Garage Floor Epoxy in Des Plaines, IL

Garage floor epoxy is the job we are asked about most in Des Plaines. With a median home built in 1966, plenty of garages here still sit on their original concrete. Over the decades that floor has collected oil, road salt, tire marks and often a coat or two of gray paint. An epoxy system turns it back into a clean, sealed surface that wipes down instead of soaking things up.

What decades of winters do to bare concrete

The O'Hare weather station records about 38.4 inches of snow a year. Each storm puts salt on the roads, and each trip home drips salty slush onto the garage floor. Bare concrete is porous, so that brine sinks in. When it freezes and thaws near the door, the top layer starts to flake. After enough winters you see a rough, pitted band inside the door and white rings where puddles dried. Epoxy keeps that brine sitting on a sealed surface, where you can push it out with a squeegee.

Signs your garage floor is ready for a coating

• Flaking or pitting near the door and under the tires
• Oil, transmission fluid or coolant stains that never come out
• Concrete dust that returns after every sweep
• Old paint lifting where the tires sit
• Cracks, chipped joints or a low spot that holds water
• A floor that never looks clean no matter how often you hose it

Why we grind instead of etch

Most store kits tell you to etch the floor with acid. Etching cleans the surface, but it does not remove weak, salt-damaged concrete, old paint or sealers. On a sixty-year-old slab, those layers are usually there. We grind the whole floor with diamond tooling, including the edges along the walls, until we reach sound concrete. The result is a rough, open surface the epoxy can lock into. Then the dust is vacuumed up and the repairs begin.

Repairs before the first coat

Older garages in Des Plaines often have a long crack running front to back, chipped control joints and a few deep pits near the apron. We fill cracks and spalls with a repair material that is ground flush, so the repair does not telegraph through the finished floor. Oil spots get degreased, and deep stains may need extra grinding. If a crack is moving or the slab has heaved, we tell you, because a coating cannot hold a slab together.

Picking a finish for a Chicago-area garage

Most homeowners choose one of three looks. A full flake floor hides salt spots and dirt between cleanings and gives grip underfoot. A solid color with a light scatter of flake looks cleaner and still adds some texture. A plain solid color with an anti-slip additive in the topcoat suits a workshop corner. We bring samples to the estimate so you can see them in your own garage light.

Detached garages and older layouts

A lot of the older blocks in Des Plaines and Park Ridge have detached garages off an alley or a long driveway. Those slabs were often poured thinner and sometimes slope more toward the door. We check slope and drainage so water still runs out after the floor is coated. Tuck-under garages share a wall with the basement, so we look for moisture coming through that wall before we coat.

Caring for the floor through salt season

A coated floor still needs a little winter care. Squeegee standing meltwater out the door, rinse the floor every few weeks from December to March, and set a containment mat under each car if you want less mess. Use a plastic shovel on the floor, and keep tire chains and metal-edged tools off it.