Hiring an Epoxy Floor Contractor: Prep, Products, Warranty, Red Flags

The square footage; the prep method — diamond grinding to a stated profile, with dust collection — and repair of cracks, spalls and pitting; a moisture test and what happens if the slab fails it; each coat by product name and mil thickness (primer if used, base, flake type and coverage, topcoat with UV protection and anti-slip); stem walls or cove base if included; the schedule and when you can walk and park; and a written warranty with its exclusions. Get three quotes on that scope.

Concrete coating contractors — local companies that do garages, basements and commercial floors — and the one-day franchises (polyaspartic full-flake systems sold through in-home sales). Painters and handymen also offer it, usually with a water-based product over an etched slab, and that's the floor that peels. Ask any installer how they prep and which products they use; a contractor who grinds and names a 100%-solids or polyaspartic system is the one to hire.

One to two days on site for a 2-car garage: grinding and repair on day one, base coat and flake that afternoon or the next morning, topcoat the next day. Polyaspartic systems compress that into one day, with cars back the day after. Epoxy systems need 5–7 days before parking. Metallic floors are two to three days plus cure. Add a day if an old coating has to come off.

They install a legitimate polyaspartic full-flake system, fast, with long warranties and a sales presentation at your kitchen table that ends with a today-only price — commonly $4,000–$7,000 for a 2-car garage. Local coating contractors install the same or a comparable system for $3,200–$4,800. Take the franchise quote, get two local quotes on the same spec, and decide with all three.

A workmanship warranty of 5–15 years against peeling, delamination and hot-tire pickup, plus the manufacturer's product warranty. Read the exclusions: nearly every warranty excludes moisture-related failure unless the slab was tested, and excludes damage from chemicals, impact and abrasion. A 'lifetime' warranty with a moisture exclusion and no test is a warranty on nothing. Get the test result in the file with the warranty.

Acid etching or 'pressure washing' as the prep; no moisture test; a quote with no product names or mil thicknesses; a water-based product described as 'commercial grade'; no UV-stable topcoat over epoxy; no anti-slip in the topcoat; a today-only price; a demand for full payment before the floor is walkable; and a contractor who can't show you floors they did five years ago. Also, any quote that promises cars back on an epoxy floor the next day.

For most garages, a 100%-solids epoxy base with a polyaspartic clear coat: the epoxy gives thickness and self-leveling over rough concrete, the polyaspartic top gives UV stability, chemical resistance and fast return to service. A full polyaspartic system costs 20–30% more, cures in a day, and tolerates cold installs. A full epoxy system with a urethane top is cheapest and yellows a little in sunlight near the door. Ask the contractor which they'd put on their own garage and why.