PUR Flooring and PU Flooring: Differences explained
Some people like to go 100% barefaced, others like to plaster themselves with expensive lotions and potions that make their skin softer, less prune-like and more sun-kissed when the seasons right. Flooring products are the same - their appearance and performance alters depending on the treatment thats applied to them and this time were looking at polyurethane.
Right before we go into the irresistible advantages of polyurethane treated flooring, let's get one thing straight - PU and PUR are not the same thing. I repeat, they are not the same thing. They're closely related, I'll give you that, but PU and PUR flooring will offer you totally different things. Read on to learn more.
PU is a lightweight version of polyurethane that is there to protect the floor during construction and the post-installation clean up process. More of a short term damage control solution than a long term benefit, PU flooring is great as an initial barrier against damage but will require top ups of polish and/or additional treatments further down the line.
In the red corner, we have PUR which is a much heavier weight version of polyurethane. While PU is just a coat over the top, PUR flooring has been treated and then cured under a UV-light for extra PUR-ness. This extra elbow grease during the manufacturing process ensures a whole host of performance advantages that Ill tell you more about right now...
Performance benefits in abundance
By far the biggest pro of PUR is the lifetime polish-free maintenance that it promises, which drastically reduces the cost of upkeep. Some studies have even shown that customers who went for a PUR treated floor are able to save between 30% and 45% on maintenance costs. Who wants to fork out for industrial floor polish when theres things like Oreo donuts and hover boards to spend your money on anyway?
With the polishing treatment already cured into the surface wear layer, appearance retention is also tip top. This makes PUR treated floors the perfect contenders for the education, healthcare, hospitality and public sectors where maintenance needs to be minimal but appearance and hygiene need to stay maximum at all times.