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Bloomington Garage Floors
Call: 812-221-1665

Welcome to Bloomington Garage Floors!  Do you ever wonder why most front doors are painted to stand out?  But the same homeowner ignores the garage floor coatings?  The front door is the entry point for most visitors.  Most homeowners will buy an awesome front door to act as a welcoming statement and an initial experience of the home's decor.  

However, the garage is the most used entry point for the homeowner, and in some cases, for visitors and neighbors as well.  Especially for those garages visible from the curb, the condition of the garage is just as important as the front door.  After all, it's 5 times wider than your front door.  It makes a bigger statement.  Plus, it is your garage -- make a statement for yourself, one that welcomes you home every day. 

Why have unfinished walls, a dirty floor, concrete damage, and more when you can finish your garage and have something as welcoming as, and perhaps even more beautiful than, your front door?   We can make your garage every bit of a fashion statement as your front door, even bigger.  Imagine coming home from a long day and pulling into a beautiful, clean, well-organized space.   Imagine your neighbors walking by your home and you not only concerned about your garage door being open, but proud of the way your garage looks.  Be the envy of the neighborhood.  

You deserve it.  It sets the mood...welcome home!  

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    Standard Floor Colors   (Additional Colors Available Upon Request)  

    Our Garage Floor Coatings costs start at just $5/square foot installed, including prep, depending on the amount of prep, damage repair needed, finish options, and other conditions.  We can provide FREE ESTIMATES first over the phone and then FREE FIRM QUOTES on-site with actual physical color samples so you can select the exact floor you want.  There is no guessing with us.  The finished coating you select is the finished floor you get -- and at the price we quoted.  If it takes longer than expected, we do not charge extra.  What we quote is what you pay.

    Not Just Garage Floors?  

    Not at all.  We do commercial and residential floors, inside and outside.   Garage Floors are just one segment of the market that we do.   We do porches, patios, sidewalks, basements, residential and commercial bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and entry floors.  
    Commercial Epoxy Floors

    Commercial Restroom 
    Floors

    Commercial business seamless flooring

    Automotive Shop Sales Floor, 2 Offices & Bathroom

    Concrete Damage Repair

    Outside Patio, Screened-in Area and Front Porch

    Seamless Bathroom Flooring

    Residential Bathroom Metallic Gray Floor

    Why Slide-Lok?  

    First, does it matter where your Garage Floor Coatings come from?    Most contractors do not advertise their suppliers.  Most are not exclusive so the same supplier may be supplying 5 or even 10 different contractors in the same area.   It does matter.  The Slide-Lok product warranties are warrantied by the manufacturer.  Slide-Lok is the manufacturer and they are located in Phoenix, AZ.  All the product is made in the USA.  Only one contractor in each area can buy material from Slide-Lok as an authorized dealer.  Slide-Lok's owner is hands-on involved in the company and in the chemical knowledge of the materials used; not just what they are, but why they are what they are.  

    Also, the product is consistent from one batch to the next.  Everything is tested to make sure.   The color pigments and even the flake colors are the same from batch to batch.   Per instructions, we always mix batches to eliminate any issues, but we never see any differences to start with.

    Warranty:   Slide-Lok backs the Lifetime Warranty against yellowing and a 15 Year Warranty against chipping, peeling, etc (bonding issues).   

    Fixing Concrete Damage Prior to Coating

    We fill chips & holes prior to coating.  The brick layer dropped his hammer and chipped the floor on this new construction.
    Concrete Coating Removal
    We fill cracks and holes.  We remove existing paint or coatings to get a smooth surface.
    Salt Damage Concrete
    Concrete Spalling most likely from salt damage over the years, a poor finish or both.
    Jagged Rough Concrete
    This rough, jagged edge was the front lip at the front garage entry.  We hand grind this to round it over and get a smooth transition. 
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    Why Bloomington Garage Floors?  

    Concrete Floor Flake Inventory
    Local Material Inventory.  We keep materials in stock. We are typically scheduled out at least a week, but we have had occasion to have an opening and have taken a job the next day with a couple moving into a new house (new to them) and we did the garage floor before they moved in.  Obviously, there is a huge advantage to not having to store or move belongings.  We typically don't have to wait for your materials to come in...they're already in.  Contact us for your best schedule availability.  
    Prep.  Most adhesion has to do with the prep.  We grind every surface we coat and in most cases, twice or more in order to get this nice white surface.  Expansion joints, an elevated front lip, concrete block or poured foundation around the perimeter of the garage, all gets ground.  Any cement splashed up on the foundation is smoothed off.  Sharp edges are rounded off.  The front lip is rounded off manually to ease the entry into the garage.  Dips in the concrete are easy to spot because the grinder will leave a dark spot that may need to be ground down more or filled in.  But with all this said, grinding alone is not enough in our opinion.  We take extra steps at this point that we believe most others do not -- critical steps that are key to getting good adhesion.  
    Concrete Grinding
    3 Full Coats of Polyaspartic + Flake (if applicable).  Many, if not most contractors skip the primer.  They apply a base coat and put the flake in it immediately.  Let it dry and top coat.   We apply a minimum of 3 coats per Slide-Lok's instructions -- every time, no exception.  The flake never goes into the base coat - always in the 2nd coat.  Why?   The first coat should be designed to penetrate the concrete slab.  Most products are 100% solids, especially epoxies and polyurea.  A true primer coat is often desired to be 60-65% solids so that the solvents help penetrate the concrete.   Polyaspartic or polyurea can be applied at -20 degrees. The viscosity of the resin however becomes thicker than when it's 70 degrees and will set up before it fully penetrates into the slab.  We always recommend a primer coat for this 
    reason. As material penetrates the slab, it could out-gas, leaving a hole, or just become thin in that spot. A 2nd coat will seal that area more fully and not compromise the coating. The 3rd coat, in our case, is the clear top coat. If the customer desires full flake, but still wants a smooth floor, we can apply a 4th coat, obviously at additional cost.
    Direct Owner Access.  You'll deal directly with the owner.  No salesperson on payroll.  You'll not have to leave a message with a receptionist or try to figure out how to escalate a question or concern.  You'll have the owner's name, cell phone and email.  The owner will even be on the jobsite during installation.  
    Price Competitive.  We have low overhead.  No salespeople.  Minimal advertising.  Overall, our price is very competitive in the market.   We are not the cheapest because frankly, we are using premium materials and refuse to cut corners.  We refuse to skip the primer coat, risking adhesion issues.  But we are not the most expensive either.  
    Get what You Want.  We strive to satisfy your requests -- textured vs smooth, the % of flake used, color selection, slip resistant additive, and more.  Do you want to foundation perimeter coated, or left bare?    What about the steps going into the house?  Whatever it is, we'll do our best to accommodate it.  

    See some of our work

    Epoxy Floors. Polyaspartic Floor Coatings. Polyurea. We do it all. Garages. Pole barns. Shops. The proof is in the pudding. See some of our local projects, either in our Gallery or on our Facebook Page
    Epoxy Floor Coatings
    Saddletan Garage Floor

    How polyaspartic is different than epoxy

    Epoxy floors should have a primer coat, most common would be a water-based epoxy or a diluted epoxy that would penetrate the concrete.  The dry times are typically 1-5 hours.  After which, epoxy can be applied and flake added into that 2nd coat.  Beware of contractors that skip the prime coat -- this is a common shortcut.  Moisture in the slab will pop off epoxy.  That 2nd coat of epoxy should take 12 hours to dry.   A clear top coat can be applied after the flake is scraped and cleaned up.  Most contractors will use polyaspartic or an industrial urethane for the top coat since epoxy will yellow in UV light (sunlight) and may peel due to hot tire contact.  So a properly installed epoxy floor will take 2-3 days.   By contrast, polyaspartic can be applied with 45 minutes to 2 hours dry time to re-coat, allowing 3 coats to be applied over a 6-8 hour period.  The first coat is the prime coat.  There are 2 more coats after the prime coat for a total of 3 coats.   Depending on the project size and the amount of prep needed, most polyaspartic floors can be completed in 1 or 2 days.  

    When epoxy is preferred for flooring

    Epoxy takes 8-12 hours to dry.  Because of its slow dry time, it can actually be beneficial to allow multiple colors of metallic pigment to move and create a multi-color floor.  We don't often see these in garages, but not uncommon in interior floors.  Pricing is a bit more expensive than flake floors.  Some will topcoat the epoxy with a urethane or polyaspartic to increase the scratch resistance, but it does not prevent yellowing.  

    A metallic floor can be achieved with polyaspartic also, but the color movement is significantly less because the dry time is so much faster.  The picture to the right is a gray metallic polyaspartic floor we did here in Bloomington.  It is very smooth and can even be slippery when wet.  We recommend anti-slip additive in a garage application.  Ask us to show you actual samples, if you're considering a metallic finish.  We have both epoxy and polyaspartic samples. 
    Metallic Epoxy Garage Floor

    DIY Epoxy Floors

    There are multiple manufacturers of "epoxy floor coatings" at the DIY stores like Home Depot, Lowes and Menards.   Rustoleum EpoxyShield is $200 to cover 400 square feet.   Read the instructions and spec sheets.    This product is 82% solids by weight.  True commercial epoxy is always 100% solids.  They recommend you apply at 5-7 mils thick wet -- the dry thickness will be 3-5 mils, after the solvent evaporates.   By contrast, most commercial epoxy goes down at 10-15 mils and does not shrink because it contains no solvents.  Note the 400 sqft coverage is max for 2 gallons -- for 1 coat.  The instructions say 150-200 sqft.   So, for each coat at 400 sqft (2 car garage), you'll have 1.5 kits ($300/coat).  You may want to use a polyurethane for the top coat though.  They only have a fraction of flake, or sprinkles, to get 5-10% coverage max.  Their prep is a chemical etch, like muratic acid.  Acid must be neutralized and rinsed.  Most commercial installers would never do this ... we all have grinders or shot blast equipment to mechanically prep the floor, a far superior method.  Bottom line, you'll have a great looking floor that will most likely last 3-4 years before it starts peeling up.  If you're doing a fix & flip and your floor is ugly, this may be your strategy.  We would never recommend it for any other homeowner.   We grind them off all the time.   Here are a few examples.   
    DIY Epoxy Paint Failure 2017
    DIY Epoxy Paint Failure
    Epoxy Paint Failure
    Garage Floor Epoxy
    Now, compare apples to apples.  To get a halfway comparable DIY floor, you'll need to rent a grinder & vacuum for $300/day.  Haul it back and forth.  You'll also want a handheld grinder and concrete disc and dust mask.  Prep the floor.  Apply 2 coats (it takes 12 hours each for each coat to dry).   Put all the flake on the 2nd coat before it dries.  Remember, you can't walk on wet coatings though.  3 kits for 400 sqft, or $600 in coatings.  Once that dries, apply a clear top coat (not epoxy) that will cost about $150.  You'll get a floor that should last 5-7 years depending on how well you cleaned it prior to coating.  $1,050 in materials + your labor (probably 20 hours over 4 days).  No warranties.  Will likely yellow if your garage faces south.  By comparison, a professionally-installed 400 square foot partial flake floor should only cost $1,750 - $1,900.   So you save $700-$850 by doing it yourself, spending 20 hours of your time doing it and getting a floor that will last 1/3 to 1/2 the time.   Or spend $800 in acids, neutralizers, cleaners, and 2 coats and have a floor that will last only 20% as long.  And that's IF your floor is in good shape - no cracks, spalling, chips or pitting.  It just doesn't add up.  Hire the contractor.  Over 15 years, you'll be much, much happier and money ahead.