Garage Floors
Garage Floor Coatings Across the Des Moines Metro
Flake and solid-color finishes, installed over properly ground concrete. Waukee-based.
What a coated garage floor actually gets you
It stops being porous. Bare concrete is a sponge. It drinks oil, brake fluid, road salt, and dog accidents, and it keeps them. A coated floor doesn't absorb — it wipes.
It cleans with a mop. No more degreaser and a wire brush.
It brightens the whole space. A light floor bounces the light from your opener bulb around the garage. Most people are surprised how much brighter it feels.
It hides what the concrete has been through. Flake finishes are very good at making an imperfect floor look intentional.
It doesn't peel up with your tires. Hot tire pickup is what lifts cheap coatings — you pull in on a July afternoon and the tire takes the coating with it when it cools. The topcoat we use is chosen specifically for that.
Your finish options
Full flake
Vinyl chips broadcast into the wet base coat until the surface won't take any more, then sealed under a clear topcoat. Slightly textured, excellent at hiding dirt and imperfections in the concrete. What most people picture, and what most people choose.
Partial flake
Lighter broadcast. More of the base color shows through. Cleaner, more modern look.
Solid color
No flake. Clean and uniform. Shows more of the concrete's history underneath, so it wants a floor in good shape.
Metallic
A poured, marbled, high-gloss finish. It's a showpiece — best in a space you're showing off, not one you're parking a work truck in.
See the flake colors we can order →
Want to see the colors on your own floor?
We bring the real flake samples out with us and lay them down in your own garage, in your own light, before anything is ordered. Costs nothing to look.
Where the money goes
How we prep a garage floor
This is the part you'll never see once the floor is done.
- Diamond grinding, not acid etching. We open the concrete mechanically. It costs more in labor and machine time. It's also the difference between a coating that's bonded and a coating that's sitting on top.
- Moisture testing to ASTM F2170 and F1869. Three tests minimum, before we choose a system. If your floor is pushing vapor, that changes what can go down. Most quotes you get will not have this line on them.
- Crack and spall repair. Filled and structurally addressed before coating, not skimmed over.
- Oil remediation. Old garages have oil down in the pores. If it's there, it has to come out, or nothing will stick to that spot.
What drives the price
Nobody can quote a garage floor honestly over the phone. Here's what actually moves the number:
- Square footage. Obvious, but it's the biggest single factor.
- Condition of your floor. A ten-year-old garage with clean concrete is a very different job from a 1970s garage with oil saturation and three previous patches.
- Moisture. A floor with vapor pressure needs a different, more expensive system.
- Old coating. If something's already down there, it usually has to come off first.
- Finish. Metallic costs more than flake. Flake costs more than solid.
More on what a coated floor costs in Iowa →
Already have a quote from someone else? Send it to us →
The days we will not coat your floor
Three of them, and they are worth knowing about before you book anything:
When the floor is too hot. There is a maximum application temperature, and it is measured on the concrete rather than in the air. A closed Iowa garage in August can put the floor well past it on a day that feels fine to stand in. So we take the floor’s temperature, not the forecast’s.
When the concrete is too new. A standard system wants 28 days of cure behind it. Just built the house? Tell us the pour date at the estimate — there is a system made for green concrete, and it is a decision we make up front rather than a delay you find out about later.
When the moisture reads too high. We measure it before we quote. If your concrete is pushing more vapor than the system can hold, the honest answer is a different system or no coating, and you will get that answer instead of a floor that lifts next spring.
None of these are common. All three are the difference between a floor that lasts and a callback.
Questions
How long until I can park on it?
Typically you can walk on it well before you can park on it, and you'll have exact times in your written scope. Rushing this is how a brand-new floor gets ruined.
Do you coat the apron — the part outside the door?
That's exterior concrete, exposed to sun and freeze-thaw, so it's a different conversation. Sometimes yes. We'll tell you honestly whether it's a good idea for your specific apron.
What if my floor has cracks?
Most do. Cracks get repaired as part of prep. What matters is whether a crack is stable or still moving — we'll assess that on site.
Can you match a color?
Within reason, yes. Bring us a sample or a photo of what you're after.
Not ready for an estimate yet?
Tell us what you’ve got and we’ll come back with a straight answer — no visit, no pressure, and we’ll say so if it’s something you don’t need yet.
Get a written estimate
Serving Waukee, West Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale, Grimes, Johnston, Windsor Heights, and Des Moines.