West Linn Basement Epoxy Floors on Hillside Lots

Drive up from the river into Rosemont, Barrington Heights, or Savanna Oaks and count the houses with garage doors on one level and a sliding door a floor below. That lower floor is a daylight basement: concrete slab, soil against the back wall, windows on the downhill side. West Linn has a lot of them from the 1970s through the 2000s. They become rec rooms, gyms, and the place the teenagers disappear to.

Down near Willamette Falls, the historic Willamette district has older homes with true basements. Those slabs are thinner and older, with no vapor barrier, and some still have the original floor tile. Some of them sit only a few blocks above the Tualatin River confluence, where the ground rarely dries out between October and June. Those floors take the longest prep of anything we do in town.

Water From Uphill and Fog From the River

Rain lands harder on these slopes and soaks in, so the back wall of a lower level in Bolton or Sunset often has water pressing against it from November on. The floor next to that wall reads wetter than the rest. We test in more than one spot, calcium chloride or RH, and when the numbers come back high the whole slab gets the moisture-mitigating primer.

Our basement build from there: a heavy coat of 100% solids epoxy, flake cast in by hand until the base disappears, and polyaspartic over the top to seal it. That comes to 30 to 40 mils. It cleans up with a damp mop, does not give mold a place to live, and is under a 15-year warranty.

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.

Stepped Floors, Drains, and the Willamette District

Hillside construction leaves quirks: a step down between the lower level and a tuck-under garage, a cold joint where two pours met, a floor drain near the uphill wall. We grind cold joints flush and coat around drains without blocking them. The river neighborhoods fog in for days in winter, which slows cure; we keep heat on and treat the one-week wait as a minimum. In Willamette district basements with 9 by 9 tile, we do not grind. It gets tested, and positive means a licensed abatement company or, depending on condition, encapsulation. We say which after we see it. West Linn runs us about 40 minutes down I-205.

West Linn Neighborhoods We Cover

Rosemont, Bolton, Barrington Heights, Savanna Oaks, Sunset, Willamette

West Linn Lower-Level Costs

Daylight lower levels in the Rosemont and Barrington Heights homes are usually 700 to 1,000 square feet. On our $5 to $10 range, that works out to $3,500 to $10,000. In the Willamette district, an older 470 square foot basement comes to $2,350 to $4,700. The uphill wall is what decides it: a primer and crack work land you higher.

Frequently Asked Questions

The back of our Rosemont lower level is always cooler and a little damp. Can it still be coated?

Almost always. That is the wall holding back the hill, and some vapor through the slab near it is normal. We test right there, not in the middle of the room. If liquid water ever shows up, the drainage gets fixed first.

We have a step between the lower level and the tuck-under garage. Can you coat both?

Yes. We coat the step edge and both floors in one continuous system, or stop at the step if you only want the living space done. The cold joint at the step gets ground flat and filled.

We live down in the Willamette district where it fogs for days. Does that slow things down?

It slows the cure more than the install. Heavy furniture needs about a week no matter the season, and cool, damp Willamette air can add to that, so we ask that the heat stay on. The coating itself does not care once it has cured.

Is there any way to coat over old tile without removing it?

Sometimes. If the tile tests positive for asbestos and is fully stuck down and intact, encapsulation can be an option. If it is loose or broken, a licensed abatement company removes it first. We look at it before we recommend either.

How long does it take you to get to West Linn?

About 40 minutes down I-205. We book West Linn work as full days so the crew is on site from start to finish without rushing. Bolton is the nearest part of town to the freeway.

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