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The time it takes to repair an industrial repair is completely dependent on the type of resin you choose for your floor repair as different types of resins have different cure times. Also, the time it takes to repair varies greatly depending on the damage.

The biggest influence on how long it takes to repair an industrial floor is the resin’s curing and drying time. We’ll look at the difference between drying and curing time and how cure times vary greatly with different materials.

Some resins can take up to 14 days to cure, causing a significant inconvenience to production. Read on to find out how having a unique chemical construction can make for the perfect resin flooring solution.

Cure Time Vs Dry Time For Resin Flooring

It’s essential to your resin floor repair to ensure it is cured fully before using it. This sounds simple, however, many resins have a different cure and dry time, with some spanning across days.

Dry Time: When it is dry to touch and you can walk on it

Cure Time: Is when it’s resistant to chemical attack (including water).

If an un-cured resin floor is subjected to water before it is fully cured, the curing process is interrupted. If this happens full cure is not achieved, meaning the compressive strength can be affected and the floor will not be as durable as it should be.

Especially in a food factory and commercial kitchen environments where non-slip resin flooring is required, without a full cure, it may not be able to perform as intended.

This is particularly common with floor repairs as it is often perceived that because it is dry, it’s performing. As repairs can be small areas, they can often be overlooked and forgotten about because visually they look finished.

Most resin flooring systems are built up in layers, laying each new layer onto the dried layer below.

Industrial Resin Floor Cure Times

As mentioned at the start, the cure time of an industrial resin floor mainly depends on the type of material used. We’ll take a look at the 3 most common resins used in the UK to compare their cure and dry time. If you prefer, watch the video below.

PU (Polyurethane) Resin Flooring

The most commonly used resin in the UK is PU which comes from the Thermoset family of plastics.

It takes around 3-5 hours to dry and 3-5 days to fully cure, depending on temperature (longer if it is colder).

PU is normally laid in 2 layers – a primer and then a screed or body coat. Therefore, after removing the section of damaged or broken flooring, drying out the area, preparing the substrate and priming, they must then wait for the primer to dry before installing the screed or body coat.

This means that usually, the installation team comes back the following day to complete the next layer. Once the screed or body coat is laid, then the client must wait until it is fully cured (3-5 days) before production can resume.

In most cases, an industrial floor repair with PU will take 2 days to install and must be left for at least 3 days to fully cure before the area can be put back into use. If not, the newly installed floor could be compromised from day 1.

Epoxy Resin Flooring

Epoxy, also a Thermoset plastic, has even longer cure times. The dry time between layers is around 12-24 hours.

So, a three-layer system can take up to 3 days to install and the cure time is a massive 7-14 days (depending on temperature). Most businesses simply cannot afford to have this amount of downtime and so it is not widely used.

MMA (methyl-methacrylate) Resin Flooring

MMA (methyl-methacrylate) being from the Thermoplastic family, has a different method of cure and regardless of temperature will cure in under 2 hours.

All 3 layers (depending on area size) can be laid in one day and full cure is achieved just 2 hours after installation.

This means that it is also possible to carry out works overnight, with full use the following morning.

However, MMA resins only cure to around 35-45N/mm.sq. compressive strength. This is around the same strength as concrete and around half the strength of a PU or Epoxy floor.

Unfortunately, the lower compressive strength results in the resin being less durable and makes it hard to clean as dirt can be squeezed into the surface.

Industrial Resin Flooring – Perfect Flooring Repair Solution

After analysing the cure times of the most used resins for industrial floor repairs, it’s apparent that each has its flaws.

Acrylicon recognised the strengths of each of these materials, creating a unique formula that is not only ideal for floor repairs but new flooring too.

Floor joint repairs, holes, delamination and cracks in your factory floor can all jeopardise the performance of your food grade flooring. Having a heavy-duty, anti-slip floor that’s easy to clean is essential for any food manufacturing environment.

Acrylicon combines the strength of PU and Epoxy with the cure time of MMA to create an industrial floor that not only fully cures in 2 hours, but has the compressive of 84-104N//mm.sq, making it the UK’s strongest resin floor.

Their unique chemical construction helps people to save time, money and hassle.

Contact Acrylicon

Acrylicon can perform floor repairs at weekends and out of hours to ensure minimal disruption to your business.

To arrange a free no-obligation floor survey from one of our local experts, get in touch.

About Acrylicon

Acrylicon, the go-to industrial flooring company, has been implemented by Unilever, Walkers, McCains, Network Rail and many more companies that understand the cost implications of shutting down.

Their fast cure, combined with the immense compressive strength saves you time, money and hassle when it comes to your industrial flooring. They can work at weekends or in business downtime to ensure minimal disruption to your daily processes.

With a life expectancy of up to 4-8 times longer than traditional resins, Acrylicon’s unique chemical composition ensures you get better value for money than from any other resin floor available.

Acrylicon’s long-lasting resin flooring is used across a variety of sectors including in food factories, commercial kitchens, warehouses, hospitals, supermarkets and car parks.

New flooring comes with a 10-year performance warranty for complete peace of mind. Every installation is carried out by trained and certified regional installers, so there are no split warranties.