When researching resin flooring, two terms come up constantly: epoxy and polyurethane. While they're both used in professional flooring systems, they serve different purposes and have distinct properties. Understanding the difference is key to choosing the right floor for your space.
Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer that cures through a chemical reaction between resin and hardener. Once cured, it forms an extremely hard, durable surface with exceptional adhesion to concrete. Epoxy's key properties include very high compressive strength, excellent chemical resistance, superb adhesion to properly prepared concrete, and the ability to be applied in thick layers (high build).
Epoxy forms the foundation of professional resin flooring systems. It's what bonds to your concrete and provides the structural strength of the floor. At Rhino Coating, our Rhino HB-200, FB-400, and M-Flow systems all use epoxy as the primary build layer.
Polyurethane is a different type of polymer that offers properties epoxy doesn't. Polyurethane is more flexible than epoxy — it can absorb impact and movement without cracking. It's highly UV stable, meaning it won't yellow or chalk when exposed to sunlight. It also has good abrasion resistance and chemical resistance.
However, polyurethane doesn't bond as strongly to concrete as epoxy does, which is why it's generally not used as a base layer directly on concrete. Instead, it's most commonly used as a protective top coat over an epoxy base.
The best professional flooring systems — including all of ours at Rhino Coating — combine both materials. An epoxy base layer provides the strong bond to concrete, high build thickness, and compressive strength. A UV-stable polyurethane or polyaspartic top coat provides protection from sunlight, flexibility to prevent cracking from temperature changes, and resistance to yellowing and wear.
This is like a car's bodywork and clear coat. The epoxy is the structural component (the bodywork), and the polyurethane is the protective finish (the clear coat).
Garages and workshops (high compressive strength for vehicle loads), commercial kitchens (excellent chemical resistance), industrial floors (heavy equipment and forklift traffic), and any application requiring a thick, durable build layer.
Floors exposed to direct sunlight (UV stability prevents yellowing), areas with temperature fluctuations (flexibility prevents cracking), and as a protective top coat over epoxy systems. It's also well-suited for food processing facilities and healthcare environments.
Polyaspartic coatings are a type of polyurethane that cure faster and can be applied at lower temperatures. They offer similar UV stability and flexibility but with quicker turnaround times. At Rhino Coating, we offer polyaspartic top coats as an option for projects where faster curing is beneficial.
You may encounter water-based epoxy products in DIY stores. These are fundamentally different from the 100% solids epoxy used by professionals. Water-based epoxies are thinner, less durable, and not suitable for garage or commercial floors that need to withstand real use. They're essentially floor paint with some epoxy content — not a true epoxy flooring system.
Every Rhino Coating system uses an epoxy base for strength and adhesion with a UV-stable polyurethane or polyaspartic top coat for lasting protection. This gives you the best of both materials: the durability of epoxy combined with the UV resistance and flexibility of polyurethane. Get in touch to discuss which system is right for your project, or call 07822 032335.
