Floor Epoxy vs. Laminate Flooring

John B.

Well-known Member
The other day some of you may remember I asked about applying Epoxy paint over tile floor. As I figured that isn't a thing to do. Well I'm renovating a restroom at work. It contains a urinal, toilet, porcelain hand sink, stainless stee slop sink and a household clothes washer that gets filled with a hose from the stainless steel sink and it also empties into the slop sink. My manager thinks we can go with laminate floor in this restroom and I don't think that's a good idea. I want to epoxy the whole floor. Room measures 10 x 15 ft. Give me your input.
 
Not an expert, but, unless there's a commercial, water resistant grade, laminate will be trashed in very short order. Been there.
 
look at Allure flooring from Home Depot. It is Vinyl plank flooring that goes together like laminate flooring. The Vinyl is 100% water proof. I have it in several rental houses. The oldest install is over ten years old and look great. You can buy it that looks like tile, wood or many different patterns and colors. It is about 1/4 inch thick so it is durable.
 
The peal and press tile they make today if you coat the floor with an adhesive should last 25 years. Epoxy is good too however to insure you have the floor stripped clean enough is pretty labor intensive. It has to soak into the pores of the cement to bond to the floor and if anything is there sealing the cement the epoxy just can't get a good bite. Then there is a vinyl flooring that is self adhesive which it sticks to itself and just left laying on the floor. You just put trim around the room to hold it down. They built a new Walmart in my town about 20 years ago and put it in the clothing department and the stuff still looks new.
cvphoto2890.jpg
 
What kind of shop is this? As in what will be tracked onto the floor?

If it is abrasive or metal chips, laminate will be short lived.

Epoxy, real 2 part epoxy, will give the most durable finish.

If the floor is in good condition, and you take the time to remove all traces of the old adhesive (I'm thinking a floor sander), it will look OK. I have seen floors that were painted after the tile was removed that still showed the lines from cleaning chemicals etching the concrete though.

Epoxy can be a difficult paint to apply evenly. There are methods to apply it where it covers flaws, but not sure what that involves, expensive though.

Youtube covers several methods.
 
Hello John B.

I guess I should have added a picture! My kitchen floor, 100% water proof COREtec,

Guido.
cvphoto2898.jpg
 
Your opinion and your bosses opinion differ? The boss is always right even when he is wrong. A boss is like a wife, well, a wife is like a boss, and actually is one. If the project is done like the boss/wife, wants it done and the result is bad. you are still at fault.
 

2012 I did the a hole house in luxury vinyl tile the big mistake I went dark. Never again it will be a light color the dark showed every piece of lent etc... I sold it problem gone only problem I wasted big money I could have put a cheaper floor down. I spent over 7K on the floor could have got away with haft of that... Its a tuff arse floor two renters could not tear it up :)....

Hospitals and commercial places use it that should tell you sum'N...
 
I put down CoreTec in our entry/mud room. So far its holding up good. We got the tile looking type. My only complaint is the pattern repeats fairly often, but I am the only one that notices it.
 
Sounds like it will see a fair bit of moisture, laminate will not hold up.

As others have said go with the vinyl plank flooring it is basically waterproof.

Goes in a little different than laminate as it does not have any tongue and groove or click together systems.
Clean cut and square they just butt up to each other.

It does not shrink or expand with the weather or changes in moisture so you install it without any gaps at the walls.

They say you can glue down the first course next to the wall then just lay the rest down until the next wall then glue that course as well.

I did this in our kitchen, due to the size of it they recommend gluing some down in the middle to keep everything tight.

In a commercial setting I would probably glue the whole thing as any tiny gaps will eventually get dirt pushed in and raise the end, you will then have to lift the tile to clean out the debris so the tile sits flush again.
I have had to do this to 2 planks by the table twice now so next time they will get some glue.

Very durable stuff and easy to clean.
Ours has been in for 4 years now and I am happy enough with it that I am going to use it again for the downstairs bathroom and laundry this winter.
 
Over 5 years ago I put epoxy on a 40 year old garage floor. I was aware of the need for the perfectly clean dry surface needed for good adhesion so I spent hours pressure washing with a rotary nozzle and hot water at 4000 psi. Then I let it dry for 5 days. It turned out OK and stands up to tire traffic in all seasons and plenty of sand and salt. Five small spots popped up. Evidently those spots weren’t totally dry or had some sort of contamination. Those little pop ups are just an example of how fussy epoxy is when it is put down on a floor. If you do use epoxy be prepared to have the restroom out of commission for several days after you do the floor prep so it can dry completely.
 
Hello determined,

This vinyl floor does lock together, always leave a gap, and 1/4 round does a
better finished looking job anyway,

Guido.

cvphoto2946.jpg
 

No freakin way would laminate last. We put one down and in 2 years between the kids, dogs and snow tracked into the house it was nasty looking and ready to go.
 
(quoted from post at 14:39:08 11/17/18) Hello determined,

This vinyl floor does lock together, always leave a gap, and 1/4 round does a
better finished looking job anyway,

Guido.

<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto2946.jpg">

Hello Guido

I have never seen lock together vinyl flooring but it's not like I do it for a living.

The stuff I used if you left any gap at all the planks would shift.

I did the upstairs bathroom in it and chose not to glue it as the room was less than 2 planks wall to wall.
It ended up slipping causing gaps, I pulled the baseboard and shimmed the ends tight to the wall and it has not moved since.

The stuff I used recommend laying the first course one plank away from the wall to keep everything true then go back and trim the planks to fit tight to the wall and glue down.

Did your's require glue or is it a full floating style?
 
(quoted from post at 14:47:29 11/17/18)
(quoted from post at 14:39:08 11/17/18) Hello determined,

This vinyl floor does lock together, always leave a gap, and 1/4 round does a
better finished looking job anyway,

Guido.

<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto2946.jpg">

Hello Guido

I have never seen lock together vinyl flooring but it's not like I do it for a living.

Different type of Vinyl flooring and way to install it..
We use Vinyl Plant in the apartment rehabs we do. It locks together the same as Laminate. It requires careful prep work to install correctly. No more than 3/16" variation over a 10' span. We leave a 5/16" gap around walls.
===========

Laminate floor will not hold up where water or chemicals are present. Pet urine is the worst for damaging it. It can make the stuff puff up like those cat tails in a pond. Just a drop of water into a joint and the edges will start swelling. I have installed a lot of different brand and thickness over the years and I have yet to see any laminate flooring worth installing.

As Guido suggested. [b:7113d311b4]COREtec[/b:7113d311b4]. That is what we use. Yes it is expensive but it is worth every penny if you want a good looking floor that will last for years to come..

The "peel and stick" vinyl plants are not to bad if you install them correctly. We apply contact cement firt and let it dry then apply the PnS over it. Once it is down, Go over it with at least a 150 lb floor roller if you want it to stay down. And I will add that PnS works best on new construction.
 
This site needs to transfer half of the auto correct people over to editing..

Then maybe you could edit your post without the auto correct department butting in... :)
 
Hello 0 determined,

No glue, over linoleum floor, professionally installed. $10 a
square foot. Search the label. Virgin vinyl with bamboo and
other woods. Textured across the planks,

Guido.
 
Hello moresmoke,

Yes same here. The installer did a good job of mixing it, but like you said it does repeat. Like you I am the only one that notices it.

Guido.
 
We got Safecore luxury vinyl plank. It does lock together and is thick enough that it doesn't telegraph flaws in the floor you are covering. Has a lifetime warranty for residential use and 5 years for light commercial use. Got it at Lowe's.
 



I had to look this up Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and CorTech are not the same. LVT is what you see used in commercial settings for proper installations over anything other than concrete you have to put down under lament (UL). That drives up the cost of using it big time I brought $1000 worth of under lament over $200 worth of decking screws and countless hours in driving the screws the floor required the the UL to be screwed every 4" may have been 6"...

Once the UL was screwed down they put a coating on it to seal it and fill in the screw heads and all seams in the UL. Why did I do this :evil: The original sub floor was particular board it had got wet from a leaking water heater and a massive leak from several fittings from quest water lines. I had replaced the sub floor in about 1/3 maybe a 1/2 of the house. #2 I did not want transition strips I wanted a constant floor all thru the house. #3 I did not know if my daughter was going to stay in it are travel around she has been a world traveler. #4 she has a little dog no way I could get out of putting a ban on the dog :evil:

LVT is flexible I suspect its a thick sheet of the top layer on CorTec flooring ... Its about 6" to 8" wide about 30" long and glued down you are suppose to be able to replace a damaged strip of it just peel it up and glue in a replacement strip.

The housing boom the middle of last year :) drove up the price of houses in rural areas around here last year my son was living in it new wife wanted a bigger house he moved out. I said what the ell lets throw a price on it and see what it will fetch Two days later it was sold I will make more off the interest than what I would renting it and not have to fudge with a renter fudgen up my nice floor... :D
 
I don't know the specifics, but low cost new homes around here (Barndominiums for one) use a process called "stained concrete". Farm across the street owner has a business that does that. The process is applied after the concrete has setup. Might be worth checking into.
 

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