Garage flooring installation
The floor that turns a garage into a real room
Bare concrete is porous. It drinks up oil, coolant and salty meltwater, it powders under your feet, and no amount of scrubbing brings it back. A garage floor coating shuts that off and leaves a hard, bright surface that mops clean.
The build is always the same. Diamond grind the slab, fill the cracks and pinholes, roll on the epoxy, broadcast the flake by hand, then lock the whole thing in under a clear topcoat. Rick quotes the work himself, so the man who prices your floor is the man who knows what it needs.
Ready to stop parking on stained concrete? Call Elite Concrete Floors for a free estimate.
Why does a bare garage slab go bad so fast here?
Because of what comes home on the tires. PennDOT and every borough crew salt the roads all winter, and that salt arrives in your garage in a puddle of meltwater. It soaks into the open pores of the concrete, and when the water in those pores freezes it expands and pops the surface off in flakes. Add the oil drips and the grit and you get a slab that goes gray, dusty and pitted long before the house does. Sealing the concrete is what stops it, and it is why our Wexford flooring contractor work almost always starts at the garage door.
There is a lot of it about, too: PennDOT treats state roads across western Pennsylvania through the whole winter season.
What actually happens on installation day?
We clear the floor, mask the walls and grind. The diamond grinder runs over the whole slab until the troweled skin is gone and the concrete is open and dull, then cracks, chips and pinholes get filled and ground flat. Once the dust is vacuumed out, the epoxy basecoat goes down and the flake is broadcast into it by hand until the floor is full. Then the scrape, the sweep and the clear topcoat. It is the same sequence on a two car garage as it is on a commercial floor, and the prep is always the longest part of it.
Park on a garage floor you are proud of
A free estimate from Rick first, then a diamond ground slab and a floor that mops clean.
Call (724) 313-7520How soon can I park on a new garage floor?
Sooner than most people expect, but not the same afternoon. Foot traffic is usually fine the day after the topcoat goes on, and vehicles wait longer so the coating can reach full hardness before hot tires sit on it. You get the real dates for your floor rather than a number off the side of a bucket, because cure time moves with the temperature in the room and that matters more here in February than it does in July. Not sure a coating is what you want? Polishing the slab is the other route.
Flake, metallic or solid color for a family garage?
Flake wins most of the time. The color chips give the floor depth and a light texture, and that texture is what hides dust, salt marks and the odd scuff so the garage still looks clean a month later. Metallic is the showpiece, better suited to a space you spend time in than one you park a salty truck in. Solid color is the cleanest look and shows the most. Rick brings the samples to the estimate so you are choosing off a real chip, not a screen. Same choices apply to a basement floor.
Ask the guy doing the work
Straight answers about your concrete floor questions
How long does a garage floor coating take?
Most two and three car garages are finished in two days. Day one is grinding, repairs, the epoxy basecoat and the flake broadcast. Day two is the scrape, the sweep and the clear topcoat.
Do I need to empty my garage first?
Yes. The floor has to be completely clear so the grinder can reach wall to wall. Move what you can out for the two days, and Rick will talk through anything heavy or awkward at the estimate.
Can you coat a garage floor that is cracked and stained?
Almost always. Cracks and pinholes are filled and ground flat before any coating goes down, and most stains grind away with the top of the slab. If the concrete has a problem a coating will not fix, you get told straight.
Will road salt damage the new floor?
No. Salt is a problem for bare concrete because it gets into the pores and freeze and thaw does the rest. A sealed floor keeps the salt and the water on top, where a mop takes care of it.
Will the new floor be slippery?
Flake finishes have texture built into them, which gives you grip. If the garage sees a lot of meltwater, or you just want more bite underfoot, we can add a non slip additive to the topcoat.
Which areas do you install garage floors in?
Wexford is home base and we work right across greater Pittsburgh, including Cranberry Township, Gibsonia, Franklin Park, Zelienople and out into Beaver County. Call and tell Rick where you are.