How do you prepare the slab?
This one question sorts most of the market. The right answer names diamond grinding or shot blasting and a target CSP profile. Wrong answers are acid etching, pressure washing, chemical prep, or vagueness about cleaning. No product is good enough to compensate for an unopened slab.
Do you moisture test, and can I see the number?
A calcium chloride or in-situ RH reading should be taken before quoting and written on the quote. A contractor who skips it is moving the risk of delamination onto you, and you will not find out for two years. On a basement or a pre-1990s slab this is not optional.
Full broadcast or partial, and how many mils?
Full rejection is roughly 0.5-0.8 lbs of flake per square foot; partial is a third of that. Total film thickness should be a number: 25-35 mils residential, 40+ industrial. A contractor who cannot state the build thickness of their own system is applying rather than specifying.
The paperwork questions
Liability insurance and WorkSafeBC coverage are non-negotiable in BC, ask for the certificates and note who hesitates. The quote should be fixed price and itemised down to product names and coverage rates. Time-and-materials on a coating job is how surprise invoices happen.
Red flags that should end it
Cash only, no written contract, full payment up front, a "today only" discount, no local address, refusal to name products, and a quote dramatically below every other. If three quotes are around $5,000 and one is $2,100, the cheap one is not being generous.
Want this answered for your slab?
Free site visit with a moisture reading, then a written fixed price. Across the BC Interior.