Every professional floor coating comes with a Technical Data Sheet (TDS). It's a one- or two-page document packed with numbers, abbreviations, and test methods. If you've never read one before, it looks like it was written for chemists. But every number on that sheet tells you something useful about the product — you just need to know what to look for.
Here's a plain-English guide to the specs that actually matter when you're choosing and applying floor coatings.
Solids by volume
What it means: The percentage of the liquid coating that stays on the floor after it cures. The rest evaporates.
Why it matters: Higher solids = thicker, more durable coating per coat. A "100% solids" epoxy means everything you pour stays on the floor — nothing evaporates. A "50% solids" product means half of it evaporates, leaving a thinner film.
What to look for: For garage and residential floors, 90–100% solids is the sweet spot. Avoid products below 50% solids — they're thin, they shrink as they cure, and they don't build enough thickness to handle real traffic.
Our polyaspartic is 90% solids. Our epoxy is 100% solids.
Mix ratio
What it means: How much Part A (resin) to combine with Part B (hardener). Written as a ratio like 1:1 or 2:1.
Why it matters: Getting this wrong means the coating won't cure properly. Too much hardener and it cures too fast and brittle. Too little and it stays soft or tacky forever.
What to look for: Just follow the label exactly. Some products are measured by volume, others by weight — the TDS will specify. Our polyaspartic is 1:1 by weight. Our epoxy is 2:1 by volume.
Pot life / work time
What it means: How long you have to apply the mixed coating before it starts to thicken and become unworkable. Measured at a specific temperature (usually 75°F).
Why it matters: This is your clock. Once you mix Part A and Part B, the reaction starts. You need to pour, spread, and finish within the pot life. After that, the material gets thick and sticky, and you'll leave marks instead of a smooth finish.
What to look for: Longer pot life = more time to work. Standard cure products give you 30–45 minutes. Fast cure products give you 10–20 minutes. In hot weather (above 85°F), subtract 25–30% from the stated pot life.
Coverage rate
What it means: How many square feet one gallon (or one kit) of product covers at the recommended thickness. Sometimes written per gallon (like "150 SF/GAL @ 8 mil"), sometimes per kit ("300 SF per 2 gal kit").
Why it matters: This is how you calculate how much product to order. For our products: a 2 gal kit of polyaspartic covers about 300 SF, and a 3 gal kit of epoxy base coat also covers about 300 SF. Divide your square footage by 300 to get the number of kits you need per coat.
What to look for: Make sure you're comparing at the same thickness. A product that covers 400 SF/gal at 4 mil isn't actually covering more than one that does 150 SF/gal at 8 mil — the first one is just going on thinner.
Dry film thickness (DFT)
What it means: How thick the cured coating is, measured in mils (thousandths of an inch). 8 mil = 0.008 inches, about the thickness of two sheets of printer paper.
Why it matters: Thicker coatings last longer and resist wear better. Too thin and the floor wears through in high-traffic spots within a couple years.
What to look for: 8–12 mil per coat is standard for residential floors. Commercial/industrial applications may go 15–20 mil per coat.
Compressive strength
What it means: How much crushing force (in PSI) the cured coating can handle before it fails. Tested by literally crushing a sample in a hydraulic press.
Why it matters: This tells you if the floor can handle heavy loads — cars, trucks, forklifts, heavy equipment. A residential garage needs enough compressive strength to handle vehicle traffic and the point loads from jack stands and toolbox wheels.
What to look for: 4,000+ PSI is excellent for residential. Our epoxy tests at 22,600 PSI (compressive) which is well beyond anything a residential floor will see.
Tensile strength
What it means: How much pulling/stretching force the cured coating can handle before it tears. Think of it as how well the coating resists being pulled apart.
Why it matters: Concrete moves — it expands and contracts with temperature, and it can shift slightly at joints. Tensile strength tells you if the coating can flex with those movements without cracking.
What to look for: Higher is better. 2,000+ PSI is solid for residential applications.
Adhesion / bond strength
What it means: How strongly the coating sticks to the concrete below it, measured in PSI. Tested by gluing a metal disc to the coated surface and pulling it off with a hydraulic tester.
Why it matters: This is arguably the most important spec. If the coating doesn't stick to the floor, nothing else matters.
What to look for: "Concrete failure" is what you want to see in the notes. This means when they tested adhesion, the concrete itself broke before the coating let go. That's the gold standard — it means the bond is stronger than the concrete.
Our products test at >500 PSI with 100% concrete failure.
UV stability
What it means: Whether the coating changes color (yellows, fades, chalks) when exposed to sunlight, usually tested under accelerated UV exposure (ASTM G-154).
Why it matters: If your garage gets any sunlight — and most do through the open door — bare epoxy will turn yellow within weeks to months. UV-stable topcoats (polyaspartic) won't yellow.
What to look for: "Non-yellowing" and a UV test reference. This is why polyaspartic topcoat over epoxy is the standard system — the polyaspartic shields the epoxy from UV.
Shore D hardness
What it means: How hard the cured coating is, measured on a scale from 0–100 using a pointed instrument that tries to dent the surface. Higher number = harder surface.
Why it matters: Harder coatings resist scratching, scuffing, and indentation from heavy objects.
What to look for: 75–85 Shore D is typical for floor coatings and excellent for residential use.
Taber abrasion
What it means: How much material is worn away when an abrasive wheel is run across the surface for a set number of cycles. Measured in milligrams lost.
Why it matters: Lower mg loss = better wear resistance = floor lasts longer under foot traffic and vehicle tires.
What to look for: Under 50 mg loss after 1,000 cycles (CS-17 wheel) is very good for residential floors.
VOC content
What it means: Volatile Organic Compounds — chemicals that evaporate during and after application. Measured in grams per liter (g/L).
Why it matters: Lower VOC means less odor during application and less chemical exposure. 100% solids products are essentially zero-VOC because there's no solvent to evaporate.
What to look for: Under 50 g/L is considered low-VOC. Our 100% solids epoxy is 0 g/L. Our 90% solids polyaspartic is under 50 g/L.
The specs that matter most for homeowners
If you're comparing products and want a quick checklist:
- Solids content — 90%+ for durability
- Pot life — enough time to work comfortably
- Coverage rate — so you order the right amount
- UV stability — non-yellowing for any sun exposure
- Adhesion — look for "concrete failure" in testing
Everything else is good to know, but these five will tell you whether a product is right for your project.