Before we arrive
The one thing we need from you is an empty slab. Everything has to come off the floor — cars, shelving on wheels, freezers, tool chests, the lot — so we can grind and coat wall to wall. Most homeowners stage it in the driveway for the day.
- Clear the entire floor, including along the walls
- Make sure we can reach a standard outlet and a water spigot
- Leave the garage door accessible; we'll need it open through the day
- Plan to keep pets out of the space until the following morning
Step 1 — Diamond grinding
We grind the entire slab with dust-collected diamond tooling. This removes laitance, old paint and any previous coating, and opens the concrete's pore structure so the coating can mechanically key into it. This is the step budget installers skip, and it's the one that determines whether the floor lasts.
Step 2 — Crack and joint repair
Cracks, control joints, spalled edges and pitting get filled and re-ground flush. Repairing before coating means the finished floor reads as one continuous surface rather than a map of the slab's history.
Step 3 — Base coat and chip broadcast
The Simiron base coat goes down and decorative chip is broadcast into it to full rejection — meaning we keep throwing chip until the surface won't absorb any more. Full rejection is what gives the finished floor its consistent color and texture. Excess chip is scraped and vacuumed once it sets.
Step 4 — Polyaspartic topcoat
A clear polyaspartic topcoat seals the chip layer under a hard, non-porous, UV-stable surface. This is the layer you actually walk on, and it's what makes the floor mop-cleanable and chemical resistant.
Step 5 — Cure and return to service
Timelines vary a little with temperature and humidity, but the typical residential schedule is consistent.
- Same evening — light foot traffic is fine
- Next day, about 24 hours — park vehicles on it
- About 72 hours — full chemical cure; hold off on heavy chemical exposure until then