Garage Floor Coating in Dearborn, MI

Garage floor coating is the job we quote most in Dearborn. The garage takes the hardest wear of any floor at home: road salt from November to March, hot tires in July, dripping fluids, dropped tools and bikes. A coating closes the pores in the concrete so salt water and oil stay on the surface where you can clean them up.

What a Dearborn winter does to bare concrete

Dearborn averages about 31 inches of snow a year, and January alone brings close to a foot. Precipitation falls on about 127 days in a normal year. Each storm means salted roads, and each salted road means brine dripping off the car onto the garage floor. Concrete absorbs that water. When the temperature swings across freezing, the water expands, and the salt adds its own stress as it dries and crystallizes. Over time you get flaking near the door, rough patches under the tires and white rings where puddles dried.

Older garages, older surprises

Many Dearborn garages were poured decades ago, and a lot of them have been painted or coated before. Paint and kit epoxy often peel where tires turn, and the new coating cannot bond through what is left. We grind it off. We also see old patches that have come loose, joints that have chipped, and slabs that have settled so water runs toward the back wall. Each of these is handled during prep and listed on the quote.

Signs the floor is ready for a coating

• Concrete dust that comes back after every sweep
• Pitting, scaling or flaking near the garage door
• Tire marks and oil stains that will not wash out
• A painted or kit floor peeling in the tire paths
• Hairline cracks or chipped saw cuts
• You are tired of tracking grit into the house

Flake or solid color

Most homeowners here choose a full flake floor. Colored chips are broadcast into the wet base coat until it is covered, the loose chips are scraped off, and a clear topcoat locks them in. The finished floor has a slight texture that helps with wet tires, and the mixed colors hide salt film and grit between cleanings. A solid color floor with a light chip scatter or an anti-slip additive is the other common choice. It looks cleaner but shows dirt more. We bring chip samples so you can see them in your own garage light.

Prep, step by step

We move what you have asked us to move, tape the walls and protect the door seal. Then we diamond grind the whole slab, including the edges along the walls, and vacuum the dust. Oil spots are degreased or ground out. Cracks and spalls are filled with a repair material made for coatings, then ground flush. Only then does the base coat go down.

Keeping the floor clean in winter

A coated floor still needs some care when the salt is out. Push meltwater out with a floor squeegee every few days, rinse the floor when the weather allows, and put a containment mat under each car if you want less to clean. Use a plastic shovel blade near the coating. Store bags of salt off the floor so they do not leave crusted rings.