How to prepare for epoxy floor installation: 6 steps

Knowing how to prepare for epoxy floor installation comes down to one job: get the floor empty at least 48 hours before our crew shows up. Most delays on a garage coating start on the owner’s side, not ours. Two hours of clearing this week beats losing a full day because a workbench sat right where the grinder needed to go.

You already have a quote. Your part is short:

• Clear the floor wall to wall
• Get the cars out by then too
• Make sure we’ve got a 220V outlet within 50 feet and water within 100 feet
• Send photos of cracks, flaking spots, and oil stains before the walkthrough

Step 1: How should I clear the space?

Take everything off the floor, from the shelves and bins to the holiday boxes and that pile of lumber from last summer. A diamond grinder or a shot blaster needs bare concrete from wall to wall. It can’t grind around a workbench, so nothing stays.

Move these:

• Anything that stands on the floor (shelves, toolboxes, workbenches, storage totes)
• Anything on the wall within 2 feet of the floor, since grinding dust lands there
• Anything hanging from ceiling hooks that blocks the space overhead

These can stay:

• Fixtures bolted to the wall above 4 feet
• Water heaters and HVAC units (we mask and cover them)
• The electrical panel (we need to get to it anyway)

Put your things in a covered spot, a spare room, or a rented storage pod. In Oklahoma, check the 10-day forecast before you stack anything outside.

Step 2: When should I move vehicles and equipment?

Get every vehicle out at least 48 hours before the start date. That gives you time to deal with the stuff you forgot was behind the car. It also lets our crew start checking the slab as soon as they arrive.

A business needs more lead time. Plan equipment moves with your operations team at least one week out, because forklifts and pallet racks don’t move in a same-day scramble.

What our crew needs on site:

• A clear path from the street or lot to the floor, for dollies and material carts
• A 220V outlet within 50 feet of the work area for the big grinders
• Water within 100 feet for dust control and cleanup

Step 3: How do I check for existing damage?

Walk the floor a few days before we arrive and look for four kinds of damage:

• Cracks wider than a pencil line
• Spots where the top flakes or crumbles (that’s called spalling)
• Old paint or coating that’s peeling
• Oil stains that have soaked into the concrete

You don’t need to fix any of it. Our crew handles the surface preparation for the coating, including crack repair, joint filling, and getting contaminants out. But knowing what’s there helps us plan. Take photos of the problem areas and share them with your project coordinator at the walkthrough.

A crack wider than a quarter inch, or a spot that’s still settling, can add half a day of repair. A deep oil stain may need a degreaser or some extra grinding before the primer goes down. We’d rather find that in your photos on Monday than in the middle of a grind on Wednesday.

Step 4: What is moisture testing and who handles it?

Moisture coming up through the slab is the top reason coatings fail, and it gives no warning. The coating looks fine until it bubbles up off the floor, and by then the fix is a redo, not a touch-up.

Our crew checks every slab before any coating goes on. We run a moisture test when the check shows a warning sign, like an old coating that failed, water stains, or a slab nobody knows the age of. You can also ask for a test on any slab. There’s two ways to run one:

• The calcium chloride test (ASTM F1869) sits on the slab for 60 to 72 hours. It tells us how many pounds of moisture come out of 1,000 square feet in 24 hours, and coating makers use that number to judge the slab.
• The relative humidity probe (ASTM F2170) reads the moisture at a set depth inside the slab instead of at the top.

You don’t need to test anything yourself. That’s our job. Most coating makers want a slab to give off less than 3 pounds of moisture per 1,000 square feet in 24 hours. If a test reads above that, we put down a moisture vapor barrier primer before the coating. It adds time, but it heads off a failure that costs a lot more to fix. A slab with no warning sign, or one that tests under 3 pounds, skips that step.

Oklahoma clay holds water. Slabs poured without a vapor barrier under them, which is common in homes built before 1990, are more likely to run wet. Slab condition matters more than the coating you choose. On a flagged slab, the test is how we learn if it’s ready. A test does change the timeline, because the kit or probe has to sit undisturbed in the right conditions for a set time before it gives a reading.

Step 5: How long the project will take

A full epoxy garage floor coating or polyaspartic system in Oklahoma usually runs on these timelines:

Weather moves these numbers, since a closed garage can climb past 100 degrees F in summer. That shortens the time the crew has to work each coat, so we bring in extra airflow. A winter install works if the space holds at least 50 degrees. Spring and fall are the easiest seasons to coat a floor.

Polyaspartic cures faster than standard epoxy, so you can walk on it in 4 to 6 hours, against about 24 hours for epoxy. That’s why it’s the go-to for home garages in Oklahoma.

Step 6: How do we prep concrete for epoxy, and what does the crew handle?

You hand us an empty floor with power and water close by. Our crew handles the rest, in this order:

1. Check and protect. We check the slab, run a moisture test if it shows a warning sign, and mask the water heater, HVAC, and walls.
2. Grind. We diamond grind or shot blast the whole floor to open up the surface so the coating can grab it.
3. Repair. We fill the cracks and joints and grind out deep oil stains.
4. Seal out moisture, only when a test calls for it. If a test reads above 3 pounds, the moisture barrier primer goes down first. A slab with no warning sign skips this step.
5. Coat. We lay down the primer, the body coat, the flake or metallic layer, and the topcoat.
6. Clean up. We clean the space and walk the finished floor with you.

Our epoxy floor projects show what the finished floors look like. This isn’t a DIY prep job. Our crew brings planetary grinders, HEPA vacuums, and moisture meters, and works the floor from bare concrete to the last coat.

Your preparation makes the project

Two hours of clearing ahead of time keeps the crew working from the first minute. Clear the floor, and we’ll do the rest.

Questions about your space? Call us at (888) 852-3528 or get your price in 2 minutes.