Metallic Epoxy Floors in Portland, OR

The oldest concrete in our service area is under Portland's bungalows and Craftsman homes. Garage floors from the 1920s in Sellwood or Laurelhurst are thin, cracked, sloped toward the alley, and occasionally not a real slab at all. Basement floors under Alberta Arts and Hawthorne houses have efflorescence, no vapor barrier, and sometimes 9-by-9 tile that has to be tested before anyone touches it. None of that is where you start a metallic.

So the Portland metallic conversation is usually about a basement or a converted garage being turned into a studio, a home bar, or an office, where the owner wants a floor that looks like a piece of art and is willing to pay for the prep that makes one possible on eighty-year-old concrete. That prep is leveling, primer, and patience, and we are 20 to 40 minutes across the bridge to do it.

Why Century-Old Concrete Needs More Work Under a Clear Coat

A clear metallic shows the slab through it. On a 1930s basement floor in Montavilla, that means the old patches, the efflorescence stains, the trowel marks, and the hump where the slab settled would all read through the pigment if we poured over them. We do not. The floor gets ground, cracks filled flush, low areas skimmed with a self-leveling patch, and a moisture-mitigating primer, because clay soil and poor drainage keep Portland basements damp longer than anywhere north of the river.

On top of that goes a clear epoxy, 100% solids, with the metallic pigment pushed by hand into a pattern nobody can copy, and a polyaspartic over it that resists hot tires and chemicals, for a 40-to-60-mil build. Keep off it for the first day or two, and allow about a week before parking or moving heavy furniture back. A basement with no sun and steady cool temperatures cures on the long end. A tuck-under garage in the West Hills with a south door cures faster, but the slope has to be handled first.

Our Metallic Epoxy Floors System

Materials: Metallic pigment, 100% solids clear epoxy, polyaspartic topcoat
Thickness: 40-60 mils
Install time: 2-3 days
Walk on it: 1-2 days after
Park on it: about a week after
Warranty: 15 years

Glass-smooth finish. High-gloss topcoat. High-traffic rated.

Detached Garages, Basements, and the Bridge Trip

East-side 1950s ranches around Woodstock and Lents have small garages on slabs that are thin but often flat enough to take a metallic after grinding. The Craftsman-era detached garages in St. Johns and Sellwood usually slope toward the door and need skimming so pigment does not run downhill and pool. Basements are the biggest category: if there is old tile we stop, it gets tested, and if it is asbestos a licensed abatement company removes it before we come back. Moisture is tested on every Portland floor because the clay under this city does not drain. Twenty to 40 minutes over the I-5 or I-205 bridge depending on the neighborhood, so we group the three install days into one week.

Portland Neighborhoods We Cover

Sellwood, Alberta Arts, Montavilla, St. Johns, Laurelhurst, Woodstock

Portland Basement and Garage Metallic Pricing

Figure a finished basement room in Portland at 500 to 600 square feet. Nine dollars a foot makes that $4,500; sixteen makes it $9,600, and old floors needing leveling and primer land in the upper part. A one-car detached garage, 250 to 300 square feet, runs from $2,250 to $4,800. If asbestos tile has to be abated first, that is a separate contractor and a separate bill. We quote after we see the slab.

Frequently Asked Questions

My Sellwood basement floor has old 9-by-9 tile. Can metallic go on top of it?

No, and we will not pull it ourselves either. Tile that age is often asbestos. It gets tested, and if it comes back positive a licensed company abates it before we coat. Once the slab is bare, we grind, level, prime for moisture, and then pour. We will tell you the order after we look at it.

Is a 1920s detached garage in Laurelhurst too rough for a clear finish?

Rough is fixable; broken is not. If the slab is intact but cracked, sloped, and patched, we grind it, fill and level it, skim the low side, and prime it. If it is crumbling or was never a real slab, we say so and talk about a new pour. Most are fixable, at a cost.

Why does my basement in Alberta Arts need a moisture primer when it feels dry?

Clay soil holds water against the slab all winter, and vapor climbs through a slab that has no barrier under it, damp surface or not. Under a clear coating that vapor leaves a milky haze that cannot be cleaned off. The probe tells us the number, and in Portland basements it is almost always high enough to prime.

How does the bridge commute affect scheduling a Portland metallic?

We batch the three site days into a single week so we are not crossing the bridge on scattered days. Twenty to 40 minutes depending on the neighborhood, St. Johns or Mount Tabor. Once the topcoat is down, a St. Johns or Mount Tabor floor takes foot traffic within a couple of days and is ready for the car in about a week.

Will a metallic look good in a basement with no natural light?

It depends on the fixtures. The pattern shows depth under good lighting and goes flat under a single bulb. If you are turning a basement into a studio or bar, plan the lighting with the floor. We bring sample boards down there so you can see the pigment under what you have.

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