Epoxy and polyaspartic garage floor coatings across Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati. A coated floor that is ground, repaired and built up properly shrugs off road salt, oil and hot tires. One that is rolled onto bare concrete peels within a year or two. The difference is almost all in the preparation, so that is where most of this page goes.
Every car that comes in off a salted road carries brine into the garage. It drips off the wheel wells, melts, and soaks into bare concrete. Concrete is porous, so the salty water gets into the top layer, freezes and thaws there on the cold nights, and the surface starts to flake and pit. That flaking is called scaling, and it is why so many garage floors around here look worn around the tire paths long before the rest of the slab.
A proper coating closes the surface. The salt water sits on top instead of soaking in, and it can be pushed out the door with a squeegee. Oil, antifreeze and fertilizer spills wipe up instead of staining. The floor is also brighter and much easier to sweep, which is why a lot of people do it for the look and keep it for the cleanup.
Epoxy is a two part coating that builds a thick, hard layer and bonds well to properly prepared concrete. It takes longer to cure, and plain epoxy can yellow where sunlight reaches it.
Polyaspartic is a related coating that cures much faster, stays clear in sunlight and handles a wider temperature range. It is often used as the top coat over an epoxy or similar base, and sometimes for the whole system.
The one part garage floor paint from a big box store is a different product. It is thin, it goes onto a surface that has usually only been washed, and it is the version that lifts off in patches where hot tires park. If you have tried it and it peeled, that is the usual reason, and the old coating has to be ground off before a proper system goes down.
A typical two car garage is usually prepared and coated over one to two days, depending on how much repair the slab needs and which system is used. You are told the exact time before you can walk on it and before the cars can come back in, and it is longer for vehicles than for feet.
Because the work is indoors it does not stop when the driveway season ends. Cold concrete does slow curing, and every coating has a minimum slab temperature, so winter jobs are scheduled around milder stretches or a heated garage. New concrete has to cure fully before it can be coated, commonly about a month after it is poured.
By the square foot, measured, with one written price that includes the grinding, the crack and pit repair and the full coating system. What moves it: the size of the floor, how much repair it needs, whether an old coating has to come off, whether the low side walls are coated too, and flake or solid color. Nothing is priced off a guess, and there is no charge to get the number.
If the driveway needs sealing as well, both can be measured and quoted together, one visit and one price for each. See what driveway sealcoating costs.
Is it slippery? A flake floor has enough texture for normal use. A smooth solid color can be slick when wet, so a grip additive is mixed into the top coat where that matters.
How long does it last? A well prepared floor with a proper top coat commonly lasts many years in a home garage. Heavy equipment, dragging steel and skipped prep shorten that. Peeling is almost always a preparation failure, not wear.
Can you coat over my old paint or coating? Usually not. A new coating is only as strong as whatever it sits on, so loose or failing coatings are ground off first. That is part of the price you are quoted.
Do I have to empty the garage? Yes, the floor has to be clear for the grinding and until the coating has cured. Plan on the garage being out of use for the time you are given at booking.
Who does the work? Local independent contractors who do floor coatings, measured and quoted by us, with one written price before anything starts.
Send the address and a rough size through the form, and a photo of the floor if you have one. You will hear back with what the slab needs and a written price.
