Thirty years of parking on a builder slab. The concrete is fine. The surface is not. That is a flake job.
Free In-Home EstimateA 1992 two-story on a cul-de-sac in Ibach or Byrom has a 2-car garage slab that has done its job: no heaving, no crumbling, solid all the way through. What it has is the wear of three decades. Tire tracks worn into the surface where the same two cars have parked, cracks along the control joints, and a builder sealer that has gone chalky and patchy. None of that is structural. All of it has to come off before epoxy goes on.
Tualatin is about 40 minutes south on I-5 for us. The town sits on a flat river valley, which means foggy winters and, more to the point, a Tualatin River that raises the water table every spring. Slabs near the river and Brown's Ferry Park can read high on a moisture test in April when they would pass in August. We test at the estimate and again the day before install if the first number was close.
The old sealer is the first thing the grinder takes off. It was never meant to last, it does not bond well, and it blocks epoxy from reaching the concrete. Diamond grinding removes it and the top skin of the slab at once, opening a profile that 100% solids epoxy locks into. Control-joint cracks get polyurea and a flush grind. Then the flake broadcast covers everything to refusal and the polyaspartic topcoat seals it.
That topcoat is what makes the floor last on a Tualatin driveway. Summers here are warm and cars come home hot; a water-based clear would let go under the tires in a season or two. Polyaspartic does not soften at tire temperature, and spilled gas or deicer tracked in off I-5 wipes off it. Thirty to 40 mils, warranted 5 years on workmanship, and a floor that finally looks like the rest of a well-kept house.
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.
Most of Tualatin's housing is 1980s to 2000s two-stories in Ibach, Byrom, Martinazzi, and around Jurgens Park with attached 2-car garages, so the typical slab is the one described above: sound, cracked at the joints, sealed once. Townhomes near Bridgeport Village and Nyberg have fresher concrete. The valley floor is flat and the river floods the water table every spring, which is the one season we are careful with here. When a slab tests high, the mitigating primer goes on ahead of the epoxy. Winter fog slows cure, so December topcoats go down at midday. The 40-minute drive on I-5 means two planned days per garage.
Ibach, Tualatin Commons, Bridgeport, Byrom, Martinazzi, Jurgens Park
Every slab is different, so we price each floor after a free in-person inspection. The standard Tualatin garage is a 2-car between 400 and 500 square feet. Old sealer removal is routine and does not push the price far. 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
Grind it off. Chalky sealer is a failed coating, and epoxy over a failed coating fails with it. Diamond grinding takes the sealer and the top skin of concrete off in one pass and leaves a profile the epoxy bonds into. It is standard on 80s and 90s Tualatin slabs.
Because the Tualatin River raises the water table in spring, and a slab that passes in August can fail in April. If the first reading at the estimate is near the limit, we test again the day before install. A high number means the primer for moisture goes on first. It is a small step that prevents a big failure.
No. The tracks are surface wear, and grinding levels them. Anything left is covered by a full flake broadcast, which hides minor texture completely. What would show is a real dip in the slab, and we fill those before the base coat.
Mostly for the wrong coating. Our polyaspartic topcoat holds its color far better than plain epoxy and resists the hot-tire pickup that warm summer driveways cause, though no coating is completely sun-proof and a floor in strong direct sun can shift tone slowly over the years. Kits with a water-based clear are the ones that fail under a sunny Tualatin driveway.
Not a good one. The base coat and flake need to set before the topcoat goes on, so it is two days: grind and base on day one, scrape and topcoat on day two. Forty minutes each way is fine for that. Tualatin homeowners can step onto it after a couple of days, and parking waits for the seven-day cure.
Sealer off, joints filled, moisture tested.
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