A river town with 1910 garages on one street and 2022 garages on the next. We test the slab before we pick the system.
Free In-Home EstimateFog sits over the East Fork Lewis River on winter mornings and it does not burn off fast. That dampness gets into the ground and into the concrete in the older part of La Center, where the 1900s to 1970s houses near Sternwheeler Park have detached garages with thin, cracked floors and no vapor barrier. Coating one of those without a moisture test is how you end up with bubbles. So we test first, every time.
Ring the old core and you are in subdivisions from the 2000s to the 2020s, up toward the Timmen Road area and out by the I-5 junction. Those slabs are the opposite problem: fresh, smooth, sometimes still curing, often with builder compound on top. And out toward Lockwood Creek there are shops on acreage. Three different prep plans in a town that takes us about 25 minutes to reach on I-5, exit 16.
Epoxy fails from underneath, not on top. Water vapor moving up through a slab lifts a coating that was not designed for it, and La Center has more of that vapor than most Clark County towns because of the river and the fog. A calcium-chloride or RH test tells us the number. Under the limit, standard system. Over it, a moisture-mitigating primer goes on first and the standard system goes over that.
The standard system is 100% solids epoxy ground into the slab, flake broadcast until the surface will not accept more, and a polyaspartic topcoat that does not lift under hot tires and lets spilled oil and gas wipe right off. Thirty to 40 mils, ready for foot traffic a day or two after we finish and for vehicles in about a week. The 5-year workmanship warranty covers all of it, and it covers an old detached garage the same as a new subdivision garage as long as we did the prep.
Materials: 100% solids epoxy base, full flake broadcast, Flake Lock, polyaspartic topcoat
Thickness: 30-40 mils
Install time: 2-3 days
Walk on it: 1-2 days after
Park on it: about a week after
Warranty: 5 years on workmanship
Hot-tire pickup resistant. Chemical and impact rated.
Downtown La Center garages are small and old. We fill the cracks, grind off the old paint, and lean on the moisture test because of the river. The newer homes toward Paradise Point and the I-5 junction have machine-troweled slabs that need the curing compound ground off and, in the first couple of years, often need the mitigating primer. Shops out by Lockwood Creek are thick broom-finished pours that get ground to an even profile. Winter fog means topcoats go down around midday. The drive is about 25 minutes north on I-5, so the two-day install is two round trips, which we plan for.
Downtown La Center, the Timmen Road area, Lockwood Creek, Paradise Point, the I-5 junction
Every slab is different, so we price each floor after a free in-person inspection. Slab condition, old coatings, cracks, moisture and size are what move the price, and exact pricing comes after that inspection, with a written quote.
Inside the coating
Every floor starts with a properly prepared slab and is built up one layer at a time, each with a specific job.
For concrete floors
Probably not, but we test. Slabs near the river read higher on a moisture probe than slabs up the hill. If the number is over the limit, a moisture-mitigating primer under the epoxy handles it. If the slab is actually wet, from a leak or a flooding crawlspace, that source has to be fixed before any coating.
Often yes at two years, sometimes not. It depends on the pour, the drainage, and the winter it went through. We meter it at the estimate. Either way the builder's curing compound comes off with the grinder, since epoxy will not bond to it.
It slows cure. Cold damp mornings mean the topcoat takes longer to harden, so we put it down midday and ask you to keep the garage closed. In the coldest La Center weeks, the usual week before parking can stretch a bit. Late spring through early fall is faster, but we install year-round.
Both. The old ones take more prep: paint removal, crack filling, and a moisture check because there is no vapor barrier. The finished floor looks identical to one in a new subdivision. We will tell you if a slab is too broken up to be worth coating, but that is uncommon.
Yes. It is about 25 minutes north on I-5 to exit 16. We do not charge for travel. Estimate and moisture test on the first visit, grinding and base coat on day one, topcoat on day two.
Free estimate with moisture test.
Request EstimateOr call (360) 685-7222 or text
