One of the most common reasons a floor coating is destroyed is due to impact. Too often the functionality and chance of impact in the work environment is not considered and as a consequence the wrong flooring system is regularly specified for factory and workshop environments.
In a mechanical workshop the chance of impact is high as wrenches, spanners, screw drivers, toolboxes, wheel braces, mechanical parts and other such items are consistently dropped on to the floor. When a heavy item is dropped on to the floor, the coating begins to chip away. If the floor coating is a thin system, such as a 300micron epoxy coating, then this initial impact could expose the substrate. A chip in the surface provides an area where oils, water, chemicals and greases can access the substrate and begin to undermine the coating, causing mass delamination.
I would suggest that a mechanical workshop exposed to this sort of impact should have a 3-5mm coating. Whilst the initial impact may still result in a small chip, the crack will not progress down to the layer that meets the substrate and that is the vital fact. Thickness will protect that critical bond layer, the point where the coating meets the concrete.
