Most builders are familiar with the flooring choices available for residential and commercial uses, including vinyl, wood, carpet and ceramic products. These products are not appropriate, however, for many commercial or industrial settings where special features like chemical resistance, high tolerance to abrasion, or moisture resistance are required. For these situations there is a wide variety of specialized flooring systems available, combining fluid applied flooring products with non-woven textiles that can be applied over new or existing substrates.

Cementitious acrylic flooring is a waterproof protective flooring system for mechanical and equipment rooms on new or existing substrates. The system is an economical, non-slip, seamless surface that covers floors, curbs, bases, pipe penetrations and equipment pads. It consists of a two-component cementitious acrylic latex emulsion, a thermally spunbonded polypropylene reinforcement fabric, joint sealing tape and gaskets to prevent water passage around pipe penetrations.

Methyl methacrylate flooring systems are fluid-applied acrylic resins that provide a chemical and mechanical bond to concrete. These floors are chemical resistant and are widely used in kitchens, food processing plants and manufacturing facilities. They can be used indoors or outdoors. MMA floors are available with a variety of surface features including paint chip and quartz surfaces. They are normally installed with a nominal 3/16" thickness. The surface can be textured with aluminum oxide, glass beads, or silica sand to provide slip resistance. The great advantage to these floors is that the resins are fast drying — the surface dries within minutes and is fully cured and traffic-ready within an hour of application.

Epoxy terrazzo flooring systems are applied over a level concrete slab to a ¼" – 3/8" depth. The main advantages of these thin-set systems are resiliency, chemical resistance and tensile-compressive strengths not found in cement-based terrazzo systems. They have low maintenance cost due to non-absorbency. In sanitary areas epoxy terrazzo can be installed with minimal dividers, providing seamless floor characteristics. When installed with a flexible membrane, this floor can absorb some horizontal concrete crack or joint movement. These systems are available in many colors, and can be specified with glass, synthetic or granite aggregates to provide brilliant color or chemical resistance.

Polyacrylate modified cement terrazzo flooring systems provide fast installation at moderate price in areas subject to moisture vapor transmission where epoxy terrazzo systems cannot be used. These systems are normally 3/8" – ½" thick, installed over a smooth concrete or wood base. They require dividers above any joints. This system is appropriate for both interior and exterior application. The color range is somewhat limited.