Failed roll-on paint? Peeling big-box kit? Tired old epoxy? We grind it off, repair the slab, and install a real professional system in its place.
Old Coatings Removed | Slab Repaired | New System Installed
Any Chattanooga garage with an existing coating that has failed, aged out, or stopped looking the way the homeowner wants. The most common starting points are a hardware-store epoxy kit that is peeling under the tires, a roll-on garage floor paint that is chipping off in sheets, an old solid-color industrial epoxy that has worn through in the wheel paths, or a 15-year-old flake floor that is still bonded but tired and yellowed. In every case the answer is the same: get the old coating off, fix the slab, and install a new professional system. There is no shortcut.
A coating only bonds as well as the layer it sits on. If your existing finish is peeling, that whole layer is compromised and anything you put on top of it will peel right along with it. Even an intact older coating is rarely a good substrate for a new system, because the chemistry of the two products may not be compatible and the existing finish is usually too smooth to bond. The professional answer is to mechanically remove the old coating with a diamond grinder, expose fresh concrete, and start over. It is more work, but it is the only way to get a result that lasts.
We diamond grind the entire floor, which removes the old coating, any residual sealer, and the top surface of the concrete itself. The work is dust-controlled with HEPA vacuums attached to the grinders, so the garage stays cleaner than you might expect. Once the floor is back to fresh concrete, we inspect for cracks, pits, and spalls that the old coating was hiding. Most older floors need a bit of crack chase and patch work at this stage. Then we treat the floor like a fresh install: moisture test, primer if needed, base coat, flake or color of choice, and a clear topcoat.
Removal typically adds $1 to $3 per square foot to the price of the new coating system, depending on what is on the floor and how stubborn it is. A thin failed roll-on grinds off fast. A thick industrial coating is more involved. The quote breaks removal out as a separate line so you can see exactly what the recoat work costs versus the new system on top.
After removal, most homeowners install our flagship epoxy garage floor coating or a one-day polyaspartic system. If the old slab needs more than a few crack repairs, see concrete floor repair. For more on why coatings fail in the first place, our blog post on why garage floor coatings peel walks through it.
We strip and replace failed coatings across Chattanooga, including East Ridge, Hixson, and Ringgold. Full list on the service areas page.