What to ask before you hire anyone to coat your garage floor

Every company that coats garage floors will tell you their floor lasts. Some of them are right. The way to tell the difference is to ask the same seven questions of everyone who quotes you and compare the answers. If a contractor cannot answer one of these plainly, that is your answer.

1. How do you prep the concrete?

Listen for mechanical prep: diamond grinding. Acid etching is the shortcut, and it does not open the slab the same way. Grinding removes old paint, sealer and weak surface concrete and opens the slab so the coating bonds to the concrete itself. A quick wash and a roll-on coat over old sealer is what peels. If the answer is vague, ask again.

2. What is the topcoat?

"Epoxy" is not a complete answer. The base coat is what bonds to the concrete; the topcoat is what takes the sun, the hot tires, and the spills. A polyaspartic topcoat does not yellow, does not pick up under tires, and cures in hours. An epoxy-only floor is cheaper for a reason.

3. How thick is the finished floor?

A multi-coat flake system, with a base coat, flake and a clear topcoat, is far thicker than a one-coat "epoxy paint." Ask how many coats and what each one is.

4. What happens to the cracks?

Cracks, pits and spalled edges should be filled with a repair compound and ground flush before any coating goes down. Coating over a crack just hides it until it telegraphs through.

5. How long until I can walk on it and park on it?

You should get specific numbers, not "it depends." On our polyurea and polyaspartic system: walk on it after 8 hours, move heavy items back after 24, and drive on it after 48.

6. Who is actually showing up?

Is the person quoting the floor the person doing the floor? With a small owner-operated crew, yes. With a franchise, often not. Neither is automatically wrong, but you should know who is accountable.

7. Is it in writing?

Scope, system, number of coats, schedule, price. All of it on the estimate. The install takes a day or two. You live with the floor for years. Get it in writing.

How we answer them

• We grind the concrete and fill the cracks before anything is coated.
• We tell you which base coat and topcoat your floor gets, and why.
• Flake, solid color or metallic, sealed under a clear topcoat.
• We go over cure and parking times for your floor before the job.
• The owner is part of every project, from the estimate to the final walkthrough.
• Scope and price are in the estimate.

By the crew at By His Grace Epoxy Flooring, Evans, GA. Questions? (706) 373-1530.