8 steps, in the order they happen
Eight steps,
none of them skipped
Cheaper quotes are not cheaper versions of this process. They are this process with steps removed. Here is the whole thing, so you can tell which ones are missing from anyone else's.
- 01
Day 0 · 30 minutes
Site visit and moisture test
We measure the space, read the slab condition, and run a calcium chloride or in-situ RH moisture test. The reading goes on the written quote. This visit is where the specification gets decided. Every later step follows from what the slab is actually doing.
Why it matters
A slab that reads above 80% RH needs a moisture-mitigation primer before anything decorative goes on. A slab with soft, scaled concrete needs a different grinding progression than a sound one. Contractors who quote from a phone call are guessing at both.
- 02
Day 1 · morning
Mask, protect and set up containment
Walls, doors, cabinets and anything staying in the space get masked. Interior work gets poly containment and negative air where needed. Grinders run to HEPA dust extractors so silica dust is captured at the tool rather than settling over everything you own.
Why it matters
This is the step that decides whether you like us by the end of the job. Concrete grinding without extraction puts a grey film on every surface in the building, and it does not come off easily.
- 03
Day 1 · morning
Diamond grind to profile
Planetary diamond grinders open the closed surface layer of the concrete to a measured CSP profile. CSP 2-3 for thin coatings, CSP 4-5 for thick broadcast systems. Any existing coating, adhesive or contamination comes off in this pass.
Why it matters
This is the single most important step in the entire job. Resin bonds mechanically into an opened profile. Acid etching, pressure washing and chemical prep do not produce one, which is why coatings installed over them lift, usually within a year, usually in clean sheets.
- 04
Day 1 · midday
Repair cracks, spalls and joints
Cracks get chased into a V and filled with a rigid polyurea that cures harder than the surrounding concrete. Spalls and pop-outs are rebuilt with a resin-and-sand mortar and ground flush. Control joints are either filled flush or honoured through the coating.
Why it matters
Whether a joint gets filled or honoured is a judgement call made on site, not from a price list. A slab that is still moving needs its joints left to do their job; a stable interior slab can be filled flush for a seamless look.
- 05
Day 1 · midday
Vacuum, tack and prime
The floor is vacuumed and tack-wiped so nothing sits between the concrete and the resin. Where the moisture reading requires it, a 100% solids moisture-vapour-barrier primer goes down in two coats before anything decorative.
Why it matters
Grinding dust left on a slab acts as a bond breaker. It is invisible once the resin is over it, and it is one of the quiet causes of patchy adhesion that shows up years later.
- 06
Day 1 · afternoon
Base coat and broadcast
The pigmented base coat goes down, and while it is still wet, vinyl flake or quartz aggregate is broadcast to full rejection, thrown until the floor will not absorb another chip. Metallic floors instead get a clear pigmented pour, hand-worked with squeegee, blower and solvent.
Why it matters
Full rejection is roughly 0.5-0.8 lbs of flake per square foot. A partial broadcast uses about a third of that and shows the base colour between chips. Both are sold as "flake systems"; only one still looks right in year ten.
- 07
Day 2
Scrape, vacuum and topcoat
The cured floor is scraped to knock down loose flake edges, then vacuumed thoroughly. Two coats of UV-stable polyaspartic go on, with an anti-slip additive where the space needs it. This is the layer that does the real work, hot tire resistance, chemical resistance and UV stability.
Why it matters
Polyaspartic recoats in one to two hours, which is why both topcoats land in a single day. On a one-day polyaspartic build, this entire sequence from step 03 compresses into a single visit.
- 08
Day 2 → Day 5
Cure, walkthrough and handover
Walk on the floor after 24 hours, park on it after 72. We walk the finished floor with you, hand over a maintenance sheet listing compatible cleaners, and leave the product data sheets and film thickness on record.
Why it matters
The cure schedule is chemistry, not scheduling preference. Parking early is the fastest way to print tire marks into a floor that has not finished cross-linking, and it is not a warranty item.
What changes by system
| System | Process difference | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Flake epoxy | The standard eight steps as written above | 2 |
| One-day polyaspartic | Steps 3-7 compress into a single visit; no overnight cure | 1 |
| Metallic epoxy | Adds a skim-coat day so nothing telegraphs through the clear layer | 3 |
| Quartz broadcast | Two full broadcast passes with a cure between, plus integral coving | 3-4 |
| Polished concrete | No coating at all. A 7-9 step grit progression plus densifier | 3-5 |
See what your slab needs
The site visit takes about half an hour and includes the moisture reading. You get a written fixed price with the specification on it.