We often get asked about MMA Garage floors and we tend to steer clients towards Epoxy Garage floors over this alternative solution.

Both methyl methacrylate (MMA) and epoxy floor coatings are good coatings for a concrete floor and widely used in the industry. However, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Below we have tried to detail a few reasons why we generally recommend Epoxy resin flooring over MMA floors if time permits.

MMA is a great solutions for cold temperatures and was designed to offer an option when floors need to get back to service in commercial environments in very short times

Both solutions do a great job and have their place in the market but in short we beleive Epoxy Resin floors to generally be the best choice and the best flooring solution (if return to service time and temperature is not a consideration)

The cons of using methyl methacrylate include;

• The inferior chemical and heat resistance. Whilst the chemical and heat resistance is still good, methyl methacrylates can’t withstand exposure to as wide a range of chemicals as epoxies. MMAs aren’t able to withstand the same amount of heat as epoxies.

 

• The bond strength to concrete is generally lower than epoxy as it has less time to absorb in to the concrete before it cures.

 

• You won’t be able to achieve as high strengths as epoxies. MMAs will typically never reach strengths of more than 25 Mpa. This is by no means a low strength, but it still isn’t as high as some epoxies.

 

• The Environmental impact is high due to the high VOCs
• They should definitely not be installed in an enclosed or non ventilated space.
• The impact to the installers health should be considered.

 

• MMA coatings are generally much thinner than Epoxy so do not cover as many imperfections in the concrete.

 

• The costs are generally much higher than epoxy solutions.