Epoxy Flooring in Des Plaines, IL

We do more epoxy flooring in Des Plaines than anywhere else, because this is where we are based. That also means we know how much the answer changes from one side of town to the other. A garage near Weller Creek, a basement behind Levee 50 and a forklift aisle near O'Hare each need a different plan. This page covers the local details we check before we price a floor in Des Plaines.

Seven waterways, not one

Most people think of the river when they think of flooding here. The city's own flood guidance lists seven sources: the Des Plaines River, Feehanville Ditch, Weller Creek, Farmers Creek, Prairie Creek, Higgins Creek and Willow Creek. Levee 50 protects neighborhoods from the river, but the same city letter points out that it does nothing for Prairie Creek or Farmers Creek, and that any levee can be overtopped by a large enough storm.

That history is long. Wikipedia's article on the river records the September 1986 flood as the greatest on record, with an estimated $35 million in damage to 10,000 dwellings and 263 business and industrial sites. Wikipedia also notes a local museum building that was demolished in 2018 after repeated flooding.

For a floor, this matters in two ways. A home near a creek is more likely to have a basement that has been wet at least once, and a slab that has been soaked tends to show it: white mineral bloom, lifted tile adhesive, rust rings from old shelving. We look for those signs at every Des Plaines estimate.

What the city tells homeowners to do first

The Public Works and Engineering flood letter gives three pieces of advice we agree with:

• If your sewer line is 20 years old or older, have it televised to check that it is watertight.
• Consider an overhead sewer or a flood control system for the house.
• Call the Engineering Division for a free floodproofing consultation.

We coat floors. We do not fix sewers or stop seepage. If a basement still takes on water, the coating waits until that is handled. Once it is, an epoxy or polyaspartic floor makes the space far easier to clean and dry if water ever does come back.

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Garages across three building eras

Des Plaines kept building after its postwar boom. The census table on Wikipedia shows 34,886 people in 1960 and 57,239 by 1970. Point2Homes, summarizing American Community Survey data, puts about 12.3% of homes in the 1970s and about 9% before 1940. In practice we see three kinds of garage floor:

• Pre-war and 1940s slabs: often thin, uneven and patched over the years. These usually need the most grinding and leveling.
• 1950s and 1960s slabs: the bulk of the city. Long cracks, worn control joints and old gray paint are common.
• 1970s and later slabs: usually flatter and in better shape, but often smooth and dense, so they still need a full grind for the coating to bond.

About 78.3% of occupied homes in the city are owner-occupied, per the same data. Owners who plan to stay tend to choose a full flake system with a polyaspartic topcoat. Landlords readying a unit usually want a durable, easy-clean floor that is back in service fast.

Work floors around O'Hare

Des Plaines is a working city. The 2021 financial report cited on Wikipedia names Universal Oil Products, Sysco, Juno Lighting, Wheels Inc. and LSG Sky Chefs among its major employers, along with Rivers Casino and Holy Family Medical Center. Food service, light manufacturing and distribution all put hard demands on concrete: pallet jacks, hot-water washdowns, dropped tools and spilled product.

For these spaces we install our commercial and warehouse systems. That usually means a thicker high-solids epoxy, cove or sealed edges where washdown water collects, and texture where people walk on wet floors. We schedule around shifts and can phase a floor so part of the space stays open.

Matching the service to the space

| Space | What we usually recommend | |---|---| | Attached garage, daily parking | Flake system with polyaspartic topcoat | | Detached or older garage | Crack and joint repair first, then epoxy or flake | | Basement near a creek | Moisture reading, then a moisture-tolerant primer and epoxy | | Shop or warehouse | High-solids commercial epoxy with texture |

Getting the garage back fast

With the Northwest Tollway and Tri-State Tollway both crossing the city and Metra trains on the Union Pacific Northwest Line, a lot of Des Plaines households run on a tight schedule. If losing the garage for most of a week will not work, polyaspartic is the answer we suggest most. It cures much faster than standard epoxy, so parking can often happen the next day. We give you a written timeline for your specific floor before work starts.

Call (224) 501-9895 to set up a free estimate. We will measure, take a moisture reading and walk the floor with you.