.

The interlocking connection system of Ecotile lets moisture through so that it can evaporate. This allows the system to be placed directly on the concrete as soon as the surface is dry. The concrete can continue to dry while you refit your system. At the same time, the Ecotile system can be loaded immediately after installation and protects the newly laid concrete substrate from heavy machinery and the load of forklift trucks.

As you can see, the installation of an epoxy-based industrial floor coating requires professional expertise and takes a lot of time. Both are associated with high costs and slow down your operation massively. Alone the coordination with laying companies can take weeks.

Many of our customers, however, order our system and lay it down in several steps – according to your own schedule.

Ecotile 3: 0 epoxy resin floor

DUEL 4

Maintenance and care

Concrete floors are laid as slabs and use expansion joints to guarantee mobility. These movements can even affect the best laid epoxy floor and cause cracks. Once this happens, the floor will never look like it was at the beginning. An attempt can be made to repair these cracks, but in an industrial environment with heavy goods, machines and fork-lift trucks, this is rarely the case. In the end, the cracks become a real safety issue and the time and cost of repairs are rising incessantly.

The maintenance costs of Ecotile’s floor system are significantly lower. Cracks in the concrete substrate usually have no effect on the PVC tiles and should a damaged tile be replaced, this is done in 5 minutes.

Ecotile 4: 0 epoxy resin floor

RENEWAL

Sustainability and the environment

The components of an industrial floor coating of epoxy resin are fundamentally different. Generally, however, these coatings contain chemicals. In order to act in accordance with our environment, the coating must be removed after use and disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.

The floor system by Ecotile, on the other hand, can be easily removed thanks to the interlocking locking system. Furthermore, we can recycle the tiles to produce the next generation of tiles. The duel for sustainability also wins the Ecotile system.

BOTTOM LINE

Ecotile 5: 0 epoxy resin floor

Thanks to its ease of installation, maintenance and durability, Ecotile’s flooring system was able to win the duel against the conventional epoxy resin solution. Learn more about the versatility of the Ecotile system .