Questions homeowners actually ask.

A 2-car garage in the River Falls / east Twin Cities metro typically runs $2,400 to $3,800 fully installed. A 3-car garage runs $3,400 to $5,600. The price drives off square footage, prep difficulty (slab condition, moisture, repairs), flake density, and whether the curbs and stem walls are included. We give honest written quotes with no "starting at" bait pricing.

A $1,500 quote for a 2-car garage usually means one or more of these: acid etching instead of diamond grinding (bad prep, the coating peels), water-based DIY-grade epoxy, no moisture testing, thin single-coat installation, or a 1-year warranty hidden in the fine print. A real polyaspartic install with diamond grinding, polyurea base coat, vinyl flake to refusal, polyaspartic UV topcoat, and a 15-year warranty cannot be done for $1,500. The difference is either prep, materials, or labor — and that's where the failures come from.

Yes — we can run financing through a third-party home-improvement lender. Soft credit pull, decision in a few minutes, fixed-rate monthly payments. Ask about it during your estimate and we'll send you the application link if you want to use it.

Acid etching is why most cheap coating installs fail. Concrete has a weak layer of cement paste on top called laitance. Acid opens the surface chemically but doesn't remove laitance — the coating ends up bonded to a layer that's flaking off the slab. Diamond grinding mechanically removes the laitance and exposes a CSP-3 profile (rough, open pores). That's the only prep we use, period. If a contractor quotes acid etching, get a different contractor.

Two days for almost every residential garage. Day 1: clear the garage, diamond grind, repair cracks and spalls, vacuum, apply polyurea base coat, broadcast flake to refusal. Day 2: scrape the loose flake, apply the polyaspartic UV topcoat. You can walk on it that evening, drive on it 24-48 hours after the topcoat goes down.

Most garages have some cracking — settlement cracks, freeze-thaw cracks, control joints. We repair structural cracks during prep with a polyurea-compatible filler that bonds to both sides and flexes with the slab. The repair shows under the coating but is structurally sound. Slabs with major heaving or shifting that aren't stable may need replacement or structural repair before any coating goes on — we'll tell you on the estimate visit if that's the case.

We grind it off completely. We won't apply a polyaspartic system over an unknown existing coating — the bond, warranty, and longevity all depend on starting with a clean concrete surface. Removal usually adds 30-50% to the prep time and cost depending on what's down there. See our surface prep and repair page for the details.

Only if your slab has moisture issues. Garages at or above grade rarely have problems. Basements, slabs below grade, slabs with prior water intrusion, or slabs near sump pumps may need a calcium chloride or RH probe moisture test. If the result exceeds the coating's spec, we install a moisture-mitigation primer first. We test for free when there's any reason to suspect moisture is a factor.

Yes. Polyurea cures down to 0°F. We install year-round in western Wisconsin and the east Twin Cities metro, including January and February. The garage needs to be empty and we run portable heaters during cold-weather installs to keep the substrate warm enough for the base coat. Garage door has to stay closed during prep and cure.

Hot weather is harder than cold weather, actually. Polyaspartic cures faster than the installer can work it when the slab is above 90°F. We schedule summer installs for early morning starts and use slower-cure topcoats. July and August in a south-facing garage with no shade gets booked further out for this reason — schedule early in the season if you want a peak-summer install.

The vinyl flake gives the floor mechanical texture that grips significantly better than a plain glossy coating. Wet, it's similar to wet ceramic tile — not glass-slick, but you wouldn't run on it. For garages with more water exposure (slope to drain, frequent rinsing), we can add an anti-slip additive to the topcoat that bumps the slip rating up without affecting the look. Ask about it during your estimate.

Soft broom or shop-vac for dust and debris. For wet cleaning, a microfiber mop or soft brush with a pH-neutral cleaner (Simple Green or a dedicated floor cleaner). Avoid strong solvents, ammonia, and abrasive scrubbing pads. The flake hides salt and oil between cleanings — most owners hose the floor down once a season and call it good.

The polyurea base coat is impact-resistant — dropping tools, bike chains, or a tire iron won't crack or chip it. Dropping a steel-tipped maul or an engine block from waist height will dent the concrete underneath but the coating itself usually stays intact and just flexes. If something does cause visible damage, the floor can be spot-repaired without redoing the whole install.

You can. It will not last. The DIY kits are water-based two-part epoxy — the lowest-tier chemistry available, mixed for amateur application. The kit instructions tell you to acid-etch (bad prep) and apply one thin coat (insufficient build). Most kit installs peel within 18 months. If you've already done a kit and it's failing, we can grind it off and install a real coating — that's a common job for us in the spring.