As you watch mud get tracked across your carpet or see your child slip-sliding across the tile floor after exiting the pool, you may wonder if you have the right flooring for your needs. Flooring is one of the most used and abused aspects of any home. Your walls may get smudge marks from kids and pets or chipped paint from moving furniture, but nobody is walking on them for hours every single day! That’s why choosing the right flooring for your home is so important. You want something that can withstand regular daily traffic, plus any additional wear and tear from your specific family (i.e. kids or pets). Researching different flooring options will help you make the best, most informed choice for your needs.
At Concrete Coatings Hawaii, we aim to transform your indoor and outdoor spaces with beautiful, durable concrete coatings. We understand that it may not be your flooring choice for every room in your house, but we think you will be pleasantly surprised at how great it looks and how easy it is to maintain. This article will compare concrete coatings and traditional flooring to help you make the best flooring choice for your home.
What Are Concrete Coatings?
If you are reading this article, then you may have seen concrete coating and been curious about it, or maybe you know nothing about it at all. So, let’s get to know a little more about concrete coatings.
- Concrete coatings can be made from a variety of substances, such as epoxy, polyurea, or acrylic. Epoxy coatings are probably the most well-known, so many people refer to concrete coatings as epoxy coatings. At Concrete Coatings Hawaii, we use polyurea coatings because they are superior to epoxy coatings in multiple ways, including durability and stain-resistance.
- Our concrete coatings require a multi-step process that includes a basecoat, your flake color blend of choice, and a topcoat made of polyaspartic polyurea. You can also choose a solid color if you do not want to include color flakes.
- Concrete coatings are durable, stain-resistant, UV stable (no discoloring from sun exposure), and 4x stronger than epoxy coatings. If you choose a flake blend for your concrete coating, it will also provide slip resistance. They are also low maintenance, requiring only sweeping and mopping, which is great for a busy lifestyle.
What Are Traditional Flooring Options?
- Carpet – Carpet feels great on your feet, so many people prefer carpet in their bedrooms. Many homes have it in their living area. Carpet gets worn from daily traffic, spills, and whatever your family and pets track inside. Carpet will need to be replaced every 5-15 years depending on the amount of foot traffic and abuse it has endured. That can be a costly expense depending on the quality of carpet you choose and the area that needs to be carpeted. Additionally, carpet needs cleaning at least once a year adding to its cost.
- Tile – If you live near the beach, tile is a common flooring option. Carpet is not ideal for sand because it gets buried deep into carpet making it difficult to extract. Tile can be quite slippery making bathrooms dangerous, especially for small children and elderly folks. It can also be hazardous if your family comes in from the beach or pool with wet feet. Another downside to tile is the grout. Grout requires maintenance – cleaning and sealing regularly – or it becomes stained. Once the stain is deep into the grout, no amount of professional cleaning will restore it to its original color.
- Hardwood – Hardwood floors can be quite beautiful, but also quite costly. Even if your home already had hardwood installed when you bought it, it will require upkeep such as routine polishing to maintain its appearance. If your floors become scuffed, scratched, or dull, you may have to get them refinished.
- Laminate – Laminate floors are comprised of resin and wood fibers (fiberboard). They are designed to mimic the look of a hardwood floor at a lesser cost. Laminate floors are not good in areas like bathrooms, laundry rooms, or kitchens as they can be easily damaged by water or moisture.
Concrete Coatings Vs. Traditional Flooring
Now that we have reviewed what concrete coatings are and what traditional flooring options are available, let’s get down to comparing them so you can make an informed decision.
- Durability – Concrete coatings win this category, hands down. They do not get worn out like carpet and are chip-resistant, unlike tile, hardwood, and laminate. Check out this video to see the durability of our Penntek concrete coatings!
- Installation Time – Our concrete coatings can generally be completed in one day to give your floors a beautiful transformation. Carpet and laminate flooring can also often be installed in a day, while tile and hardwood usually take multiple days to install.
- Stain Resistance – Stain resistance is a huge factor to consider if you have kids or pets or if you are just clumsy! Tile is generally considered stain-resistant, although the grout can become stained. Hardwood and laminate can be stain-resistant, but it varies. If the hardwood has lost its protective finish or the laminate is exposed to too much water, they can both stain. Our concrete coatings are stain-resistant not just from water, but even from chemicals, oil, and gas! Their stain resistance makes them perfect for both residential and commercial spaces.
- UV Stability – Carpet becomes discolored from sun exposure. That is why you may walk into an empty house and see rectangles where the couches once were. The carpet under the couches had no sun exposure and retained its original color. Hardwood flooring will also fade with too much sun exposure. Tile and laminate are considered fade-resistant. Our polyurea concrete coatings are fade resistant while epoxy coatings are not. Our coatings will not yellow or fade even when used for outside spaces.
Summary
After learning about the flooring options available to you, you may choose different flooring for different rooms. Or you may choose traditional flooring for the interior and concrete coating for your garage, patio, and pool deck. We understand that individual taste plays a role in your choices.
When looking at durability, installation time, stain resistance, and UV stability, concrete coating is the only flooring solution that checks the box in every category! On top of that, it looks beautiful! Whether you choose concrete coatings for every part of your home or portions of it, we know you will not be disappointed!
Concrete Coatings Hawaii is located in Honolulu. We proudly install our polyurea coatings in Ewa Beach, Kaneohe, and many other areas on O’ahu. Let our local company transform your home into your island dream today!