Patience is rewarded with quality.
As an epoxy contractor, it is important to know the epoxy curing and drying times before you install a floor for your client. Knowing how long to wait before allowing any foot or vehicle traffic onto the installed floor guarantees it finishes exactly how you intended it to. Depending on the type of epoxy used, the curing time can range from a few hours to a few days.
How Long Does Epoxy Curing & Drying Take?
Curing Times
The curing time is the amount of time it takes for the epoxy to harden. This process is a result of the chemical reaction when you mix the epoxy resin with an appropriate hardening agent. Waiting for the epoxy to properly cure is essential to not ruining all the hard work you’ve done.
The majority of epoxy resins on the market will take around 24 hours to cure. However, there are some epoxies that can take up to 72 hours to cure. To be safe, you should tell your clients to not allow any foot or vehicle traffic onto the installed floor for around 72 hours. The last thing you want is to unintentionally have your client ruin their floors!
Drying Times
The drying time is the amount of time it takes for the epoxy to dry. This takes place before, and while, the epoxy hardens, and the floor is still susceptible to damage during this stage. The majority of epoxies will take 24 hours to dry. However, there are some epoxies that can take up to 72 hours to dry. All of these times start from the point of installation, so your floor should be guaranteed ready for use by the end of that 72 hour period.
What Can Affect Epoxy Curing and Drying Times?
There are a number of factors that go into how long your curing and drying process takes. For one, you must take special care to properly mix the resin and the hardening agent in the proper ratios, or else it won’t harden correctly. Environmental factors also will play a role in the process. Epoxy that cures or hardens in warmer, or even worse, humid, climates will take longer, while the opposite is true for cooler climates.
Humidity past certain levels can actually negatively affect how your epoxy cures and dries, not just making the process longer. Be sure to keep every factor in mind when installing epoxy floors.
One last big factor that plays into this is the quality and type of the resin you’re using as well. The high demand in the epoxy flooring market means that innovations have actually been made in the curing and drying process. Companies like RockHard have created fast cure, fast dry epoxy resins that cure and dry in around 8-10 hours.
Shortening Epoxy Curing By Using Polyaspartic
If you are looking to shorten your curing and drying times, you can use a polyaspartic resin. Polyaspartic achieves many of the same things as your standard epoxy resin, but massively cuts the curing and drying times. The majority of polyaspartics will harden and dry within 2-3 hours.
However, it is important to note that polyaspartic is not suitable for all applications. Polyaspartic is not as durable as traditional epoxy, and it is not UV resistant. If you are looking for a durable and UV resistant epoxy, you should use traditional epoxy. Aside from their fast-cure epoxy solutions, RockHard also makes a high quality polyaspartic solution that helps resist against some of the weaknesses of polyaspartic.
Learn How To Install Epoxy From Start to Finish
Waiting for the epoxy curing process to finish is only the last step out the door in the whole process. Help guarantee you deliver the highest quality floors from start to finish, sign up for our Epoxy Classes program today! Throughout our 5-day course, we will answer all of your questions, even the ones you didn’t know you had. Our professionals will help you learn the process hands-on, and we’ll teach you:
- How to install different styles of epoxy floors
- Using a floor grinder
- How to price your services
Sign up today and get a jumpstart in this industry!
Conclusion
As an epoxy contractor, it is important to know the epoxy curing and drying times before you install a floor for your client. Depending on the type of epoxy used, the curing time can range from a few hours to a few days. The majority of epoxies will take 24 hours to cure and 24 hours to dry.
If you’re a contractor installing epoxy and you have questions about the process, or want to sign up for classes, call our specialists at (954) 287-3797. Our EpoxyETC online store has all the epoxy resources you’ll need to start installing beautiful floors!