100% solid epoxy resins generally start to really dry after about 12 hours but can take up to 72 to hours to fully cure based on the temperature outside. When the temperature of the concrete slab is below 50 degrees, the epoxy won’t cure at all. When you install them, you are sure of an attractive floor surface that is durable and will last for ages to come. But all is not roses with this material. One of its biggest challenge on flooring projects is the long curing time. Typically an epoxy resin can take more than 72 hours to cure. Yet for this to happen, you need to make sure the conditions are right for the epoxy resin to cure.
Before you can use your newly laid epoxy floor, you should make sure it properly cures before you can start using the surface. Our professionals at Southern Illinois Epoxy are here to teach you how to go about curing your epoxy in record time. So what should you do?
An epoxy resin kit comes with two products: a resin and a hardener (or catalyst). These components are not helpful to a flooring project when they work alone. But when you mix them in the right proportions, they chemically react and form a paste compound that you can spread on surfaces – in our case over a concrete floor. But you have to make sure that the environment is set so that temperatures are ideal to support the reaction. If your work area is too cold, you can expect the mixture to take longer to cure – or even never cure. If the temperatures are too high, then the compound might cure before you paint it over your floors.
Was A Fast Cure Component Used In The Epoxy Mix?
The epoxy resin and hardener must be warm before you mix them and be mixed in a warm environment. Sometimes contractors use a catalyst that makes the resin cure faster. This exelerant makes the epoxy resin faster to cure and can make epoxy cure within 4 hours. Some contractors don’t like using fast cure because it is less forgiving but it’s many times the only option to get a floor to dry within 24 hours.
Warming your resin and hardener does not just provide a good environment for the chemical reaction, it also prevents bubbles from forming in your resin.
Can Heat Make the Resin Dry Faster?
Can Heat Make the Resin Dry Faster?
At Southern Illinois Epoxy, most of our epoxy resin installation projects happen during warmer and dry seasons. But not every season is summer yet we still install epoxy floors. How is this possible? We set the room conditions to make our epoxy mixture on the floor to cure quickly.
You can get a warmer room by lighting lamps in the room. A heater or a heat lamp can work great for this purpose. This can be done before the project begins, during the process, and after applying epoxy on the floor surface. What you need to achieve is temperatures between 24 degrees to 30 Degrees Celcius to help rapidly cure your epoxy. With enough heat in the room, you can start using your floor surface the following day. If the temperature goes below the 24ºC, expect it not to cure and remain sticky indefinitely. If it goes beyond 30ºC, it will cure too fast.
Maintaining the temperature between 24ºC and 30ºC is critical for the epoxy resin to cure properly. Otherwise, it will cure soft or take forever to cure. So what happens with projects that happen on large floor surfaces? It can be challenging to achieve the temperature required but it’s not impossible. Some of the things you can do include;
- Closing off sections of the floor and heating that specific area with a heater. If it’s too hot, use an air conditioner to cool it. If the project is happening in a home, you just need to enclose individual rooms ( an epoxy garage for example) and move to the next when you finish.
- Sometimes you need to create resin hot boxes for such large projects. This device ensures the area within the box gets an ideal temperature to cure. These boxes are also great to protect against the unwanted dirt and dust that might fly to contaminate your epoxy installation.
Enjoy Your Cured Epoxy Floor
Making your epoxy resin dry can be a tough balancing act but once your floor is cured, its benefits outway the challenges. You can start using your floor immediately after curing and enjoy all it has to offer. It’s a good idea to create a cleaning and maintenance schedule so that it can serve you many years to come.
Southern Illinois Epoxy; A Top Solution of Epoxy Flooring
Attempts to speed up the cure time of epoxy can be a cause of damage to your floor if not done properly. You might end up mixing your products in the wrong manner or overdo the heating. We therefore recommend that you invite professional flooring experts to help you prepare the epoxy resin, cast it, and help it cure in a short period, the best way they know how. Southern Illinois Epoxy is a top flooring contractor you can pick if your project is in Florida and its surroundings. We don’t just install epoxy floors, but also advise on the best ways to take care of your new installations. Contact us now and get the best flooring services.
Your floor probably has cracks and deep scratches that you’ll have to fill before staining. Clean the cracks and scratches and then fill them with a sealer. Ensure the filler gets to the end of the crack or scratch then level with the rest of the floor. Let it dry. Depending on which crack filler you have used, drying can take a few minutes or several hours. Be patient enough to allow it dry according to the manufacturer’s guidelines because this can impact the outcome of the entire process.
