Frequently Asked Questions

On HomeGuide's national numbers, installed epoxy runs $4 to $10 per square foot, about $1,200 to $3,900 for a one-car garage and $1,600 to $5,800 for a two-car garage. Older Cincinnati slabs tend to call for extra grinding and crack filling, which moves a floor toward the upper end. Once we have measured and tested the floor, you get the price in writing.

Epoxy is unforgiving of poor prep. If it goes over oil, old sealer or a damp slab, it can peel or blister. HomeGuide gives ordinary epoxy only a poor-to-fair UV rating and says reaching full cure may take as long as a week, and a high-gloss surface gets slippery once water is on it. Grinding, moisture testing, a UV-stable topcoat and a flake or grit texture deal with each of those.

Using HomeGuide's $4 to $10 per square foot range, a 500 square foot basement works out to roughly $2,000 to $5,000 for epoxy. For 100% solids commercial or industrial systems, HomeAdvisor's figure is $12 or more per square foot. A damp basement may need a moisture-mitigating primer, which adds to the total.

Garage and basement coatings are popular because they turn a dusty slab into usable space without tearing anything out. In practice that means installers book up during mild-weather months, when slab and air temperatures make scheduling easier. Calling early gives you more choice of install dates.

A cured, well-bonded coating holds up to salt far better than bare concrete, which salt and freeze-thaw cycles can scale and pit. Salt and slush still leave a white crust that dulls the finish and gets gritty under tires. Rinse or squeegee it out through the winter and choose a flake color that hides residue between cleanings.

Often, yes, after testing. A basement with occasional dampness can usually take a coating over a moisture-tolerant primer. Active leaks, standing water or cracks that let water in need to be fixed first, because no floor coating stops water entering through walls or open cracks.

A typical garage or basement is a one- to three-day job, with prep and system choice setting the pace. HomeGuide advises giving epoxy 2 to 7 days before cars go back on it, whereas polyaspartic is ready for heavy vehicles in roughly 24 to 48 hours. You will know the exact walk-on and drive-on times for your floor before we start.

Yes. We coat floors in Covington, Fort Thomas, Florence and Union as well as Cincinnati and the Ohio suburbs. The process and the written quote are the same on both sides of the river.

HomeGuide's national range is $1,600 to $5,800 for a two-car garage in epoxy and $2,000 to $6,900 in polyaspartic. Older Cincinnati garages with paint or many cracks tend to need more prep, which pushes the total up. Your written number comes after we measure and test the floor.

Salt does far less damage to a cured coating than to bare concrete. It still leaves a gritty white crust that dulls the topcoat over time, so rinse or squeegee it out during winter. A flake finish hides the residue between cleanings.

Resin needs the slab and air within a temperature range to cure properly. In cold months we can sometimes work in an attached, heated garage. Unheated detached garages are usually better scheduled for milder weather, and we will tell you which applies to yours.

Most kits rely on acid etching and a thin coat, which leaves old sealer, oil and weak concrete under the coating. Warm tires then lift it. A diamond-ground floor with a thicker system and a hard topcoat bonds much better.

HomeGuide advises giving epoxy 2 to 7 days before cars go back on it, whereas polyaspartic is ready for heavy vehicles in roughly 24 to 48 hours. We give you an exact time based on the system and the temperature on install day.

They are the same thing. The chips are thin pieces of colored vinyl, sometimes called flakes, chips or vinyl flake, scattered into wet resin and then covered with a clear topcoat.

Flake floors have more texture than smooth solid-color coatings, so they are less slippery when wet. A heavier topcoat smooths them out, and an anti-slip grit can be added where floors stay wet.

Mid-tone gray, tan and mixed blends hide salt residue and dust best. Very dark blends show white salt marks, while pale blends make tire scuffs obvious. We can show you several blends on site.

HomeAdvisor puts decorative flake material at about $0.04 per square foot, which makes the chips a minor share of the price. Most of the cost is prep, labor and the coats. HomeGuide's range for an installed epoxy garage is $4 to $10 per square foot.

Each does a different job. On HomeGuide's UV scale, polyaspartic rates excellent and epoxy only poor to fair, and polyaspartic also cures far faster. Epoxy builds thicker per coat and bonds well to prepared concrete, so many floors use both.

Bob Vila's guide says about 3 to 4 hours before walking and 24 hours before driving. HomeGuide puts the full cure at 1 to 2 days. Temperature and humidity on install day shift those times.

HomeGuide lists $5 to $12 per square foot and about $2,000 to $6,900 for a two-car garage. We price your floor after testing and measuring it.

Bob Vila's guide says polyaspartic is not a DIY product. It sets fast, so you work in small mixes and get each one down quickly, and mistakes are hard to fix.

Nationally, This Old House gives $5 to $12 per square foot for metallic epoxy. Leveling an uneven basement slab, using several colors and the topcoat you choose all affect where a floor lands. We price yours after a site visit.

Yes, and basements are one of the most popular places for it. A moisture test comes first, and a damp slab gets a primer formulated for it, because moisture is the main thing that can make a basement coating fail.

High-gloss metallic gets slippery once water is on it. For dry indoor rooms that is rarely a problem. Where floors might get wet, a fine non-skid additive can go into the clear coat, or we can switch to a satin sheen.

Sample boards show the colors and technique, but every metallic pour moves differently. Your floor will be in the same family as the sample with more variation across a large area, which is part of its appeal.

For 100% solids commercial or industrial systems, HomeAdvisor's figure is $12 or more per square foot. Floor size, contamination, repairs and how the work is scheduled set the final cost. We give every commercial job a written quote after a site survey.

It depends on the system and floor size. Bob Vila's guide notes polyaspartic systems may only require closing for a day or two. Large floors can be phased in sections or done after hours, keeping some of the space in use.

A properly specified high-build system on well-prepared concrete is made for forklift and pallet jack traffic. Turning areas and joints get extra attention, since that is where wheels wear coatings fastest.

Yes. Kitchens need a textured, seamless surface that can be washed down, usually with coved edges at the walls. Grease-soaked concrete has to be cleaned and ground thoroughly first so the coating bonds.

Yes. Aisles, walkways and keep-clear zones can be laid into the resin itself, so the markings last as long as the floor rather than being taped or painted on later.

Usually, if the dampness is vapor moving through sound concrete. After testing, we add a moisture-mitigating primer where the slab needs one. If liquid water comes in through cracks or the wall joint, that has to be fixed first.

Nationally, HomeGuide's installed epoxy range is $4 to $10 per square foot, so a 500 square foot basement would be roughly $2,000 to $5,000 before extra prep. Paint removal, crack repair and a moisture primer add to that. We quote after testing.

Usually moisture moving up through the slab pushes paint off from below, or the paint was put over a dirty or sealed surface. We grind it off, test the slab and choose a primer suited to the readings.

That is usually efflorescence, mineral salts left behind as moisture moves through the concrete and evaporates. It is a sign the slab is passing moisture, which is exactly what we test for before coating.

A coating does not insulate the slab, so the floor temperature stays about the same. It does make the room brighter, easier to clean and less dusty, and a rug or mat can add warmth in living areas.