Serious question, did I screw myself over by picking polyurea over epoxy for my shop floor?

I had to choose between a polyurea coating and a standard epoxy for my commercial shop floor in Denver. The polyurea guy sold me hard on it being tougher and faster to cure, said it would handle heavy equipment no problem. I went with it, paid about $1,200 for a 600 square foot space, and got it done last week. Now I've got some bubbly spots near the edges where it didn't lay flat, and I'm wondering if epoxy would have been more forgiving for a DIY job. The installer said it's normal and will settle, but I'm not convinced. Has anyone else had trouble with polyurea bubbling like that or did I just pick a bad contractor?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_thomas1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, hold up - $1,200 for 600 square feet? That seems crazy cheap for a commercial job in Denver. Like, I'd be suspicious cheap. In my experience with coatings around here, that's about half what I'd expect to pay for a quality polyurea install with proper prep work. That bubbling near the edges has me thinking they skimped on the surface prep or maybe the temp wasn't right when they applied it. Polyurea is super sensitive to moisture and temperature, especially in Colorado where the weather changes every 10 minutes. I'd push back hard on that installer saying it's normal because bubbles that don't go away usually mean there's something trapped underneath, and that's not something that just settles on its own.

piper_burns1mo agoMost Upvoted

Is it really that big of a deal though? A few tiny bubbles near the edges after a cheap install sounds about right to me, like you get what you pay for and it's probably not gonna ruin the floor. I bet if you wait a few weeks most of them settle down or you can just barely notice them unless you're really looking.