Epoxy Floor Repair in West Allis, WI

Why coatings fail here

We get called to a lot of garages where a coating has started to lift, usually within a year or two of going down. In almost every case, the cause is one of a handful of problems. The most common is poor prep. Many kits rely on an acid etch or just a wash, which leaves salt, oil and weak concrete in place. The coating sticks to that weak surface, and when hot tires park on it, the tires pull the coating and the top layer of concrete right off. Moisture is next. Older alley garages and basements often have no vapor barrier, and vapor pushing up from the soil forms blisters under the coating. Cold-weather installs are another cause. Epoxy rolled onto a chilly slab may never cure fully and stays soft and weak.

Salt also plays a role. If the floor had years of salt in it before being coated and it was not ground out, that residue can interfere with the bond and keep drawing moisture.

Diagnosis before repair

We start every repair by figuring out why the floor failed. We look at the pattern of damage, test how well the remaining coating is bonded, take moisture readings and check slab temperature. A coating that is lifting only in the tire paths tells a different story than one blistering across the middle or flaking along the walls. That diagnosis tells us whether a spot repair will last or whether the floor needs to come off.

Spot repairs

When most of the coating is well bonded and the damage is limited to a few areas, a spot repair can make sense. We cut out the failed section, grind the concrete underneath, fill any damage in the slab and rebuild the coating layers. Matching color and sheen exactly can be difficult, especially on older floors that have faded, so we often recommend a fresh topcoat over the entire floor to tie everything together.

Full removal and recoat

When the coating is failing widely, patching only delays the inevitable. In those cases we grind the old coating off completely, which also removes the weak concrete it was attached to. We repair pits, cracks and spalls, address any moisture problem with the right primer and install a new system that fits the way you use the space. For garages, that usually means a full-broadcast flake floor with a polyaspartic topcoat, which tolerates salt and temperature swings well.

Repairing the concrete itself

Many floors we see have concrete damage in addition to coating failure. Salt scaling near the door, cracks from frost heave, chipped control joints and spalled areas around drains are common. We use polymer-modified repair mortars and epoxy fillers made for those conditions. Repairs are ground flush with the surrounding slab so the new coating lays flat. For cracks that move with the seasons, we use flexible fillers so they are less likely to reappear as hairline lines in the finished floor.

Other coating problems

Not every repair involves peeling. We also fix floors with yellowed or chalky topcoats from sunlight through the open garage door, worn-through traffic paths, dull and scratched basement floors and surfaces that have become slippery with age. Often a light sanding and a new topcoat is enough. If you are not sure what your floor needs, send us a few photos with the form and we will tell you what we think before we visit.

Preventing the next failure

The best repair is one you do not need. Proper grinding, moisture testing, warm cure conditions and quality materials prevent most coating failures. After repair, a few habits help too: squeegee salty slush out of the garage in winter, put pads under jack stands and kickstands and clean with a mild cleaner instead of harsh solvents.

Repair questions