Building Materials
Building materials are coloured in thick films and used over concrete, so the colour paste has to resist alkali, moisture and UV while staying workable during application. Floor and wall systems cure on site at ambient temperature, where the substrate and the weather are not under the formulator's control, so robustness matters more than a laboratory-perfect shade. A colour that looks right in a sample tin but yellows, blisters or wears through in a working building is a failure regardless of its initial match.
Key Requirements in This Application
Alkali and moisture resistance
Concrete is alkaline and retains moisture, so the cured film must resist saponification, blistering and loss of adhesion. The paste must not introduce water-soluble species or free acids that migrate to the interface.
Weather and UV stability
Exterior and glazed areas are exposed to sunlight and rain. Pigments must be selected for light fastness and for resistance to chalking, because an epoxy film that yellows in service is a visible defect regardless of the initial colour.
Abrasion and wear in flooring
Floor coatings take foot and vehicle traffic. The paste must not soften the film or reduce surface hardness, and it must remain uniformly distributed through the film thickness rather than concentrating at the surface.
Application at ambient temperature
Site conditions vary from cold plant rooms to hot roofs. The paste must let down to a workable mix within the pot life at those temperatures, and must not shorten the working time to the point where the applicator cannot finish a bay.
VOC and indoor air quality
Interior coatings are expected to be low in odour and solvent. Where a solvent-free system is specified, the paste must be genuinely solvent-free so that the declaration holds for the finished floor.
Slip resistance and surface finish
Pigment that blooms to the surface during cure can leave a film that is visually acceptable but changes the friction of the floor or interferes with the subsequent topcoat. The paste must stay in the film rather than migrating to the interface, so that a specified slip resistance is not compromised by the colour layer.
Chemical and cleaning resistance
Floors and walls are cleaned with detergents, disinfectants and sometimes solvents. The cured colour must resist these without fading, staining or chalking, and the paste must not introduce a component that is attacked where the binder itself would otherwise survive.
Colour uniformity across large areas
Floors and walls are applied in large continuous areas, often by several applicators working wet-on-wet. Small differences in pigment loading or dispersion show as lap marks where one bay meets the next, and these cannot be corrected once the floor has cured. The paste must be consistent from pail to pail and disperse evenly so that adjacent batches read as a single surface under both daylight and artificial lighting.
Recommended DENSON Series
Solvent-free epoxy colour pastes for flooring and protective building systems, so the finished floor carries no solvent odour or retained volatile. The carrier becomes part of the cured epoxy matrix rather than a volatile that has to escape from a thick film.
View seriesResin-free carrier pastes for broader architectural and concrete coating formulations, giving formulators a common base across several binder types. The carrier contains solvent and must not be presented as a solvent-free product.
View seriesTechnical Considerations
- Check the substrate moisture content before application, because a sound film over damp concrete still blisters.
- Confirm pot life at the site temperature, and split the batch rather than thinning to extend working time.
- Apply a primer where the substrate is porous, so that the colour paste is not drawn unevenly into the concrete.
- Keep pigment loading low enough to preserve surface hardness and abrasion resistance in traffic areas.
- For solvent-free systems, verify that no solvent enters with the paste, since an odour complaint in an occupied building is difficult to remedy.
- Confirm cure at the lowest site temperature expected, because a film that stays soft overnight will not develop the hardness the colour layer was specified for.
Testing and Compliance
Film durability
Abrasion resistance, adhesion by cross-cut to ISO 2409 and resistance to water and alkali are assessed on the specified substrate and film build, because these are the failure modes seen in service.
Weathering
Accelerated weathering and outdoor exposure are used to confirm colour retention and resistance to chalking on the cured film, particularly where the coating is left exposed.
Paste and mix quality
Fineness by GB/T 6753.1, viscosity by GB/T 9751 and particle size distribution to ISO 13320 confirm that the paste disperses uniformly and does not settle in the pail before use.
Cleaning and chemical resistance
Cured films are wiped with the detergents and disinfectants used in the building type, and checked for colour change, gloss loss and staining, since these are the exposures a floor actually meets in service.
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