The concrete decides everything that follows, which is why grinding comes first and not last. The machines cut the bay back to bare slab, removing paint, a failed home-applied coating, the sealer sprayed on when the concrete was poured, and the oil that has gone into the surface under a car. There is a second point to it. A troweled slab is effectively sealed by its own finish, and an epoxy base has nothing to key into until the grinder reopens it.
What the grinder exposes is then made good. The joints the slab moves on are taken up through the coating rather than covered, since concrete stopped from moving cracks where it chooses. Where moisture is coming up through the slab, it is dealt with before the epoxy base rather than after. The edges take longer than the open floor, because a grinder cannot reach right into a corner and the last few inches have to be cut in by hand before anything is laid over them. A floor in poor condition does not rule a garage out. That work sits inside the price, not on top of it.
The floor is then laid in three passes: a tinted epoxy base, the flake or color laid into it straight away, and a clear polyaspartic coat over everything. Reckon six to nine hours on a two-car Moorpark bay. Where a slab has dropped out of true rather than merely worn, it wants leveling first, because a coating takes the shape it is given. And where the concrete underneath deserves to be seen, polishing it is the other option.
Three epoxy finishes take care of nearly every Moorpark bay we are asked about, and what really divides them is how much the floor has to disguise day to day. There is a physical sample of every blend we lay, and one of those on your concrete settles the question quickly.
Flake is the usual answer here. Colored chips are cast into the wet epoxy until the slab has disappeared beneath them, and the clear coat above holds them for good. The finish carries a slight texture, useful underfoot when a car has brought water in, and its pattern absorbs the dust, tire marks and general wear a garage in daily use produces. Chip size changes the look more than people expect: a large flake reads as a coarse, broken surface, while a fine one settles closer to a speckle, and both go down over the same base. On a floor that has already had a long life, flake is also the kindest choice.
Take the chips out and solid color is what remains: pigmented epoxy under an identical clear seal, one flat tone across the bay. It looks the most considered of the three. Nothing hides a mark on it though, so scuffs read at once, and it wants concrete that ground up cleanly. Softer grays and warm neutrals are the common choices. It also shows a later repair more readily than flake does, which is worth knowing if the bay is the sort that takes knocks. If the bay has turned into a workshop or somewhere to keep things properly, that even floor is what changes it.
Metallic epoxy works on a different principle. Its pigment travels in the resin and is moved as the floor hardens, so the pattern belongs to that bay and nowhere else. That is its appeal and equally its risk, since you cannot be shown yours beforehand. Put it where the floor gets looked at rather than worked on, and expect any later repair to show.
Most of the number rests on two things. Area is one, and Moorpark bays we measure usually work out at 450 to 700 square feet. The other is the condition of the slab, because sound concrete needs grinding alone while damaged concrete needs opening up, rebuilding and grinding a second time before any epoxy base is justified. Figure $5 to $7 per square foot on a Moorpark garage, with a two-car bay taking the day.
Which finish you take changes it as well. Solid color is quickest for us, metallic slowest, flake somewhere between. The top resin matters too. Polyaspartic hardens within hours where an epoxy seal wants days, and it holds its color under light instead of yellowing with age. Whatever we quote is measured off your own floor rather than a standard rate.
We carry a 5.0 rating built on 120+ reviews, and the wait is generally a couple of weeks. Give us the bay dimensions together with a photo of the floor as it looks now, or telephone (818) 359-3932, and a real epoxy or polyaspartic figure for your garage comes back.
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