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| Feature | Ultra | Armor II | Armor Chip | Armor Granite | Epoxy Coat | U-Coat It | Original Color Chips | Muscle Gloss | Shield Crete |
| Solids Based | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Water Based | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes. | No | Yes |
| Epoxy Thickness | 23 Mils | 14 Mils | 19.7 Mils | 23 Mils | 9.7 Mils | 2-3 Mils | 3-4 Mils | 8 Mils | 2-3 Mils |
| Top Coat | Yes | Yes | Yes. 2 coats | Yes. 3 coats | As Add On | As add on | Yes | No | As add on |
| +Urethane Fortified& UV Stable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NO | At additional cost | No | No | No |
| Color Chips | No | No | 8 lbs | 20 lbs | 1.5 lbs | 3.5 lbs as add on | 2 lbs | 4 lbs | 1 lb |
| Adhesion. See note below | 450 psi | 375 psi | 450 psi | 450 psi | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Abrasion. See note below | 4mg | 8mg | 20/4*mg | 20/4*mg | 24mg | 54mg | 54 mg | no data | no data |
| Impact Resistance | 160in. lbs. | 160in. lbs. | 160in. lbs | 160in. lbs | 87in. lbs | no data | 50in. lbs | no data | no data |
| Gloss Rating. See note below | 80+ | 80+ | 80+ | 80+ | no data | no data | 40 | no data | no data |
| Guarantee For Wear | 5 yrs | 5 yrs | 5 yrs | None | None | None | None | None | |
| Free Shipping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Non Slip Additive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Calibrated Notched Squeegee | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Price/Kit As Advertised | $795.00 | $548.00 | $568.00 | $889.00 | $284.00 | $249.00 | $317.00 | $308.20 | $66.95/gal |
| Equivalent Price** | NA | NA | $568.00 | NA | $650.00 | $750.00 | $645.00 | $789.00 | $718.00 |
| Equivalent Price*** | NA | $548.00 | NA | NA | $699.00 | $680.00 | $595.00 | NC | $620.00 |
| Equivalent Price**** | $795.00 | NA | NA | NA | $949.00 | NC | NC | $1049.00 | NC |
Below we explain what all of the above means. The three most important factors when considering an epoxy is the adhesion rating or how strong a bond it makes with your floor, second is the abrasion rating or how hard it is to wear off once you are driving a vehicle over it and or working on it, third is the impact rating, how much of an impact can it take without chipping off. These are critical must know factors if you are putting down an epoxy floor and expecting it to last 15-20 years.
+ A Urethane Fortified Topcoat is the most critical part of any epoxy floor coating. All Cycloaliphatic epoxies and all epoxies with any amount of solids in them will Yellow/Amber without a Urethane Topcoat! Urethane is to epoxy as what rebar is to concrete, see the Abrasion and Impact ratings, you'll see that without a Urethane Fortified Topcoat you have an inferior coating that will Dull due to wear, Chip from impacts and Yellow! Any epoxy claiming to have a high UV rating without a Urethane Topcoat is simply not telling the truth! Also be very careful when buying a topcoat, make sure it's an actual topcoat and not just a clear version of their epoxy. Due to the increased awareness of the importance of a Urethane Fortified Topcoat being made by ArmorGarage certain competitors are now offering a clear coat when in the past they always claimed not to need one. Unfortunately their clear coat is not a Topcoat, it's simply a clear version of the epoxy and offers no additional protection against Abrasion or UV rays. Topcoats are much more costly and difficult to make and is why many companies don't offer or have one. Use the information you've read here and ask questions before you buy any epoxy paint or system.
Adhesion Note: Epoxy could not be seperated from concrete. During adhesion testing with elcometer pull tester, top layer of concrete slab pulled off with no delamination of our epoxies! Typical epoxy adhesion ratings are 250 psi or less. Anything under 300 PSI means it can be seperated from your concrete floor. Low adhesion and coatings that are too thin are the reason a large majority of epoxies fail due to Hot Tire Pick Up within the first year. ArmorGarage epoxies bond with the first layer of your concrete and cannot be seperated and the topcoats bond into the epoxy which also cannot be seperated once cured.
Abrasion rating is based on the CS-17 Taber Abrasion test with 1000 gram load at 500 cycles which is the industry standard. Where as the lower the mg loss number the better resistance an epoxy has to losing it's shine and actually wearing off. This is the most important factor when considering an epoxy coating. A small difference here equates to a huge difference in the life expectancy of your floor. This simulates actual wear from vehicle tires. What do the numbers mean-well lets put it this way, if you coat half a rectangle with 4mg topcoat and the other half with 8mg topcoat and drive a car or forklift over the rectangle with 2 wheels on the 4 mg side and 2 wheels on the 8mg side. The 4 mg side will last twice as long as the 8 mg side if they were coated at the same thickness, if the 4mg side is 50% thicker it would last 4 times as long as the 8mg side. And of course thinner coatings with higher mg loss ratings will wear through exponentially faster! It's why we're the only epoxies with a "Wear" Guarantee! An epoxy coating is not much good stuck to your floor looking dull and worn out! *ArmorChip & ArmorGranite's standard topcoat is 20mg, the military topcoat is 4mg. Below is a picture worth a thousand words regarding wear and abrasion.
Impact Resistance is the ability of an epoxy to resist impacts such as dropped tools without chipping or cracking. Our epoxies have just about double the impact resistance than our closest competitor! Impact resistance is a measure of how hard a coating is. A harder coating will resist damage from everday mishaps such as dropped tools, parts, toys etc. It means you'll have a newer looking floor a lot longer without chips and scratches in it! Typical epoxy impact ratings are 75 inch lbs or less! Anything under 100 inch lbs cannot resist dropped tools or parts. With ArmorGarage epoxies if you drop a large hammer, a 1/2" ratchet with a 1" socket, a crowbar or even an 18V cordless drill on it you will not damage the floor, not so with other epoxies! The first accident you have on the competition's coating will ruin the finish of your floor.
Gloss rating based on the Erichsen Gloss Meter test. Our epoxies score highest for shine and gloss! Typical epoxy gloss ratings are 50 or less! Aside from sticking to your floor and not wearing off an epoxy has to look good! Our epoxies look the best because we manufacture with the highest quality material ingredients which means when you roller on our epoxies they cover your floor with a deep rich looking color that has highest gloss possible! Home Improvement Center epoxies that are 2-3 Mils thick and epoxies without topcoats suffer from concrete bleed through resulting in a poor finished product or having to do multiple coats that still will not last.
* Our Ultra Military Sytem is guaranteed for 10 Yrs against Wear for residential use. Note: Some of the competition offer so called Lifetime Guarantees. Please know one thing there is no such thing as a lifetime epoxy! Read the Exclusions and Conditions of those guarantees, they don't include wear(tire abrasion)among other things and don't forget to send in the registration card within 10 days of purchase or you have NO guarantee! NC= NOT COMPARABLE. ** Equivalent Price to Armor Chip when the additional materials needed to equal those of Armor Chip are added in, such as additional chips, topcoat, additional epoxy for equal coating thickness, shipping etc. There are no actual equivalent products(prices) to Armor Granite since these products cannot hold the equivalent amount of chips. 550 sq ft is used as the basis for comparisons. Please note that both Armor Chip and Armor Granite use our Ultra Grade Epoxy as the base coat. *** Equivalent Price to Armor II when shipping and the additional epoxy and top coat are added in to equal that of Armor II. **** Equivalent Price to Ultra when shipping and the additional epoxy and top coat are added in to equal the thickness and protection of Ultra.Note: For Refrence - Coventional floor paints and enamels are 2-3 Mils thick.
FOR ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT EPOXIES SEE EPOXY FAQS
