Epoxy Floors for Orchards Split-Level Basements

Split-levels were everywhere in the 1970s and 80s, and Orchards has a lot of them. Walk in the front door, go half a flight down, and you are in a family room with a slab floor sitting four feet below the yard, usually with a laundry or a half bath tucked off one side. It is not a full basement, but it acts like one. The walls stay cool, the concrete stays damp, and carpet down there gets a smell by year ten.

The rest of the housing stock around Sifton and Covington is two-story on crawlspace, and newer builds along Padden Parkway are mostly on grade. For those homes the concrete room is the garage, and plenty of families here have turned one stall into a playroom or a workout corner. Garage slabs out here share the split-level floor's damp, so the same test applies.

Half Below Grade, Fully Damp

The lower floor of a split-level has soil against two or three walls and no vapor barrier under the slab in most of the older ones. That is enough to push moisture up all winter. We measure before we bid, with a calcium chloride kit or an RH probe. A wet result means we open with a vapor-control primer so the coating stays bonded.

Then we lay a solvent-free epoxy base, broadcast flake to cover it wall to wall, and topcoat with polyaspartic. Depending on square footage, we are on site two to three days. The floor comes out 30 to 40 mils thick, takes kids and toys without complaint, and gets a 15-year warranty. Kids spill juice; a damp mop takes it.

Our Basement Epoxy Floors System

Materials: Moisture-mitigating primer, 100% solids epoxy, flake broadcast, polyaspartic topcoat
Thickness: 30-40 mils
Install time: 2-3 days
Walk on it: 1-2 days after
Heavy furniture: about a week after
Warranty: 15 years

Moisture tolerant. Mold resistant. Easy to clean.

Box-Store Kits and Summer Heat

Summers in Orchards run hot, too far east for much river air. That is why cheap coatings here peel and lift under hot tires in the garage, and why many slabs already carry a failed kit, which we grind to bare concrete. Split-level family rooms from the 70s sometimes have 9 by 9 tile under the carpet, and tile from those years can hold asbestos. At that point our work pauses. A lab tests it; if positive, a licensed abatement firm removes it, or it can occasionally be encapsulated. We tell you which. The trip out past Orchards Park takes us about 15 minutes.

Orchards Neighborhoods We Cover

Orchards, Sifton, Covington, Burton, Fourth Plain, Padden Parkway

Split-Level Floor Pricing in Orchards

A split-level lower floor off Fourth Plain is usually 500 to 700 square feet, family room plus laundry. At $5 to $10 a foot that comes to $2,500 to $7,000. If it is one garage stall made into a playroom, around 260 square feet, expect $1,300 to $2,600. Carpet removal and a moisture primer tend to put the lower floors in the upper half of that range.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the lower level of a split-level really a basement?

Close enough. It is partly below grade with soil against the walls, so it gets the same moisture from below that a full basement does. We test and coat it with the same system.

There is old tile under the carpet in our Sifton split-level. Now what?

Leave it alone until it is tested. Nine-inch squares laid in the 60s and 70s are on the suspect list, and removal is outside what our crew does. When the result is positive, a licensed abater handles removal, though an intact floor can sometimes be encapsulated in place. We will recommend one after seeing it.

Our garage has a peeling kit from a hardware store. Same problem inside?

Same cause, usually. Thin water-based kits cannot handle moisture coming up or hot tires coming in. We grind them off, test the slab, and put down a real 100% solids system that bonds to clean concrete.

Can we use the lower-level family room as a playroom right after?

Socks and bare feet are okay once a day or two has passed since we packed up. Toy bins, furniture, and the full playroom crowd should wait about a week for the cure. After that it cleans up with a damp mop, which is the point in a playroom.

How long is the drive from Vancouver to Orchards?

About 15 minutes up Fourth Plain. We can usually look at the floor within the week and schedule the work a couple of weeks out. Prairie High School families are right on our route.

Nearby Cities Where We Also Install Basement Epoxy Floors