Polyurea flooring

Polyaspartic vs. Polyurea

Which is the best garage floor coating?

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Superior Polyurea Floor Coating Alternatives

When Hello Garage first started, we researched many different garage floor coatings—from polyurea and epoxy to garage floor paints and polyaspartic technology. As you begin to narrow down your choices in garage floor coatings, it’s important to make an educated decision regarding what’s best for your garage. While polyurea flooring is often marketed as durable, our research and experience have found polyaspartic to be the superior garage floor coating material.

Ready to learn more about the benefits of choosing a 100% polyaspartic alternative to a polyurea garage floor coating?

What You Should Know About Polyurea Coatings

Polyurea floor coatings offer an upgrade in durability, flexibility and protection compared to their DIY and epoxy counterparts. However, they still have their drawbacks, including:

Substandard polyurea results
Substandard Results

Polyurea’s extremely fast curing time can lead to a weaker bond and a greater chance of imperfections showing once cured.

Polyurea not UV resistant
Not UV Resistant

Polyurea reacts when exposed to UV radiation and will likely turn yellow over time.

Coating is experiencing poor adhesion to cement
Poor Adhesion

When applied, polyurea coatings tend to be thicker than polyaspartic and less sticky, which reduces the strength of the bond between the coating and the concrete.

Polyaspartic vs. Polyurea

When it comes to floor coatings, you should choose the kind that looks the best and lasts the longest. Polyaspartic beats polyurea coatings in both those areas without question. Why? Polyaspartic floor coatings are polyureas that have been modified to cure slower and resist ultraviolet radiation (UV). Polyaspartic is the best polyurea garage floor coating alternative, offering superior adhesion and resistance to peeling and yellowing. It outperforms in real-world conditions where durability matters most. Just take a look:

Standard polyurea coatings cure extremely quickly — so quickly, in fact, that they don’t have time to bond with the concrete beneath it. When you use polyaspartic coatings for your flooring, the suprior ability to bond to concrete creates a garage floor coating that will last for many years to come.

Because standard polyurea floor coatings typically don’t bond with concrete as well as polyaspartic floor coatings, they can delaminate and peel over time. This is a common issue with a polyurea garage floor, especially in environments with moisture or temperature fluctuations. Choosing a polyaspartic coating helps ensure a longer-lasting, more dependable finish.

Standard polyureas are not ultraviolent (UV) resistant. They are more prone to yellowing and fading when exposed to sunlight, whereas polyaspartic cures slower and resists UV radiation. This means a polyaspartic concrete coating will maintain its color and finish for years to come.

UV Exposure: Any Color You Like… So Long as it’s Yellow.

First, a little chemistry: All polyaspartics are polyureas—a type of viscous, elastic polymer. However, common polyureas are aromatic compounds, whereas polyaspartics are next-generation polyureas that have been modified to have stronger carbon bonds. This important difference means that while common polyureas are highly susceptible to UV radiation that will cause yellowing over time, modern polyaspartics are completely UV-stable.

Translation: A polyaspartic garage floor coating has all the benefits of a polyurea coating but won’t yellow with sunlight exposure.

Polyaspartic
Polyurea
Clear coat of Polyaspartic versus Polyurea

Clear Coat

garage floor coating color swatches | Hello Garage

Clear Coat on HG Pearl Flake

dirty garage flooring | Hello Garagegarage with new garage floor coating | Hello Garage
Before & After Spotlight

Polyurea Garage Floor vs. Polyaspartic

We transformed this garage from an aging yellow polyurea finish to a clean, bright polyaspartic garage floor any homeowner would love!

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100% Polyaspartic Coatings: Outperforming Polyurea Floor Coatings Year-in, Year-Out

If a garage flooring company is selling a polyurea floor coating, you can bet it isn’t a polyaspartic polyurea—otherwise, they’d say so. That’s why understanding the differences between polyurea and other coatings is so important, and why you should always ask the right questions. If you end up with a non-polyaspartic polyurea coating, your floor might look good for a little while, but there’s a strong chance it will start peeling and delaminating due to poor adhesion. Plus, it will likely turn yellow after just a few years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Polyureas are a type of viscous, elastic polymer. In other words, they’re chemical compounds that are liquid and pliable when applied but cure to a hard state. However, they tend to have a very fast cure time—so fast that they are often difficult to install successfully.

Polyaspartics are next-generation polyureas that have been formulated to prolong their cure time and reduce their viscosity to make them easier to install. This modification also makes them bond better with the concrete beneath and has the bonus of being UV-resistant.

When calculating polyurea garage floor coating cost, first impressions can be deceiving. Non-polyaspartic polyurea coatings may seem slightly cheaper at first glance. However, since polyurea garage coatings typically don’t last as long as polyaspartic coatings, they often need to be replaced much sooner. This actually makes them more expensive over time.

Yes—but polyaspartic is better than polyurea AND epoxy. That’s because polyaspartics are polyureas that are modified to adhere better to the concrete and resist UV degradation.

If you want a quality, long-lasting basement floor, polyaspartic coatings fit the bill with their excellent durability, fast cure times and lower odor during application.