How Much Can Epoxy Mortar Strengthen Your Concrete Flooring?

Epoxy mor­tar floor­ing is a pop­u­lar option for strength­en­ing con­crete floors. This arti­cle will dis­cuss every­thing you need to know about this mate­r­i­al, includ­ing its ben­e­fits and applications.

What to Know About Epoxy Mor­tar Flooring

What Is Epoxy Mor­tar Flooring? 

Epoxy mor­tar is a durable, long-last­ing floor­ing mate­r­i­al that goes on top of a con­crete slab. It is a poly­mer-based bond­ing sys­tem that con­tains a mix­ture of epoxy resins, and spe­cial­ized aggre­gates. The epoxy por­tion is a two-com­po­nent organ­ic poly­mer — a blend of sand and/​or coarse aggregate. 

Epoxy mor­tar is also com­mon­ly used for repair­ing dam­aged or worn-out con­crete floors. The mate­r­i­al can effec­tive­ly fill cracks, pits, and uneven sur­faces, restor­ing the floor’s integri­ty and pre­vent­ing fur­ther damage. 

Ben­e­fits of Epoxy Mor­tar Floor Coatings

Epoxy mor­tar floor coat­ing is one of the most pop­u­lar options for floor­ing because of its favor­able prop­er­ties — main­ly its excep­tion­al dura­bil­i­ty and strength. In addi­tion, it has excel­lent resis­tance to ele­ments and sub­stances, can be eas­i­ly main­tained, and can save you mon­ey over the long haul. 

Let’s dis­cuss each of its ben­e­fits further:

Incred­i­ble Strength

Indus­tri­al con­crete floors usu­al­ly have 4,000 to 6,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) of com­pres­sion strength, often strong enough to endure heavy traf­fic from vehi­cles. Com­pres­sion strength refers to the capac­i­ty of the mate­r­i­al to with­stand a con­stant load.

Despite its strength, con­crete gets dam­aged over time. Com­mon issues with con­crete include crack­ing, spalling, chip­ping, etc. Any facil­i­ty man­ag­er knows that a dam­aged floor can result in safe­ty issues and legal con­se­quences. If you have con­crete floor­ing and don’t want to replace it, adding an epoxy mor­tar floor­ing sys­tem is a great way to fix any imper­fec­tions in your con­crete and even boost its durability.

A typ­i­cal epoxy sys­tem reach­es 10,000 PSI, which is two to three times stronger than indus­tri­al con­crete floors. But Kaloutas pow­er-trow­eled epoxy mor­tar applied at a 250-mil­lime­ter thick­ness can have a com­pres­sion strength of up to 12,000 pounds.

So you might ask, ​“Does epoxy strength­en con­crete?” The answer is yes; epoxy mor­tar applied to con­crete cre­ates a strong sur­face that can endure near­ly any set of demands.

Excep­tion­al Durability

Epoxy floors are known for their excep­tion­al dura­bil­i­ty, which is made pos­si­ble thanks to the mate­ri­al’s com­po­si­tion. The com­bi­na­tion of resins and hard­en­ers cre­ates a tough and resilient sur­face that can with­stand high impact and traffic. 

Also, the sur­face is not eas­i­ly dam­aged, so it stays pris­tine for many years.

Resis­tance to Elements

Epoxy is also known for its remark­able resis­tance to var­i­ous ele­ments, mak­ing it a pre­ferred choice in numer­ous indus­tri­al, com­mer­cial, and domes­tic applications.

Mois­ture is one of the key ele­ments that epoxy is high­ly resis­tant to. When prop­er­ly cured, epoxy forms a dense and imper­me­able sur­face, pre­vent­ing water and oth­er liq­uids from seep­ing through. This makes it an excel­lent choice for coat­ing sur­faces in damp envi­ron­ments or appli­ca­tions exposed to fre­quent con­tact with water.

Fur­ther­more, epoxy exhibits excep­tion­al chem­i­cal resis­tance, which allows it to with­stand expo­sure to acids, sol­vents, and var­i­ous chem­i­cals with­out under­go­ing degra­da­tion or dete­ri­o­ra­tion. This prop­er­ty makes epoxy coat­ings suit­able for pro­tect­ing sur­faces in chem­i­cal pro­cess­ing plants, lab­o­ra­to­ries, and indus­tri­al set­tings where harsh sub­stances are handled.

More­over, some epoxy prod­ucts can endure ther­mal stress. The mate­r­i­al remains sta­ble even under extreme tem­per­a­tures, from extreme cold to high heat, with­out los­ing its struc­tur­al integrity.

Low Main­te­nance

Epoxy floors offer many ben­e­fits, and one of the most sig­nif­i­cant advan­tages is their low main­te­nance require­ments. These high-per­for­mance floor­ing solu­tions have gained pop­u­lar­i­ty across var­i­ous indus­tries and res­i­den­tial set­tings due to their ease of care.

The seam­less and non-porous nature of epoxy floors makes them resis­tant to stains, spills, and chem­i­cals. This attribute ensures that dirt, dust, and liq­uids do not pen­e­trate the sur­face, allow­ing quick and effort­less clean­ing. Rou­tine main­te­nance typ­i­cal­ly involves sweep­ing or mop­ping to keep the floor look­ing pristine.

You also do not have to wor­ry about bac­te­r­i­al growth and aller­gen buildup. The seam­less sur­face leaves no room for bac­te­ria or germs to hide, mak­ing it a hygien­ic floor­ing option for health­care facil­i­ties, restau­rants, and food pro­cess­ing industries.

Cost Effec­tive­ness

While epoxy floor­ing may need a high­er upfront invest­ment than oth­er tra­di­tion­al floor­ing options, it can be cost-effec­tive if you con­sid­er the mon­ey you will like­ly save over the long haul. The excep­tion­al dura­bil­i­ty and resis­tance to wear and tear and oth­er ele­ments sig­nif­i­cant­ly reduce the need for fre­quent replacements.

In addi­tion, the low main­te­nance require­ments of this type of floor­ing can help you save on util­i­ty costs. All the mon­ey your facil­i­ty can save over time will out­weigh the ini­tial investment.

Min­i­mal Downtime 

Facil­i­ties typ­i­cal­ly have tight sched­ules and lim­it­ed down­time for build­ing ren­o­va­tions. Epoxy mor­tar floor­ing offers the ben­e­fit of fast instal­la­tion and cur­ing, min­i­miz­ing dis­rup­tion to your dai­ly operations. 

Epoxy mate­ri­als usu­al­ly cure in less than 24 hours and reach max­i­mum com­pres­sion strength with­in 14 days. This is much short­er than the amount of time con­crete needs to cure, which is almost a week. 

An expe­ri­enced epoxy floor­ing installer can effi­cient­ly apply the mate­r­i­al on your exist­ing floor and expe­dite the instal­la­tion process so your team can resume nor­mal activ­i­ties in a short­er time frame.

Appear­ance

Epoxy mor­tar floor­ing has a seam­less and pol­ished appear­ance that exudes both dura­bil­i­ty and aes­thet­ics. Its smooth and glossy fin­ish adds a touch of sophis­ti­ca­tion to any space, cre­at­ing an impres­sive ambiance.

The sur­face show­cas­es a vibrant sheen, reflect­ing light to bright­en the area. 

With a range of col­or options, epoxy mor­tar can com­ple­ment any décor style and archi­tec­tur­al design.

Epoxy Mor­tar Uses and Application 

Com­posed of a com­bi­na­tion of epoxy resin and aggre­gates, epoxy mor­tar offers excep­tion­al dura­bil­i­ty, chem­i­cal resis­tance, and high mechan­i­cal strength, mak­ing it suit­able for a wide range of environments.

One of the pri­ma­ry uses of epoxy mor­tar floor­ing is in indus­tri­al set­tings, such as man­u­fac­tur­ing plants, ware­hous­es, and fac­to­ries. Its abil­i­ty to with­stand heavy machin­ery and foot traf­fic and resist chem­i­cals, oils, and sol­vents makes it an ide­al choice for these types of areas. 

The smooth nature of epoxy mor­tar also con­tributes to its pop­u­lar­i­ty in places where hygiene and clean­li­ness are essen­tial, such as phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal and food pro­cess­ing facilities.

In addi­tion to indus­tri­al appli­ca­tions, epoxy mor­tar floor­ing is wide­ly used in com­mer­cial spaces like hos­pi­tals, schools, retail stores, and auto­mo­tive show­rooms. Its seam­less sur­face makes main­te­nance easy and ensures a long-last­ing, visu­al­ly appeal­ing floor that can with­stand dai­ly wear and tear.

Epoxy Mor­tar Floor FAQs

How Much Weight Can Con­crete Epoxy Hold?
The weight con­crete epoxy can hold depends on the spe­cif­ic prod­uct and appli­ca­tion. Gen­er­al­ly, high-qual­i­ty epoxy can bear sig­nif­i­cant loads, with some indus­tri­al-grade for­mu­la­tions sup­port­ing over 12,000 PSI. How­ev­er, it is essen­tial to adhere to the man­u­fac­tur­er’s guide­lines and prop­er sur­face prepa­ra­tion for opti­mal per­for­mance and safety.

What Is the Dif­fer­ence Between Epoxy Mor­tar and Cement Mortar?

Epoxy mor­tar and cement mor­tar dif­fer in their com­po­si­tion and prop­er­ties. Cement mor­tar con­sists of cement, sand, and water, mak­ing it suit­able for gen­er­al appli­ca­tions. On the oth­er hand, epoxy mor­tar uti­lizes epoxy resin and a hard­en­er, offer­ing excep­tion­al strength, chem­i­cal resis­tance, and bonding.

Strong Floors That Last

No mat­ter your indus­tri­al floor­ing needs, Kaloutas has got you covered. 

Our com­pa­ny offers a range of indus­tri­al floor­ing ser­vices, includ­ing antimi­cro­bial and anti-sta­t­ic floor­ing instal­la­tion, con­crete expan­sion joint repair, con­crete floor pol­ish­ing, floor­ing demo­li­tion, and epoxy floor­ing instal­la­tion or resurfacing.

Let Kaloutas take care of all your facil­i­ty’s floor­ing needs with one point of con­tact and one agree­ment. Con­tact our team today.