Knowledge Centre
Practical guidance on resin floor coatings, concrete preparation, application methods and common coating problems. Whether you're choosing a product, preparing a floor or diagnosing an issue, our Knowledge Centre is designed to help you make informed decisions.
A resin is a material that usually begins as a liquid and can be cured into a solid, plastic-like material.
In resin flooring, it is mixed with a hardener or activator. This starts a chemical reaction that turns the liquid mixture into a strong, continuous surface.
Put simply:
Resin is the starting material. Polymer describes the chemical structure that forms. The finished surface is a type of plastic.
The main resin types used in UK flooring are epoxy, cementitious polyurethane, flexible polyurethane and MMA. More specialised projects may use vinyl ester or phenolic epoxy.
Different resins are available because no single chemistry performs best in every situation. The choice can depend on resistance to wear, impact, chemicals, heat, sunlight and movement, as well as installation cost, working time and how quickly the floor must return to service.
Epoxy is the most widely used general-purpose option because it provides a strong balance of mechanical resistance, chemical resistance, application time, availability and cost.
Other resins are selected when a project has a particular demand. Cementitious polyurethane handles thermal shock and aggressive processing conditions. Flexible polyurethane accommodates movement. MMA cures extremely quickly. Vinyl ester and phenolic epoxy protect against unusually severe chemical exposure.
Epoxy is widely used because it provides one of the best overall balances of performance, practicality and cost.
It creates a hard, durable floor with good resistance to traffic, abrasion and many commonly encountered chemicals. It bonds well to prepared concrete and can be used to produce coatings, smooth finishes, textured surfaces and heavy-duty systems.
Other resins can outperform epoxy in particular areas. MMA cures faster, flexible polyurethane handles movement better, and cementitious polyurethane performs better under severe thermal shock.
However, most floors need dependable performance across several areas rather than maximum performance in only one. Epoxy is popular because it is a strong all-rounder with relatively few disadvantages.
The resin chemistry determines how the floor performs against chemicals and environmental conditions. The flooring type—such as a sealer, coating, self-smoothing system or screed—determines its build, mechanical resistance and durability.
Choosing the right resin floor means combining the appropriate resin chemistry with the required flooring type.
Type | Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 | Type 5 | Type 6 | Type 7 | Type 8 |
Flooring type | Floor sealer | Floor coating | High-build floor coating | Multi-layer flooring | Self-smoothing flooring | Resin screed flooring | Heavy-duty flowable flooring | Heavy-duty resin flooring |
Typical thickness | Up to 150 µm | 150–300 µm | 300–1,000 µm | More than 2 mm | 2–3 mm | More than 4 mm | 4–6 mm | More than 6 mm |
2.2
Flooring Types
Why High Build Coating?
A high-build coating offers the greatest thickness available from a straightforward roller-applied coating. It provides many of the surface properties associated with thicker resin floors at a significantly lower initial cost—and can be renewed easily when required.
A high-build coating offers the greatest thickness available from a straightforward roller-applied coating. It can provide many of the same surface properties as thicker resin floors—including abrasion and chemical resistance—but at a significantly lower installed cost.
Thicker systems have a greater wear reserve and may last longer, whereas a high-build coating can be renewed easily and economically when required.
Concrete and cement-based screeds are the recommended substrates for Resafloor HB epoxy flooring. When sound, dry and correctly prepared, they provide the strong, rigid surface needed for reliable adhesion.
Timber and old bituminous screeds have sometimes been coated successfully, but their movement and variable condition make the outcome less predictable. Resafloor HB has not been tested or warranted for these substrates.
Latex screeds, tarmac and steel are not suitable substrates for Resafloor HB. For the most dependable result, apply the coating to properly prepared concrete or a sound cement-based screed.
3.2
Substrates
Strength Vs Absorption
The three main cement-based flooring substrates are concrete, sand-and-cement screed and cementitious flow-applied screed. All can be suitable for Resafloor HB, but successful bonding depends on identifying the substrate correctly and assessing both its surface strength and absorbency.
Concrete, sand-and-cement screed and cementitious flow-applied screed can all provide suitable substrates for Resafloor HB when they are sound, dry and mechanically prepared.
Concrete commonly falls into three practical categories:
Soft, absorbent concrete: Darkens quickly when wetted and may scratch, dust or abrade easily. Resin can penetrate well, but the weak concrete surface may separate beneath the coating.
Sound, normally absorbent concrete: Strong enough to resist abrasion while still allowing the resin to wet and penetrate the prepared surface. This provides the best balance for bonding.
Dense concrete: Hard, smooth and slow to absorb water. Its strength may be excellent, but mechanical preparation must create sufficient texture for reliable adhesion.
Absorption can help an epoxy wet and key into concrete, but absorption alone does not make a good substrate. If the surface is weak, the coating may remain attached to a thin layer of concrete that subsequently delaminates.
The ideal base for Resafloor HB is therefore not simply the most absorbent floor. It is a strong cement-based substrate with an open, mechanically prepared surface.