09/02/2026
The question we get most often: "What actually makes Coval different from epoxy?"
The short answer is the bond — and more specifically, how each type of bond can fail.
Epoxy and most conventional coatings use mechanical adhesion. The coating flows into the texture of a prepared surface, cures into place, and grips. That grip depends on the surface being correctly prepared: clean profile, no oil, no silicone, no leftover curing compound. When prep is insufficient, the grip is compromised from the start. Over time, even a well-prepped mechanical bond can be worn down by traffic, UV, temperature changes, or moisture getting behind the film. When it lets go, it typically lets go at the interface — edges first, then delamination spreading inward.
Coval forms a covalent bond with the substrate — a chemical bond at the molecular level. Not a grip. A connection. At that interface, the coating and the surface are chemically joined.
Covalent bonding isn't unique to Coval — there are other products using similar chemistry. What makes Coval different is the density of bonding points: high cross-link density both within the coating film and at the substrate interface. That's what drives a 9H pencil hardness rating (ASTM D3363) — the top of the scale — versus H to 2H for most conventional coatings.
When a Coval coating wears in a high-traffic area, the answer isn't strip and redo. It's clean and recoat — a fresh coat over the existing one, because the covalent bond at the substrate is still there. No grinding back to concrete. No multi-day shutdown.
Worth noting: not everything in the Coval lineup works this way. Covals primers, densifiers, and sealers use mechanical adhesion or pe*******on — the same approaches that form the backbone of most professional coating programs. The right product depends on the substrate, the condition, and what the surface needs to do.
Read the full article on our website, or message us to talk through how this applies to a specific project.
