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Polyaspartic Information

There are many different kinds of concrete sealers in the market place today, all with advantages and disadvantages.  But, one sealer that really stands out and meets just about every criteria looked for in a sealer are a class of sealers or coatings called Polyaspartics.
Polyaspartics are relatively new in the world of decorative concrete but have been around in different forms in the coating industry for many years.  Polyaspartic coating evolved from a class of material called polyurea, a super durable fast drying material that has been used in many industrial applications as a corrosion resistant and repair material.
The problem with polyurea was the product was so volatile and reactive the pot life was very short (5-10 seconds) it was hard to apply to a floor.
Polyaspartics have overcome this difficulty while maintaining the same strength and flexible properties.
Polyaspartic coatings have many of the high build properties and durability of epoxies but are much more flexible, scratch resistant, and they do not yellow when exposed to sunlight.

• Rapid Curing
• High film build (up to 18 mils in a single coat)
• UV stable so it will never turn yellow
• Crystal clear and does not blush white from moisture in the concrete
• High abrasion resistance-higher than epoxy or urethane

These qualities make polyaspartic coatings perfect for concrete flooring applications.

Polyaspartic coatings are used in many applications including bridge coatings, secondary containment, marine applications, and countertops.  Because of there fast cure, excellent adhesion, superior abrasion resistance, UV stability, and low VOCs polyaspartics are an ideal coating for floors.
A tremendous advantage of polyaspartics are their fast cure time.  Most polyaspartics can be recoated in as little as an hour and open for foot traffic in 3 to 4 hours.  This is means there is virtually no down time and reduces the number of trips to and from the job site.  This adds up to big savings in the long run.
Polyaspartic coating provide excellent abrasion resistance making it an ideal coating for high traffic commercial applications such as restaurants, malls, warehouses, and hotels.  In Tabor Abrasion tests, polyaspartics rate almost 3 times more durable than epoxies.
Another advantage over epoxies is there superior UV stability.  Unlike epoxies, polyaspartics do not yellow in sunlight.
Most polyaspartics are a 100 percent solids material which means low or no volatile organics (VOCs) during application.  This comes in handy when working indoors.
These characteristics make polyaspartic coating an ideal application for many concrete flooring applications including acid stained concrete and overlays.

Garage floor applications have been the first major use of polyaspartics in the decorative concrete industry. Because of their quick cure times, they work great with the vinyl chip system.  A pigmented primer coat, seeding coat, and finish coat can all be put down in as little as five hours in a standard two car garage. A epoxy/urethane system would take at least three days.
Polyaspartics work well on garage floors because of there many outstanding characteristics.  This material can be has little or no VOCs, bonds easily to nearly all concrete flooring surfaces, cures to full strength in as little as an hour, is flexible enough to bridge small cracks, can withstand high temperatures when cured, and has superior stain and UV resistance.
Gas and oil leaks have no effects on poyaspartics can be easily cleaned and because polyasoartic floor coating can withstand high heat, tire marks are not left on the garage floor.  No hot tire pickup!
Factor in all these benefits as well as the considerable time savings during application, and polyaspartics are the clear choice when choosing a garage floor coating.
When comparing polyaspartics to other  sealers or coat ins, they come out ahead in almost every category.
Traditionally, either epoxies or urethanes or a combination of both have been the sealer of choice for most commercial or industrial applications.
When comparing polyaspartics to epoxies, polyaspartic coatings are far superior.  Polyasartics have almost three times the abrasion resistance of epoxies, they are more flexible, have better adhesion properties, and are UV stable. 
When comparing polyaspartics to urethanes, polyaspartics have the advantage in high build properties, they are not as sensitive to moisture as urethanes and are far less likely to bubble.  Polyaspartics cure much faster than urethanes and they have less or no VOCs since most polyaspartics are 100% solids.
Polyaspartic coatings replace can replace the two component system of applying an epoxy base coat and a urethane top coat with a one coat system which is both faster to apply a provides a superior product over any concrete flooring or concrete overlay surface.

What are Polyaspartic Coatings?