Polyurethane-cement floors

Polyurethane-cement is a hybrid: a polyurethane binder plus cement and mineral filler. Because of the cement the system behaves like concrete in thermal expansion, and that is the whole point.

When boiling water is poured onto an epoxy floor, or it is steam cleaned, the coating and the concrete expand differently and the coating is torn off. Polyurethane-cement has an expansion coefficient close to that of concrete, so it survives thermal shock.

What it does that the others cannot

• steam cleaning and boiling-water spillage;
• shock freezing and service inside freezer rooms;
• the aggressive organics of food production: lactic acid, fats, blood, sugar solutions, brines — the things epoxy handles less well;
• laying on green concrete that has not had the standard 28 days, and on substrates with residual moisture above what epoxy allows: the system is vapour permeable, so moisture from the slab does not lift it.

Where it is used

Meat processing, dairies and cheese plants, breweries and beverage production, bakeries and confectionery, fish processing, industrial-scale catering kitchens, chilled and freezer rooms, container-washing areas.

Typical thicknesses

From 4 to 9 mm: thinner than that the system does not work — here the thickness is part of the mechanism, not a safety margin. For steam cleaning and high temperatures the top of the range is used.

Coving at the walls and properly detailed gullies and channels are mandatory. In a food hall the water goes exactly there, and almost all failures start at those junctions rather than in the field.

Honestly about the appearance

This is not a glossy floor. The surface is matt and textured — deliberately so: a wet hall needs a non-slip profile, not a mirror. If the client expects the mirror shine seen in photographs of epoxy floors, it is better to say so in advance.

Where it is the wrong answer

• a dry warehouse or an office — expensive and excessive, use epoxy floors;
• an electrostatic requirement — a separate system, antistatic floors;
• you need an even gloss and stable colour — epoxy floors or polyurethane.

We are not tied to a single brand: we select the material for the task and can supply any manufacturer’s. Four things drive the choice — budget, site conditions, load and the required service life. Supply and installation are on us.

The section overview page: “Industrial polymer floors”.