Floor Systems
Two full-flake systems. No house favorite.
We install full-flake epoxy and full-flake polyurea. Which one goes on your floor comes from your slab and how you use the space — not from what we'd rather sell.
The Short Version
Same method. Two chemistries.
Both systems are full-flake: a base coat, vinyl flake broadcast to refusal, and a clear protective topcoat over the top. What changes between them is how the resin behaves — how fast it cures, how much it flexes, and how it handles sunlight.
Ground, not etched
Mechanical prep on every floor.
Flake to refusal
Until the floor won't take another chip.
Clear topcoat
The layer that takes the abuse.
Full-Flake Epoxy
A rigid, high-build resin that goes down thick and bonds hard.
Epoxy is a two-part resin that cures into a rigid, high-build film. It's the system people picture when they think of a coated garage floor: substantial underfoot, deeply bonded into the ground concrete, and thick enough to bury the flake in a solid, uniform surface.
Strengths
- Builds real thickness in fewer coats
- Excellent adhesion into a properly ground slab
- Deep, filled-in finished look
- Moisture-tolerant formulations available
- Strong value on a sound interior slab
Often the right fit for
- Attached garages that don't take much direct sun
- Sound slabs with limited movement
- Floors where build thickness matters most
Full-Flake Polyurea
A faster-curing, more flexible system that holds its color in sunlight.
Polyurea and polyaspartic coatings cure faster than epoxy and stay flexible once cured. That flexibility lets the coating move with a slab instead of fighting it, and the topcoat chemistry is UV stable — which matters on the strip of floor that actually sees daylight.
Strengths
- Returns to service faster
- Stays flexible through freeze-thaw movement
- UV stable — holds its color in sunlight
- More tolerant of cool-weather installation
- Same full-refusal flake and clear topcoat
Often the right fit for
- Floors that catch direct sun at the garage door
- Slabs that move with Wisconsin freeze-thaw cycles
- Heavy year-round use and quicker turnaround
Side by Side
The honest differences.
These are real, measurable differences between the two chemistries — not arguments for one over the other. Most of them only matter once you know your slab.
Cure & return to service
Cures more slowly. The garage is out of use longer before you can park on it.
Cures faster, so the floor returns to service sooner.
Flexibility
Rigid once cured. Very hard, very solid underfoot.
Stays flexible, so it moves with a slab through freeze-thaw cycles.
UV stability
Can amber or yellow over time with prolonged UV — usually at the door line.
UV stable. Holds its color where sunlight reaches the floor.
Build thickness
High-build. Achieves substantial thickness in fewer coats.
Thinner per coat, built up to the same finished flake profile.
Adhesion
Excellent into a mechanically ground profile.
Excellent into a mechanically ground profile.
Flake & topcoat
Flake broadcast to refusal, then a clear protective topcoat.
Flake broadcast to refusal, then a clear protective topcoat.
Cool-weather install
More sensitive to low temperatures during cure.
More tolerant of cooler installation conditions.
There isn't a winner in that list, and we won't pretend there is. We install both, so the only thing that decides it is your concrete — which is what the free on-site quote is for.
Epoxy runs $5–$7 per square foot and polyurea $6–$9 per square foot, all preparation included. See the full cost breakdown.
Deeper on each: epoxy garage floors · polyurea garage floors · commercial · pole barns & farm shops
What's Included
What a job actually involves.
The same sequence runs on both systems. The base coat is the only step that changes.
Mechanical diamond grinding
Every floor, every time. Grinding opens the concrete profile so the base coat bonds into the slab rather than sitting on it. We don't acid etch.
Crack & joint repair
Cracks, spalls, pits, and control joints are filled and shaped before any coating goes down.
Base coat
Epoxy or polyurea, applied to spec for your slab and how the space gets used.
Flake broadcast to refusal
Your chosen blend, broadcast until the floor won't take another chip, then scraped and vacuumed back to a consistent profile.
Clear protective topcoat
The layer that takes the road salt, the hot tires, and the shovel.
Walkthrough & cure times
We clean up, walk the floor with you, and give you the exact times for walking on it and parking on it.
Both systems finish with your choice of blend — see all 31 flake colors.
Not sure which one you need?
Good — that's the normal starting point. We'll look at your slab, talk through both systems in plain terms, and put a written number in your hands. No pressure, no sales script.