Two quotes on the same Collingwood garage, $2,100 and $5,800. Both say “epoxy garage floor with flake, grey.” Both include a warranty. Neither is lying.
The difference is entirely in what is not written down. Here is how to make it visible.
The eight lines that matter
1. Preparation method — and a profile
Look for the words diamond grind and a CSP number (Concrete Surface Profile, an ICRI scale from 1 to 9). A thin-film system wants CSP 2 to 3.
If it says “acid etch,” “surface preparation,” “clean and prep,” or nothing at all, ask directly. A power-trowelled residential slab has a hard, closed surface, and acid does not open it meaningfully. This is the single most common cause of coating failure and it is invisible in the finished floor.
Ask: “Are you diamond grinding, and to what profile?”
2. A slab moisture reading
The quote should reference an actual test — calcium chloride (ASTM F1869) or in-slab RH (ASTM F2170) — with a result.
No test means nobody knows whether the floor can hold a coating. On a Wasaga Beach slab on sand, or anything poured before about 1980, that is not a detail.
Ask: “What did the slab test at, and is a mitigating primer needed?”
3. The product, by name
“Epoxy” is a category, not a product. The quote should name the manufacturer and system, and state how many coats and what film thickness.
This matters for a reason beyond quality: it is what makes the warranty enforceable. You cannot claim against a system nobody wrote down.
Ask: “Which system, and how many coats?”
4. Flake broadcast rate
If the floor has flake, it is either broadcast to rejection — thrown until the surface will not take any more, then scraped back and top-coated — or it is scattered lightly to a partial coverage.
Full rejection uses several times more flake and an extra day. It is also the difference between a floor that hides wear and one that shows every scuff of the base coat between the chips.
Ask: “Full rejection or partial broadcast?”
5. Control joints
The saw-cut lines in the slab are movement joints and they are still moving. The quote should say they are filled with a flexible polyurea and treated as joints.
Filling them rigid and coating straight over is the standard shortcut. The joint reappears as a crack in the coating, usually within two seasons, and it will follow the line exactly.
Ask: “How are the control joints handled?”
6. Anti-slip
In a region where every floor is wet with meltwater and salt from November to March, this is a safety specification. It should name an aggregate and a grade.
It matters most on rental property. A glossy chalet garage floor at Craigleith, ski boots, and meltwater is a liability question, not a comfort one.
Ask: “What anti-slip additive, and at what grade?”
7. Cure and return to service
Two separate numbers: when you can walk on it, and when you can park on it. Polyaspartic is typically same evening and 24 to 48 hours. Epoxy is 24 hours and five to seven days.
If a quote promises epoxy with next-day vehicle traffic, something is wrong with either the product or the promise.
Ask: “When can I put the car back?”
8. What the warranty actually covers
This is where long numbers do the most work for the least substance. A meaningful warranty:
- names the system installed,
- names the slab moisture reading it was issued against,
- covers delamination and loss of bond, not merely manufacturing defects in the resin,
- states what voids it,
- and is transferable if you sell.
A 25-year warranty that excludes delamination excludes the only failure that happens. Read that clause specifically.
Ask: “Does this cover the coating letting go, and is it transferable?”
The quick comparison table
Put two quotes side by side on these rows. Almost every large price gap is explained here.
| Line | Weak quote | Real specification |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | “Prep and clean” / acid etch | Diamond grind to CSP 2–3, dust collected |
| Moisture | Not mentioned | Tested, result stated, primer if needed |
| Product | “Epoxy” | Named system, coats and film thickness |
| Flake | “With flake” | Broadcast to rejection, scraped, top-coated |
| Joints | Not mentioned | Flexible polyurea, honoured |
| Anti-slip | Not mentioned | Named aggregate and grade |
| Warranty | “25 years” | Covers delamination, names the system, transferable |
Three things that should make you pause
A firm price without a site visit. Nobody can price a floor they have not seen and not tested. A phone quote is a range at best.
Pressure to sign today. Discount-expires-tonight is a sales technique, not a scheduling constraint. Legitimate scheduling pressure in this region is real but it runs the other way — the shoulder weeks in April and November genuinely book out months ahead, and a contractor who is busy will tell you a date, not a deadline.
A quote that will not put the preparation method in writing. If they grind, they will happily say so. It is the expensive part and it is what they are proud of.
And one thing in your favour
Ask to see a floor they did four or five years ago, in this area, ideally an unheated one.
New floors all look excellent. The ones that were prepared properly still look excellent after five winters of brine, and the ones that were not have started letting go at the door. Nobody who does this work well will struggle to show you one.