If you live in Regina, you know our garages aren’t just for cars. They are workshops, storage units, home gyms, and: let’s be honest: sometimes the place where we hide from the wind while trying to get a project done. But our garages also face some of the harshest conditions in the country. Between the -40°C deep freezes of January and the +30°C heatwaves of July, our concrete floors are constantly expanding, contracting, and dealing with a literal mountain of road salt and slush.
At GR Flooring Inc, we get asked the same question almost every week: "Should I go with epoxy or polyaspartic for my garage floor?"
It’s a great question. For years, epoxy was the "gold standard" for garage coatings. But as technology has evolved: and as we’ve seen how these floors hold up specifically in the Saskatchewan climate: the answer has changed. At GlossWorks (our dedicated concrete division), we’ve made the move toward polyaspartic coatings for a very specific reason: they actually win the fight against our weather.
Let’s break down the "battle of the coatings" so you can decide what’s right for your home.
The Old Guard: Why Everyone Knows Epoxy
We’ve all heard of epoxy. You can buy "DIY" kits at the big-box stores, and for a long time, it was the only game in town. Epoxy is a resinous coating that creates a hard, thick layer over your concrete. When it’s first applied, it looks fantastic. It’s shiny, it covers imperfections, and it’s relatively affordable.
But epoxy has a few "Achilles heels" when it comes to life in the Queen City.
First, epoxy is rigid. Once it cures, it’s basically like a hard plastic shell. That sounds good until you remember that Regina is built on heavy clay. Our ground moves. Our houses shift. Our concrete slabs expand in the summer heat and shrink in the winter cold. Because epoxy is so stiff, it doesn't have the "give" to move with the concrete. This often leads to cracking, or worse, the epoxy "peeling" or delaminating away from the floor.
The GlossWorks Choice: What is Polyaspartic?
If epoxy is like a stiff cracker, polyaspartic is more like a high-tech rubber band. It’s a specialized coating that was actually developed to protect steel in industrial bridge construction. We brought that same technology into the garage because, quite frankly, a Regina garage floor takes as much of a beating as a bridge deck.
Our team at GlossWorks (you can find us online at glossworksonline.com) uses polyaspartic because it is 98-100% more flexible than epoxy. That flexibility is the secret sauce. When your concrete slab does its seasonal "dance," the polyaspartic coating stretches and moves with it.
Whether you’re parking a heavy SUV or dragging a workbench across the floor, that flexibility means the coating stays bonded to the concrete rather than snapping or chipping.
Flexibility and the Regina Temperature Swing
Let’s talk about that temperature swing for a second. We don’t just have "weather" here; we have extremes. In the winter, you drive your truck into the garage, and it’s covered in "Saskatchewan cement": that lovely mix of ice, gravel, and road salt. As that melts, it creates a pool of brine on your floor.
If you have a standard epoxy floor, the cold temperature of the concrete makes the epoxy even more brittle. If you drop a heavy tool or even just drive in with hot tires, the thermal shock can cause the epoxy to lose its grip.
Polyaspartic, on the other hand, is thermally stable. It doesn't care if it’s -30°C or +30°C. It maintains its bond and its integrity regardless of the temperature. This is a huge reason why we believe it’s the only real choice for a long-term solution in our province.
The "Fast" Factor: 2-3 Day Quality Install
We know that life is busy. One of the biggest complaints we hear about epoxy is the downtime. A proper epoxy floor can take 5 to 7 days to fully cure before you can drive your car back onto it. In a Regina spring, that might mean leaving your car out in a hailstorm for a week while you wait for your garage floor to dry.
Polyaspartic cures incredibly fast. At GlossWorks, our standard process is a 2-3 day quality install.
- Day 1: We do the heavy lifting: grinding the concrete to open up the pores and applying the base coat and flakes.
- Day 2: We clean up the excess and apply the high-performance topcoat.
- Day 3: You’re usually back in business, parking your car and reclaiming your space.
Because polyaspartic cures through a chemical reaction rather than just air-drying, it gets to full strength much faster. You aren't just getting a floor that looks better; you're getting your garage back sooner.
UV Stability: Staying Bright for Years
Have you ever seen an older garage floor that looks kind of yellow or dingy near the garage door? That’s "ambering," and it’s a classic epoxy problem. Epoxy is not UV stable. When the sun hits it: even just the reflection off the driveway: it begins to chemically break down and turn yellow.
Polyaspartic is 100% UV stable. It stays crystal clear for the life of the floor. Whether your garage door stays open all summer or you have large windows in your shop, your floor will look the same on year ten as it did on day one. We want your investment to look great for the long haul, which is why we don't compromise on the materials we use.
Durability and Maintenance: Salt, Oil, and Grime
Let’s be real: garages get dirty. Between oil leaks, salt from the Bypass, and the mud we track in, your floor needs to be easy to clean.
Epoxy is decent at resisting chemicals, but polyaspartic is on another level. It’s non-porous, meaning nothing soaks in. If you spill oil, it sits on top until you wipe it away. If the winter salt leaves a white film, a quick spray with a hose and a squeegee brings the shine right back.
At GR Flooring Inc, we’ve spent years learning what works for homeowners. We’ve seen the "cheap" DIY kits fail after one season, and we’ve seen high-end epoxy floors crack after a single harsh winter. That’s why we’ve doubled down on the GlossWorks standard of polyaspartic. We want to provide a floor that lasts 20+ years, not 5.
The Investment: Upfront Cost vs. Long-Term Value
We’ll be the first to tell you: a professional polyaspartic floor costs more upfront than a DIY epoxy kit or even a basic professional epoxy install.
But we like to look at it through the lens of value. If an epoxy floor lasts 5 to 7 years before it needs a total strip and recoat, and a polyaspartic floor lasts 20+ years, the "cheaper" option ends up being the most expensive one in the long run.
When you choose us, you aren't just buying the liquid in the bucket. You’re buying the industrial-grade diamond grinding we do to prep the floor, the moisture testing we perform to ensure a good bond, and the peace of mind that comes with a warranty from a local company that’s been around the block.
Beyond the Garage
While we’re talking about garages today, it’s worth mentioning that this technology isn't just for the cars. Because polyaspartic is so durable and UV resistant, we also use it for patios, walkways, and even front steps.
And if you have high-end surfaces inside your home, our GlossWorks team specializes in restoration services for terrazzo, marble, and granite. We don't install new terrazzo, but we can take an old, tired terrazzo floor and bring it back to a mirror-like finish that would make any homeowner proud.
Which One Wins?
In the battle of Polyaspartic vs. Epoxy, the winner for a Regina homeowner is clear.
- Epoxy is great for indoor, temperature-controlled environments with zero sun exposure and no foundation movement.
- Polyaspartic is built for the "real world" of Saskatchewan. It handles the cold, the salt, the sun, and the shifting ground without breaking a sweat.
We believe in doing things the right way the first time. Your garage is an extension of your home, and it deserves a floor that can keep up with your lifestyle.
If you’re tired of looking at stained, cracked concrete and you want to see what a professional transformation looks like, we’d love to chat. You can browse our products or stop by and see us to talk about your specific project. We aren't here to give you a high-pressure sales pitch; we’re here to help you find the best solution for your home so you can get back on solid ground.
Feel free to reach out to us at our contact page or visit glossworksonline.com to see some of our recent transformations. We’d love the chance to help you build a garage you actually want to spend time in!