Garage Floor Epoxy in Ann Arbor, MI

Garage floor epoxy is the job most Ann Arbor homeowners call about, and the garage is where winter does the most damage. More than 60 inches of snow falls in an average year, by the University of Michigan normals listed on Wikipedia, and the county road crews salt the roads to match. Your car carries that salt home. Slush melts off under the wheel wells, the brine pools around the tires, and bare concrete soaks it up. A coating seals the slab so the brine sits on top until you push it out.

What brine and freezing do to a slab

Concrete is full of tiny pores. Salty water works into the top layer, and when it freezes it expands. As it dries, the salt crystallizes inside the pores. Repeat that through a Michigan winter and the surface starts to scale off in thin flakes. The worst wear is usually in the first few feet inside the overhead door, where meltwater collects and temperatures swing most. Under the tires you may also see pitting and dark stains from oil and coolant.

Signs it is time to coat

• Flaking or rough patches near the door or under the tires
• White salt rings where puddles dried
• Concrete dust that comes back right after sweeping
• Oil stains that have soaked in
• An old paint or kit coating peeling in the tire paths
• Cracks or chipped control joints, or low spots where water sits

Prep is the part you pay for

Most failed garage coatings never bonded properly. Acid etching, the method most store kits rely on, cleans the surface but leaves weak, salt-damaged concrete and old sealers behind. We grind the full floor with diamond tooling, edges included, until we reach sound concrete. Then we vacuum, degrease oil spots, and fill cracks and spalls. If there is old paint or coating on the floor, it comes off first. On a garage built in the 1960s or 1970s, which is common in Ann Arbor, this step can take as long as the coating itself.

Picking a finish

Most garage floors here end up with one of three looks. A full flake floor hides salt residue and dust between cleanings and has built-in texture. A solid color with a light flake or an anti-slip additive in the topcoat looks cleaner and more uniform. Either one can take a polyaspartic topcoat, which adds UV and abrasion resistance and cuts the wait before you can park. We bring color samples to the estimate so you can see them in your own garage light.

Garage types we see around Ann Arbor

Attached garages on ranch and split-level homes are the most common. Their slabs are usually in fair shape but have decades of salt in them. Detached garages behind older houses near downtown tend to be smaller, with thinner concrete that may slope, crack or hold water. Tuck-under garages share a wall with the basement and can show moisture coming through. We plan the prep around the garage you have.

Keeping it clean in winter

A coated floor still needs some care in salt season. Squeegee meltwater out after storms, rinse the floor every few weeks through the winter, and use a containment mat under each car if you want less to clean. Avoid metal-edged shovels on the coating and do not let chains or studded tires sit on it.