Peeling paint, oil stains or crumbling spots on a shop or kitchen floor? We fix the slab first, then coat it so it holds.
Commercial and industrial epoxy floor coatings in Waxahachie, TX start with grinding or blasting your concrete slab clean and fixing what's weak. Then we put down a protective coating so the concrete isn't taking the traffic and spills bare.
I own Slabworks Epoxy Floors of Waxahachie. We're based in Waxahachie and work in many cities around it, and most calls from shop and kitchen owners start the same way. The old coating is peeling, bare concrete is soaking up oil, or a spot by the door has started to crumble. Most of the failures I've seen started under the coating, not in it.
Price comes down to the size of the floor, what's on it now and what's under it. Old coatings take longer to grind off, and crumbling concrete has to be cut back and patched. The schedule turns mostly on the slab itself, because a damp slab or a freshly poured one has to wait before anything goes on. Your estimate gives you the figure for your own floor, with the prep spelled out.
A business floor isn't a garage. What sits on it, what rolls across it and where it meets drains and doors all shape how we plan the work.
Forklifts, pallet jacks, hot grease in a kitchen and the cleaners your staff mop with all wear a floor in different places. When I walk the slab, I want to know where that wear lands, because those are the spots I look hardest at for cracks and soft concrete.
Shelving, machines and prep tables on the slab have to come off it before we can grind under them. Who moves what, and when, is easier to settle in the bid than on the morning we show up, so I'll ask about it during the walk-through and write it down.
A coating usually starts lifting at its edges, where it meets a drain, a door threshold or the lip of a loading dock. We plan how the coating stops at each of those spots before we start, the same way you'd check every fitting on a hydraulic line and not just the middle of the hose.
Here's how it goes from your first call to the day we hand the floor back, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call (972) 903-8033 or fill out our form and tell us a little about the floor. We get back to you and set a time for me to come see it in person.
I look over the concrete, point out cracks, old coatings and any sign of moisture, and explain your options. Then you get an estimate that lists each prep step, so you can lay it beside anyone else's bid.
Once you're ready, our crew does the grinding, repairs and cleanup first, and I'm on the job with them. The coating goes down only after the slab is clean, sound and dry enough to take it.
At the end I walk the floor with you or your manager. I'll show you how to clean it and what to watch for, so whoever looks after the building knows how to keep it in shape.
On a working floor, I start by checking the slab for moisture and weak spots, before anyone talks about color. Then I write the prep into our bid one step at a time, so a manager can line it up against another contractor's bid and see where the two differ. A bid that just says "prep floor" doesn't tell you much about what you're paying for.
Where concrete is crumbling, we cut it back to solid material and patch it before any coating goes on. It's like welding a cracked frame. You grind back to clean metal first, or the weld just sits on rust. One coating maker's guide says the same about floors, that weak concrete has to come out down to sound concrete and be replaced before the system goes in.
That same guide puts an acceptable slab on the owner or the concrete contractor unless the contract says otherwise, so I'd rather list the repairs in the bid where you can see them than sort it out later. The same order holds on our garage floor coatings and polyaspartic floor coatings. Prep comes first, and the coating comes after.
A smooth coat mops up fast and looks clean in a showroom or a dry storage area. The trade-off is footing, because a smooth floor can get slick when it's wet or greasy.
Grit worked into the coat gives shoes and tires something to grab, though it takes a bit more scrubbing to clean. In a kitchen, a wash bay or anywhere water sits, I'd lean this way.
Expect a reply within 1 business day, and we'll set a time for me to come look at the floor in person. The estimate is free and there's no obligation. You'll get the prep spelled out step by step, so you can compare it with any other bid.
(972) 903-8033Before work starts on a commercial site in Waxahachie, it helps to know who handles permits. The city's permitting office tracks and processes them and takes plans and permit applications online. We check with the city while we plan your job and handle any permit the work calls for, so you're not left guessing.
It's also fair to ask whether a crew is registered with the city. To register, a contractor gives the city a license, the owner's driver license and proof of liability insurance with at least $300,000 in coverage, with the city named on the certificate. Registration runs out one calendar year after the application, so ask whether it's current.
Around here we see a lot of older shop slabs with layers of paint and sealer on them, kitchens where grease has worked into bare concrete, and new buildings going up on fresh slabs. We do the same work in Midlothian and Ennis, and the prep questions don't change from one city to the next.
I come out myself to look at your floor and go over the job with you. Our crew does the work, and I'm on the job with them. I grew up on a farm pouring and patching our own barn floors, spent years on other people's crews, and started this business in Waxahachie in 2013. We've been at it 13 years.
We're licensed and fully insured. Our promise is simple. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. Most floor failures I've seen started under the coating, so I'd rather spend extra time on prep and on explaining your slab than watch your floor lift later.
If you want to know what's going on under your floor before you pick a finish, call (972) 903-8033 or send us the form and I'll come take a look.
If the garage at home has the same peeling or stained concrete as the shop, we prep and coat those slabs too, with the moisture check first.
Polyaspartic is another coating we put down on concrete, and its own page covers how it goes on and what to ask before you choose it.
We're based in Waxahachie and coat commercial floors in many cities around it, from Red Oak and Midlothian to Mesquite and Grand Prairie. If your building isn't on the list, call and ask.
There's no flat price, because the figure comes from your floor's size and condition. After size, the big swings are how much old coating has to come off, how many cracks and soft spots need repair and whether the slab is holding moisture. The estimate breaks those out so you can see what's driving the number.
Moisture inside the slab has to drop to an acceptable level before coating, or it can cause blistering, discoloration, a coating that lets go or even mold. Trapped moisture makes the coating fail from below, which is why it gets checked before anything else. If the slab is too wet, we don't coat over it.
Concrete is prepared mechanically, by grinding or by shotblasting, which throws steel shot at the surface to scour it, to take off old coatings and curing compounds. One coating maker's guide calls for that and for concrete left clean, dry and free of dirt, grease and oil. Grinding throws a lot of dust, so ask each bidder what dust collector they'll run.
Yes, epoxy shifts color as it ages. One epoxy maker's guide says epoxy isn't UV stable and that all epoxy ambers over time. If how the floor looks matters to your business, bring it up during the walk-through so we can talk it over before you settle on a color.
One epoxy maker's guide says to let new concrete cure at least 28 days before coating. If you're opening a new building, build that wait into your schedule, and expect us to check the slab's moisture before we start anyway. Cure time and a dry enough slab aren't always the same thing.
Epoxy isn't as flexible as a moving joint, so a joint that shifts can show through the coating. One epoxy maker's guide says cutting those joints back open at the surface after coating, then filling them with a suitable joint filler, can lessen it. I'll point out the moving joints when I walk your slab.
Have the floor's size, the slab's age, any old coating and the damaged spots in mind when you call (972) 903-8033 or use the form, and we can plan the walk-through around what matters on your floor.
