Almost anyone can roll resin onto a floor. The questions below are the ones that reveal who actually knows what is under it.
1. 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. There is no product on the market good enough to compensate for an unopened slab, and every contractor who has removed a failed floor knows it.
2. Do You Moisture Test?
Ask whether they run a calcium chloride or in-situ RH test before quoting, and ask to see the number on the quote. Contractors who skip it are moving the risk onto you, and you will not find out for two years. On a basement or a pre-1990s slab this is not optional.
3. Full Broadcast or Partial?
For any flake system, ask this in writing. Full broadcast means chip thrown to rejection, roughly 0.5-0.8 lbs per square foot. Partial uses about a third of that and shows its age quickly. Two quotes can both say "flake system" and be pricing genuinely different floors.
4. What Is the Total Film Thickness?
A real answer is a number in mils: 25-35 for a residential flake system, 40+ for industrial, 1/8"-1/4" for quartz. A contractor who cannot tell you the build thickness of what they install is not specifying, they are just applying. Thickness is what gives a floor reserve against damage.
5. Epoxy, Polyaspartic, or Both, and Why?
You want a specific answer tied to your situation. "Epoxy base for build, polyaspartic topcoat for UV stability and fast cure" is a real answer. "It's polyaspartic, which is better" without a reason is a sales line. If your garage gets direct sun and they are quoting a clear epoxy topcoat, that floor will amber.
6. What Happens to the Cracks and Control Joints?
Cracks should be chased out and filled with a rigid polyurea, not smeared with caulk. Control joints are either filled flush or honoured through the coating, and there should be a reason for whichever one they pick. Coating straight over cracks reproduces them in a new colour within a year.
7. Insurance, WorkSafeBC and a Written Fixed Quote
Liability insurance and WorkSafeBC coverage are non-negotiable for any contractor in BC, ask for the certificates, and note who hesitates. The quote should be written, 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. Acid etching described as surface preparation. A refusal to name the products. And a quote dramatically below the others, if three come in around $5,000 and one is $2,100, the cheap one is not being generous, it is skipping the steps you are actually paying for.
Want a real number for your floor?
Free site visit with a moisture reading, and a written fixed price. Across the BC Interior.