Garage, basement and commercial floor coatings with the moisture test, the system build and the finished thickness written into every proposal.
Evanston Epoxy Flooring has spent 20+ years installing epoxy flooring in Evanston, IL, along with polyaspartic garage coatings, flake and metallic floors, polished concrete, concrete repair and commercial systems for kitchens, labs and service bays. Every job starts with the slab rather than the color chart, because a coating is only as sound as the concrete it is bonded to.
We open each floor mechanically with a diamond grinder or shot blaster, test it for moisture as a written line item, and put the product, the system build and the finished thickness into the proposal. That way the floor you were quoted is a floor you can check against what actually went down, coat by coat.
We coat garages and basements in houses, the shared floors of condominium buildings, and the working floors of shops, kitchens and labs. The sections below walk through how each of those jobs goes, what makes one fail, and what we tell owners before they sign anything.
What we do
Epoxy flooring for Evanston garages, basements and commercial floors
Epoxy and polyaspartic garage floors in Evanston, built over a ground, moisture-tested slab with the thickness written into the proposal.
Polished concrete for Evanston basements, showrooms, offices and shops: the slab itself, ground, densified and polished to the sheen you choose.
Fast-curing, UV-stable polyaspartic floor coatings for Evanston garages, basements and businesses, applied over a ground and moisture-tested slab.
Basement floor epoxy for Evanston homes, moisture tested first, with drains, sump pits and old patched slabs detailed before any coating goes down.
Metallic epoxy floors for Evanston basements, showrooms and offices: a marbled, high-depth finish poured over a ground, flat, moisture-tested slab.
Crack, spall, joint and scaling repair for Evanston garage, basement and commercial slabs, done before a coating or polish goes down.
Commercial epoxy, urethane and polyaspartic floors for Evanston warehouses, labs, service bays and condo garages, phased around your hours.
Vinyl flake epoxy floors for Evanston garages, basements and shops, broadcast over a ground slab and sealed under a clear, UV-stable topcoat.
Diamond grinding and shot blasting for Evanston slabs: old coatings, mastic and sealers removed and concrete profiled to take a new floor.
Static-dissipative and conductive ESD floors for Evanston electronics, lab and data rooms, built to a stated resistance range and tested on site.
Urethane cement and epoxy floors for Evanston restaurant kitchens, built for hot washdown, coved at the walls and specified for health plan review.
We have been grinding, testing and coating concrete floors for more than twenty years. That time is why our quotes name the failures worth looking for, from an old sealer hiding under a clean-looking slab to a damp corner that only shows itself under a sheet of plastic.
Illinois issues no state license for flooring or coatings work, so there is no state license number to print on a quote. What we show instead is the contractor registration, bond and insurance each city or village asks for, and in Evanston the City requires every contractor to register with minimum insurance on file.
Every slab we coat is opened with a diamond grinder or shot blaster to a measured ICRI concrete surface profile, so the primer bites into clean, sound concrete rather than sitting on a skin of laitance and old sealer the way an acid-etched floor often does.
No basement or garage proposal leaves our hands without moisture testing written in as a line item, using ASTM F1869 calcium chloride kits or ASTM F2170 relative humidity probes, so a damp slab is found before it is coated rather than after the new coating has blistered.
With 40.3 percent of Evanston housing units built in 1939 or earlier, the slab under an old garage or basement is often a later pour or a patch over an older floor, so we read its cracks, paint and coatings before quoting rather than pricing a floor nobody has looked at.
Evanston amended the residential code so an attached garage slab is no longer exempt from the under-slab vapor retarder, so on a newer attached garage we confirm what was poured under the concrete before choosing a primer, rather than assuming the model-code exemption still applies.
Never by the calendar alone: each cure is scheduled against slab temperature and the dew point spread at the surface, so the floor sets hard and clear rather than clouding with amine blush, and we say plainly when an unheated garage has to wait for spring.
Grinding and shot blasting are booked inside Evanston construction hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, with no Sunday work, so a one-day garage never spills into a neighbor’s evening the way an overbooked crew’s can.
An epoxy garage floor job runs from a slab inspection and moisture test, through grinding, crack repair, primer, body coat and topcoat, to a cure period before the first car rolls in. We write each step into the proposal with the product named. You know in advance which days the garage is out of use and which day you can park on it again.
Concrete that has been sealed or painted gives a new coating nothing to grip, and acid etching does not reliably cut through either one. We diamond grind or shot blast the whole floor down to open concrete with a measurable profile. That step is what keeps a new garage coating from peeling off in sheets a year later, taking the old layer with it.
The model residential code, at IRC R506.2.3, exempts garage floors from the under-slab vapor retarder a house floor must have, so many garage slabs were poured straight onto the ground. We test before coating, starting with an ASTM D4263 plastic sheet for a first look and moving to calcium chloride kits or relative humidity probes when we need numbers. Moisture rising through an unprotected slab is a leading reason garage coatings let go.
When Evanston adopted the 2021 codes in April 2022, it rewrote that exception so it now covers only detached garages, utility buildings and other unheated accessory structures. An attached garage slab built under the new rule needs a vapor retarder under it, while a detached garage or an older attached one may have none. We find out which kind of slab we are coating before we pick a primer.
Shrinkage cracks, settled sections and cracks that open and close with the seasons look alike to most owners but call for different repairs. We map them before quoting, fill and level the stable ones, and tell you which ones the coating will simply follow. A coating moves with the slab under it, and it will not hold a moving crack shut.
The calcium chloride brine and rock salt that winter roads send in on the tires soak into bare concrete, where repeated freezing and thawing scale and pit the surface. A sealed, seamless coating keeps that brine on top, where it can be squeegeed out the door. We build garage systems with that in mind, with a topcoat chosen to stand up to deicers and a texture that stays walkable when wet.
Epoxy and polyaspartic resins need the slab warm enough, and dry enough at the surface, to cure the way the maker intends, and an unheated garage in January rarely is. We measure slab temperature and dew point spread on the day rather than trusting the calendar. If an unheated garage cannot hold the conditions the product needs, we say so and book it for spring.
Hot tire pickup is when a warm tire softens a thin coating and pulls it off the floor as the car moves, usually in the patches where the car parks. It shows up most on thin, water-based kit coatings over poorly prepared concrete. A ground slab, a 100% solids epoxy or polyaspartic build, and a full cure before parking are what prevent it.
Store-bought garage floor kits are usually thinner, often water-based, and rely on acid etching rather than grinding. The result can look good for a season and then peel under tires or salt. A professional job differs in the preparation, in the film thickness written into the proposal, and in the testing done before the first coat goes down.
The price of an epoxy garage floor moves with the square footage, how much old coating has to come off, how many cracks need repair, and the system you choose, from a single solid color to a full flake broadcast under a polyaspartic topcoat. Moisture mitigation adds cost when a test calls for it. We price each of those as its own line, so you can see what moves the number.
Floor coating warranties commonly exclude failure caused by moisture coming up through the slab, and most also exclude impact damage, harsh chemicals and the slab’s own movement. We read the exclusions out before the job is sold, with moisture named first. The warranty you sign should be the one you understood.
A basement floor sits below grade with soil and groundwater against it, so the first question is how much moisture the slab is passing before anything goes on it. We test with calcium chloride kits under ASTM F1869 or in-slab probes under ASTM F2170, then read the results against the product’s published limits and the thresholds in ASTM F710. The reading decides the primer, not the other way around.
A seasonal high water table can rise toward a basement slab in late winter and spring, so a floor that looks dry in the fall can still push vapor, and sometimes hydrostatic pressure, through the concrete months later. That pressure is what lifts a coating into blisters. Where the numbers call for it we specify a moisture-mitigation primer rather than coating and hoping.
Soil survey maps of Evanston show excessively drained Plainfield loamy sand east of Ridge Avenue, and somewhat poorly drained ground with Elliott soils to the west and southwest, where a perched water table can sit 1.0 to 2.0 feet down between January and May in most years. A damp basement floor on the sandy side and one on the wetter side can have very different causes. We note which ground a house sits on before deciding what its moisture readings mean.
All of Evanston is served by a combined sewer that carries storm water and sanitary waste in one pipe, and the City spent about $210 million from 1991 to 2008 on relief tunnels and mains to keep sewage out of basements. In new construction, city code puts plumbing overhead and sends below-grade fixtures to an ejector pit. A floor coating makes a backup easier to clean up, but it does nothing to stop one, and we never sell it as if it did.
Efflorescence is the white, powdery salt left behind when water moves through concrete and evaporates at the surface. It tells us moisture is traveling through the slab, and it also breaks the bond of any coating applied over it. We grind it off, test the slab and deal with the moisture before coating, rather than painting over the powder.
Floor drains, sump pits and the joint where the slab meets the foundation wall are where basement coatings tend to fail first. We terminate the coating cleanly at drain grates, keep the sump lid removable, and check the perimeter for water entering at the wall. In Evanston, a sump has to discharge to grade at least 3 feet from the house and never into the sanitary sewer.
In a city where 13,749 housing units date from 1939 or earlier, many basement floors have been patched, painted or topped more than once. Each of those layers is a bond line that can fail under a new coating. We grind back to sound concrete, cut out what sounds hollow, and tell you if a section has to be replaced before it can be coated.
A moisture-mitigation primer is a dense epoxy layer built to hold back vapor from a slab whose readings exceed what a standard coating tolerates. It costs more than a standard primer, so we specify it when the test numbers call for it rather than by default. On a borderline slab it can also decide whether the coating maker will stand behind the floor at all.
A coated basement slab makes a durable, washable base for a playroom, laundry or home gym, finished in flake, solid color or a softer satin sheen. For gyms we choose a system that takes dropped weights better and suggest rubber mats where the lifting happens. Every one of these rooms still starts with the moisture test.
A floor coating seals the surface of a slab, but it is not radon mitigation, and in Illinois reducing radon for pay takes a license from IEMA under the Radon Industry Licensing Act. If radon is the worry, test for it and hire a licensed mitigator. We coat around the system they install rather than selling a coating as a substitute for one.
A vinyl flake floor is a colored base coat with chips broadcast into it and sealed under a clear topcoat. Small chips read as a fine speckle, larger chips as a bolder pattern, and a full broadcast hides the base entirely for the most texture and the best camouflage for dirt. We bring real samples of each blend so you choose from a board, not a screen.
Metallic epoxy floors use pigments that move as the resin is worked, leaving a marbled, almost three-dimensional surface that no two floors share. Getting it right takes a smooth slab, a flat base coat and installers who know how the resin will flow before it sets. The finish suits basements, showrooms and offices better than a working garage.
Polished concrete is the slab itself, ground in stages, hardened with a lithium silicate densifier and polished to the sheen you pick. How deep we grind decides whether it shows a cream finish, a salt-and-pepper look or fully exposed stone. We look at the slab first, because an old, patched floor will show every repair once it is polished.
A high-gloss topcoat shows off color and depth, but it also shows dust, fine scratches and tire marks. Satin and matte finishes hide everyday wear better and suit garages that see heavy use. We lay samples down in your own light, since a garage under one bulb reads very differently from a showroom with windows.
A quartz aggregate broadcast floor seeds colored quartz sand into the resin, giving color and a textured, slip-resistant surface in the same step. It is a common choice for commercial kitchens, locker rooms and other wet areas. The amount of grip is set by the grit size and by how heavily the topcoat is rolled over it.
A solid color coating is a single-pigment epoxy or polyaspartic with no flake or pattern. It costs less, makes cleaning and line striping simple, and is often the right answer for a workshop, utility room or commercial back-of-house. We still apply it over a ground and tested slab, because plain should never mean thin.
Many epoxies yellow, or amber, when sunlight reaches them, which shows clearly on a light floor near a garage door or window. Polyaspartic and polyurea topcoats hold their color in ultraviolet light far better. Where a floor will see sun, we finish the epoxy under a UV-stable topcoat.
Saw-cut control joints can be honored as part of the pattern, filled flush or turned into borders. On commercial floors we can lay out logos and colored zones that mark walkways and work areas. Every line is drawn and approved before any resin is mixed.
A commercial floor carries more traffic, more chemicals and more rules than a home garage, and it usually has to be done while a business keeps running. We specify the system to the use, schedule around the hours the building has to stay open, and line up inspections ahead of time. The proposal names the product, the build and the thickness, exactly as it does at home.
Half of Evanston’s housing units are in buildings of five or more, and a garage, storage or laundry floor in one of those buildings is an association decision, not one owner’s. We work with the board or manager on scope, schedule and notice to residents, and phase the work so people can still park and reach their storage. Nothing starts until the association has signed off.
Lab floors have to hold up to the solvents, acids and cleaners that get spilled at the bench. We match the resin system to the chemicals actually used in the room, with a seamless surface and coved edges where spills collect. The maker’s chemical resistance chart goes into the proposal so you can check it against your own list.
Warehouse and cross-dock floors take forklift traffic, pallet drag and rack loads, which wear through a thin coating quickly. We use heavier epoxy or urethane systems, repair joints before coating, and stripe aisles and loading zones. The work is phased so the docks keep moving.
Static-dissipative and ESD floors carry static charge safely to ground so it does not damage electronics or ignite vapors. Each system is built to an electrical resistance range set by the owner or the equipment maker. We test the finished floor and hand over the readings.
Service bay floors take hot fluids, dropped tools, jack stands and constant cleaning. We build them thicker, with chemical-resistant topcoats and texture where the floor gets wet, and we detail trench drains with care. Downtime is planned in sections so the shop can keep working.
The Illinois Food Code adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code, which calls for smooth, durable, easily cleaned floors and, under section 6-201.13, coved joints where floor meets wall. Section 6-201.11 allows antislip floor surfaces where safety needs them. In Evanston, the City’s own Health and Human Services department reviews food plans, and its review packet asks for the floor and the base or cove finish by brand and color.
Hot water washdown and thermal shock can crack and lift a standard epoxy in a commercial kitchen or food plant. Urethane cement handles heat, moisture and steam cleaning far better and is the usual choice where hot washdown happens daily. We choose it by temperature and cleaning routine, not by habit.
Illinois caps the volatile content of floor coatings at 250 g/L and industrial maintenance coatings at 340 g/L under 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 223, and the rule reaches anyone who applies them in the state, not only the manufacturer. The federal rule at 40 CFR 59 Subpart D allows 400 g/L and 450 g/L for the same categories. We choose products within the Illinois limits and never thin them past those limits on site.
Restaurants, labs and shops usually cannot close for a week. We phase the floor in sections, use fast-cure polyaspartic systems where they fit, and keep loud grinding inside the town’s construction hours. You get a written schedule showing which areas are out of use and when.
Evanston Epoxy Flooring provides epoxy-flooring throughout the greater Evanston area, with the same crews and the same standards on every job.
Good to know
The price moves with the floor area, how much old paint or sealer has to come off, how many cracks need repair, which system you choose and whether the moisture test calls for a mitigation primer. We look at the slab before quoting and price each of those as its own line, so you can see exactly what drives the total.
It depends on the system and the repairs. A fast-cure polyaspartic floor can often be ground, coated and walked on within a short window, while a multi-coat epoxy build with flake needs more time between coats. Your proposal gives the working days and the day you can park on the floor again.
Illinois issues no state license for flooring or coatings work. What applies instead is local: in Evanston every contractor must register with the City and keep minimum insurance on file, and many suburbs have their own registration, bond and insurance rules. We show you the paperwork the town asks for rather than a state license number that does not exist.
Evanston deleted the model codes' list of permit-exempt work when it adopted the 2021 codes, so the City's Building and Inspection Services Division decides what is exempt. We check with the City before the job rather than assuming a coating is exempt, and commercial food floors also go through the City's health plan review.
Epoxy builds thick, bonds hard to ground concrete and costs less per coat, but it cures slowly and many epoxies amber in sunlight. Polyaspartic cures much faster, holds its color in UV light and resists hot tire pickup, which is why we often use it as the topcoat over an epoxy base or as a full fast-cure system.
Most peeling traces back to the slab: a coating laid over sealer, paint or acid-etched laitance, or moisture rising through concrete poured without a vapor retarder. Thin kit coatings also lift under warm tires. Grinding to open concrete, testing for moisture and building to a stated thickness are what keep a floor attached.
Every home job gets a written contract and the state pamphlet Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights before any work begins, as the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires for jobs over $1,000. The proposal itself names the product, the system build, the finished thickness and the warranty exclusions.
Sometimes. A heated or attached garage that holds the slab warm and dry can be coated in cold months. An unheated detached garage often cannot keep the slab temperature and dew point spread where the product needs them, and when that is the case we tell you plainly and book the floor for spring.
No. Acid etching leaves residue, does not remove sealers or old coatings, and gives an uneven profile. We open every slab with a diamond grinder or shot blaster to a measured ICRI surface profile, vacuum it clean and only then prime, which is the step that decides whether the coating stays bonded.
No. A coating is a surface film, not a waterproofing system, and it does nothing to stop a sewer backup or water pushed up by hydrostatic pressure. What it does is make a dry basement floor easier to clean and a wet event easier to recover from. Water entry is a drainage or plumbing problem to solve first.
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