Basement Epoxy Floors in Vancouver, WA

Here is the honest picture. A true below-grade basement is not common in Vancouver. The 1970s ranches and the Cascade Park and Fisher's Landing two-stories were built over crawlspaces or on slab. The basements are under the 1940s and 50s bungalows in Hough, Uptown Village, and around Esther Short Park, and they tend to be short, unfinished, and a little musty, with a floor nobody has thought about since Truman.

The other group of calls we get is from people who do not have a basement at all but have a ground-level room on slab: a garage turned into a gym off Burnt Bridge Creek, a bonus room in Felida, a laundry room with a cold concrete floor. Same system, same rules. The slab gets tested, then coated. We live here, so any spot in town is a 10 to 20 minute drive for us.

What an Old Vancouver Cellar Needs Before Any Coating

Start with the water. Those central slabs were poured with no vapor barrier under them, and from November through May the ground below stays soaked. You can see it as white powder on the concrete, which is efflorescence, and you can smell it. Before we price anything we tape a calcium chloride dome to the floor or drill for an RH probe and read what the slab is actually pushing up.

If the number is high, a moisture-mitigating primer goes down first. It is built to hold back vapor that ordinary epoxy would blister over. If there is liquid water coming in at a crack or a wall joint, that is a drainage problem and it gets fixed before we come back. Over the primer: 100% solids epoxy, full flake, polyaspartic top, 30 to 40 mils, warrantied 15 years.

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.

Low Ground, Old Tile, and the Lake Effect

Fruit Valley, Minnehaha, and the neighborhoods that drop toward Vancouver Lake sit on a high water table, and a slab there will read wetter than the same slab on the east side. We test every one. Old bungalow basements also tend to have 9 by 9 asphalt tile, which from that era can contain asbestos. We do not pull it. It gets sampled first. Asbestos in the sample means a licensed abatement firm pulls it, or, when the tile is tight and intact, it can sometimes be encapsulated under our system. We tell you which after we see the floor. Frost is rarely the issue here. Vapor is.

Vancouver Neighborhoods We Cover

Hough, Uptown Village, Fruit Valley, Minnehaha, Felida, Cascade Park

Basement Coating Cost in Vancouver

A bungalow cellar in Hough is often 400 to 600 square feet. At $5 to $10 a foot, that lands between $2,000 and $6,000. Converted garages and bonus rooms tend to be smaller, and a 430 square foot one would be $2,150 to $4,300. Where the price falls inside those ranges depends on the moisture reading, whether paint or tile has to come off, and how many cracks need filling. We measure before we quote.

Frequently Asked Questions

My Hough basement smells musty but the floor looks dry. Is that a problem?

Often, yes. A slab can look dry and still move a lot of vapor, and the smell is usually damp concrete plus whatever is growing in the corners. A dry-looking floor with a high calcium chloride reading still needs the mitigating primer. The test tells us; your eyes and nose only hint.

I live near Vancouver Lake. Can a basement slab that low even be coated?

Usually. The water table in Fruit Valley and along the lake pushes vapor, not usually standing water, and vapor is what the primer is for. If you get puddles after heavy rain, that water is a separate problem to solve first. We will not coat over active water.

There is black-backed square tile in my 1950s basement. Will you grind it off?

No. Tile that size and age may contain asbestos, and we do not remove it. You get it sampled by a lab. Positive means a licensed abatement crew takes it out, or sometimes it can be left in place and encapsulated. We look at the condition and tell you which route fits.

How soon can I put my gym equipment back in a coated basement?

Walking on it is fine a day or two after we wrap up in your Hough or Uptown Village cellar. Heavy racks and a treadmill should wait about a week for the full cure, a bit longer if it is a cold January basement with no heat. Put rubber mats under anything that drops weight on the floor.

How fast can you get out to look at it?

Vancouver is our home base, so usually within the week and sometimes the same day. Nowhere in town is more than about 20 minutes from us. The visit includes measuring, a look at the walls and cracks, and setting a moisture test if one is needed.

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