A 1925 Craftsman garage in Sellwood has the oldest concrete we ever coat. Here is what it takes to do it right.
Free In-Home EstimateThe garage behind a bungalow in Laurelhurst or Alberta Arts was poured when the house was built, which puts it at 80 to 100 years old. The slab is thin, sloped toward the alley, cracked in a dozen places, and sometimes not really a slab at all but a couple of inches of concrete over dirt. Basements under those houses are the same age and often have 9-by-9 tile on them. This is a different job from a subdivision garage, and we treat it that way.
Across the bridge is 20 to 40 minutes depending on where in Portland you are; Sellwood and Woodstock are a longer haul than St. Johns. We look at the slab in person, meter it, and tell you honestly which floors are worth coating and which are not. Most are. Old Portland concrete is thin but it has been sitting still for a century, and a floor that has stopped moving is a floor that can be coated.
Grinding is everything on a slab this old. The surface is soft, dusty, and often carrying several generations of paint. Diamond grinding takes off the weak top layer down to sound material, and where the slab is uneven we grind the high spots and fill the low ones. Cracks get polyurea. Then 100% solids epoxy soaks into the profile and effectively laminates the surface, which stiffens a thin slab more than anything short of replacing it.
Moisture is the second half. None of these garages or basements have a vapor barrier, and Portland's clay soil and old drainage keep the ground under them wet longer than in Vancouver. A calcium-chloride test or RH probe gives us the number, and we prime for moisture when it says to. The flake broadcast and polyaspartic topcoat go on over that, 30 to 40 mils, and the finished floor is under the same 5-year workmanship warranty as a new garage.
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.
East-side neighborhoods like Montavilla, Mount Tabor, and Cully have the classic detached one-car garage with a sloped, cracked slab. The West Hills have tuck-under garages built into the hillside, which means a slope, a drain, and moisture pressure from the uphill side. Ranches toward Lents have better concrete but old paint. Basements are their own case: efflorescence, no vapor barrier, and old tile we do not touch until it has been tested for asbestos and, if positive, abated by a licensed company. The I-5 or I-205 bridge trip is 20 to 40 minutes, and we plan Portland jobs as two full days on site.
Sellwood, Alberta Arts, Montavilla, St. Johns, Laurelhurst, Mount Tabor
Every slab is different, so we price each floor after a free in-person inspection. Old Portland one-car garages are small, often 250 to 320 square feet. 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
Most are. The slab is thin and cracked but usually stable, and a stable slab takes a coating after grinding and polyurea crack fill. The ones that are not coatable are the few that are really just a skim of concrete over dirt and break up under the grinder. We can tell at the estimate.
Not until it is tested. Tile from that era often contains asbestos. It has to be tested, and if positive, removed by a licensed abatement company before we coat, or in some cases encapsulated. We will tell you which after we see it, but we do not pull suspected asbestos tile ourselves.
A little. We grind and coat with the slope intact so water still goes to the drain, and we watch the uphill wall for moisture coming through. Hillside garages often read higher on the meter on the uphill side, so that end may get a mitigating primer. The finish is seamless across the slope.
Three, typically: the estimate, the grind-and-base-coat day, and the topcoat day. Twenty to 40 minutes each way depending on the neighborhood. We do not charge extra for the crossing. We just try to schedule Portland jobs on days without a Rose Quarter backup.
The efflorescence itself, yes, once the floor is sealed under epoxy it cannot form on the surface. But efflorescence is a sign of moisture moving through the slab, so we test first and use a moisture-tolerant primer where needed. Sealing over a wet slab without that step just moves the problem under the coating.
We cross the bridge for the estimate.
Request EstimateOr call (360) 685-7222 or text
