When choosing a floor for your warehouse, there are plenty of options. You can get epoxy floors, acrylic floor coatings, polyurethane coatings, or other resin-based warehouse floors. You can opt for basic concrete or polished concrete. And that’s just scratching the surface.
In this article, we’ll evaluate the pros and cons of different warehouse floorings—which stand up to wear and tear, resist harsh chemicals, and more.
Why Concrete Is a Popular Choice in Warehouse Flooring
Concrete is simple, durable, and inexpensive, making concrete flooring extremely popular in warehouses. Warehouse owners rarely focus on the aesthetic concerns that make other types of flooring popular in other spaces—functionality is the key here, and concrete meets the basics.
Other types of flooring are more functional, however, and warehouse owners may find that solutions like epoxy and resin-based flooring, or even polished concrete, lead to more efficient warehouses.
Exploring Epoxy and Resin-based Flooring Solutions in Warehouses
Epoxy floor coatings and other resin-based flooring solutions (like polyurethane floor coatings and polyaspartic floor coatings) all have similar advantages. The one you’ll install depends on a variety of factors, from how quickly you need the solution to cure to what temperature the flooring will be installed in.
The advantages of these flooring systems for warehouse owners include:
- Lower overhead costs (resins like epoxy reflect light, decreasing your need for lighting)
- Lower cleaning costs
- Anti-slip properties
- Anti-impact and anti-corrosion properties—these floors are extremely durable
- Chemical and oil resistance
- Various functional benefits
The miscellaneous functional benefits we listed above are the result of colour-coding epoxy and other resin flooring solutions—you can use these floors to create zones within your warehouse, mark paths from traffic to travel down, and more.
If you are looking for Winnipeg epoxy flooring installers who service warehouses, there are professionals available who can provide quality resin flooring solutions.
Epoxy-enhanced Concrete Sealer and Polished Concrete Flooring: An Overview
Polished concrete and epoxy-enhanced sealed concrete are two inexpensive ways of achieving results similar to full epoxy floor coatings—without having to spring for epoxy flooring. Polished concrete and epoxy-sealed concrete are durable flooring solutions that can be imbued with the anti-slip and anti-corrosion features of traditional epoxy flooring.
Polished concrete is easy to clean and seamless—it does, however, tend to have less durability than epoxy floorings, especially in areas where heavy machinery is used. As such, you may want to employ it strategically throughout areas of your warehouse that get less heavy traffic.
Determining the Right Epoxy Flooring for Your Business Needs
Finding the right epoxy flooring solution—if the best solution isn’t concrete floors or polished concrete floors—depends on a number of different factors. These factors include:
- Your budget
- The areas of your warehouse that see the most traffic
- The lighting in your warehouse
- The items you’re storing (Are they corrosive? Prone to leaks?)
- Whether or not you need colour-coded flooring or other markings
- How quickly you need the epoxy flooring to cure
- The temperature in your warehouse
- How exposed your warehouse is to UV radiation
- Aesthetic concerns
- And more
As you can see, determining what epoxy flooring or other resin flooring solution is best for your warehouse depends on a number of factors. No two warehouses have the exact same needs, so it’s best to contact a flooring expert like TCF West to evaluate your needs.
The Benefits of a Well-Maintained Epoxy Warehouse Floor
Epoxy flooring is incredibly easy to maintain; sweeping and mopping are, essentially, all that is necessary.
When your epoxy floor coating is well maintained, it will last for years—epoxy flooring is incredibly durable. Proper maintenance will also maximize light reflection, reducing your overhead costs. Talk to your flooring installer about how to maintain your epoxy floor coating.
The Significance of a Durable Epoxy Warehouse Floor
An industrial epoxy coating combines durability with functionality. You won’t have to replace your epoxy flooring for a decade or more if it’s well-maintained, and you won’t have to deal with the cracking, porousness, and other problems that are common in a warehouse concrete floor.
Conclusion: Key Factors in Choosing Warehouse Flooring
When you’re choosing epoxy coatings or other flooring systems for your warehouse, you’ll want to consider durability, functionality, and even (in some cases) aesthetics. You’ll also want to keep cost in mind.
Remember that while some flooring systems may seem less expensive at first, the lower overhead costs and increased functionality provided by epoxy coatings and other resin-based floor coatings can make you money in the long run.
Looking for a new floor for your warehouse? Call TCF West today!
