Choosing a Garage Floor Coating Contractor

1. The Four Questions That Sort Everyone

Ask these before discussing price. The answers separate companies who do this properly from crews who will roll a coating onto a swept floor and be gone.

The first is the one that matters most. Preparation is the majority of the labour on a proper installation and the easiest thing to skip, because the customer cannot see it once the coating is down. A company quoting noticeably below everyone else has usually found the saving there.

2. Whether They Test the Slab

Concrete on grade wicks vapour from the ground continuously. Put an impermeable coating over a slab that is doing this and the vapour collects underneath until it pushes the film off in sheets, with clean concrete left behind.

A contractor who does not raise moisture, unprompted, has told you something important. On a residential garage the minimum is a plastic sheet test left down for 24 to 48 hours; on anything expensive, a calcium chloride or relative humidity test gives a number rather than an impression.

• Ask whether the test happens before the quote is finalised or after the deposit is taken.
• Ask what they do if it comes back wet, and listen for a real answer: a vapour barrier primer, a moisture-tolerant system, or a recommendation not to coat.
• Be wary of anyone who says it is not necessary because the garage looks dry, since vapour drive is invisible.
• Ask whether the warranty still applies if they coat a slab that tested marginal.
• On a detached garage or an older slab, ask specifically whether there is a vapour barrier under the concrete.
• If they offer to test while you watch, that is a good sign rather than a sales tactic.

A contractor willing to tell you not to coat a floor is worth more than one who will coat anything. Our guide to epoxy flooring covers the test and what the results mean, so you can follow the conversation.

3. What System They Are Actually Installing

Epoxy covers products that differ enormously, and a quote that says only epoxy tells you nothing about what you are getting.

Ask for the manufacturer's data sheet. A legitimate installer produces it without hesitation, because they chose the system deliberately. A crew working from unbranded drums usually cannot, and that is the answer to your question.

Polyaspartic systems are what most one-day installations use, because they cure fast enough to walk on the same evening and are genuinely UV stable. They cost more than epoxy and that premium is real rather than a markup. Our comparisons of epoxy versus polyaspartic and polyaspartic coatings explain where the difference goes.

4. Reading the Warranty Properly

Warranties in this trade range from genuinely meaningful to decorative, and the length is the least informative part of them.

• A lifetime warranty from a company two years old is worth what the company is worth, which may be nothing by the time you claim.
• Establish what it covers. Delamination and peeling are the failures that matter; discolouration and wear usually are not covered.
• Establish what voids it. Hot tyre pickup, chemical spills and moisture are common exclusions, and moisture is the most common cause of failure.
• Check whether it is a labour warranty or only a materials warranty, since materials are the cheap part of a redo.
• Ask whether it transfers on sale, which matters if you are coating a house you may move from.
• Get it in writing before the deposit, not with the final invoice.

5. Vetting the Company Itself

Standard contractor due diligence applies, with a few things specific to this trade.

• Confirm insurance and any licensing your area requires, and verify it rather than accepting a number on a page.
• Ask how long they have traded under this name. Coating companies rebrand frequently, and a warranty follows the entity rather than the people.
• Ask for addresses of jobs three or more years old rather than recent photographs, because everything looks good the week it is installed.
• Read reviews for the word peeling specifically, and read the one and two star reviews first.
• Get at least three written quotes, and treat an outlier low quote as information about scope rather than a bargain.
• Be cautious with high-pressure discounts that expire today, which are a sales technique rather than a price.
• Prefer a modest deposit with the balance on completion, and be wary of a large payment before any work starts.

The three-year-old job request is the single most useful one. Any competent crew can hand over a floor that looks immaculate on the day, since a fresh coating always does. What separates them is whether it is still bonded after three winters of hot tyres, road salt and vapour, and only an older installation answers that.

6. Comparing Quotes Fairly

Quotes in this trade are difficult to compare because they often describe different amounts of work under similar words. Normalise them before looking at the totals.

Once those are level, price differences usually make sense. A quote that is still much lower has removed something from the list, and preparation is almost always what. Our cost guide gives the per square foot ranges so you can tell an aggressive price from an impossible one.

Also confirm what you are expected to do. Most contracts require the garage emptied, and some require the vehicle kept off for several days after installation, which is a real inconvenience if you have one parking space and no alternative.

7. When to Do It Yourself Instead

Hiring is not automatically right. The professional premium buys grinding equipment, product knowledge and speed, and there are cases where you do not need all three.

The realistic DIY warning is pot life. A 100% solids epoxy can gel in the bucket thirty to forty minutes after mixing, whether or not there is floor left to cover, so the job rewards preparation and small batches rather than confidence. Our guide to epoxying a garage floor walks the full sequence.

And if the slab is damp or cracked, the honest answer may be neither. Interlocking tiles and roll-out matting bond to nothing, so vapour cannot lift them and cracks do not telegraph through, and they go down in an afternoon with no preparation at all. Our guide to garage flooring options compares every route.