Basement Floor Coating in Seattle

Usually, yes, as long as the moisture is vapor and not water. A damp-looking slab or white chalky deposits are signs of vapor coming up through the concrete, and a moisture vapor barrier primer under the coating blocks it. Standing water, or a floor that gets wet after heavy rain, is different: that's a drainage or waterproofing problem to fix first. No floor coating stops running water, and we won't coat over it.

About $4 to $12 a square foot installed, the same range as our garage floors. A damp slab that needs the barrier primer, or an old coating that has to come off at about $1 to $3 a square foot, pushes it toward the top. You get the exact number in writing after the moisture test at the free estimate.

It depends on what the slab shows, which is why we test before we quote. Being below grade is the single biggest risk factor on its own. Add an older house, drainage problems outside or a previous coating that peeled, and the barrier becomes part of the job rather than an option.

Yes. Diamond grinding takes old paint, sealers and coatings off down to clean concrete. If the old coating peeled, we want to know why first: if the underside is damp, chalky or blistered, moisture pushed it off, and a barrier goes under the new floor.

One or two days. It's two when the slab needs a moisture barrier, because the barrier primer cures overnight before the base coat goes down. You can walk on the finished floor the next day.

Summer is the safest window, because the slab is driest. Polyaspartic cures in cool temperatures, so fall and spring work too when the slab passes the moisture test. In the wettest weeks of winter the slab is at its most saturated, and we'd steer most homeowners toward waiting.

Any glossy floor is slick when it's wet. We mix anti-slip grit into the clear topcoat for traction, and we can go heavier on it if you want more grip.

Cracks are filled and ground flush before coating, and the flake hides stains and color differences. What a coating won't do is level the floor: it's a thin film that follows the concrete, so a dip or slope in the slab will still be there. Structural cracks or crumbling concrete need repair first.

Yes. Put rubber mats down where weights get dropped, because impact damage isn't covered by the warranty.

The same lifetime adhesion warranty as every floor we install. If the coating delaminates from the concrete, whether it peels, blisters or lifts, we repair or recoat the affected area at no charge. It doesn't cover impact damage, abrasion, staining, improper maintenance, or using the floor before the cure times we give you.

You can, but we don't recommend it below grade, and it isn't what we install. Epoxy blocks vapor and cures rigid, so moisture coming up through a below-grade slab blisters and peels it, and it needs a warm, dry slab to cure, which a Seattle basement rarely offers. Our basement floors are a polyurea base coat and flake under a clear polyaspartic topcoat, with a moisture vapor barrier primer underneath when the slab needs one.

Three get used. A sealer or stain is thin and cheap, wears quickly and does nothing about moisture. A DIY epoxy kit is rigid and blocks vapor, so it peels when vapor pushes up, and it needs a warm, dry slab. A professional flake system, a polyurea base and full flake under a clear polyaspartic topcoat over a diamond-ground slab, with a vapor barrier primer when the test calls for it, is the one that lasts below grade. Tile, vinyl plank and carpet aren't coatings; each traps moisture against the slab and is the first thing to fail when the basement gets damp.