San Fernando garages worth showing off
Bare concrete in a San Fernando garage soaks up every drip. A coated floor wipes clean and stops the dusting, and we put ours down over a ground, repaired slab. It sits in Los Angeles County, about 28 miles southwest of Palmdale.
Housing age, and why we care
About 28 miles southwest of Palmdale. Housing figures from the US Census.
Census numbers put the typical home in San Fernando at about 1957. Slabs this old have often settled a little, with a crack running from a corner or a low spot where water sits. That is normal and fixable. We fill cracks with a repair material made for coatings, grind the high edges flush, and tell you up front if a crack is the kind that will keep moving.
A coating bridges small cracks; it will not stop a slab from shifting.
Most homes here are stand-alone houses, about 71 in every 100. A town of single-family houses is a town of garages. Our job is turning those slabs into floors that wipe clean and look sharp, for a daily-driver garage or a weekend project bay alike.
About 60% of homes are owner-occupied. That mix decides who calls: owners redoing their own garage, landlords between tenants, or a business with a shop floor.
San Fernando is part of the foothill side of the valleys, sheltered by the mountains to the north and exposed to their winds when the Santa Anas blow. Close by, typical homes run from about 1958 in Burbank to 1999 in Stevenson Ranch, and San Fernando sits on the older side of that spread.
Conditions your floor lives with
The Verdugo and San Gabriel foothills.
Plenty of old foothill garages no longer hold cars. They have become home offices, art studios, gyms, workshops and guest rooms, often with the original slab still underneath. That changes what the floor has to do. A room where people walk barefoot wants a finish that is warm to look at and easy to clean, while a woodshop wants something that shrugs off dropped tools and finish spills. Old slabs in converted spaces may carry tile adhesive, carpet glue, paint or an old sealer, all of which sit between the bare concrete and any new coating.
Living with a floor under big trees is mostly about not letting debris sit. Leaves and seed pods that stay wet can stain even a coated surface over time, so sweep them out after a windstorm and rinse the threshold now and then. A mid-tone flake blend hides the odd leaf stain and tracked-in grit far better than white or black. Wipe sap and bird mess when you see them.
Detached garages with old, gappy doors are hard to seal, so on these jobs we tape and cover the gaps before the coats go down and watch the Santa Ana forecast closely. If the wind is due, the coating day moves and the crew uses the time to grind and patch. Fall and winter are otherwise a comfortable stretch for foothill work, so it pays to book with a little flexibility.
Good fits for San Fernando floors
Garage Floor Epoxy Coatings
Flake, metallic or solid garage floors built on a full diamond grind, with a top coat that handles hot tires and oil.
Flake Epoxy Flooring
Colored vinyl chips broadcast into an epoxy base and sealed under a clear top coat, for garages, shops and patios.
Concrete Crack Repair
Cracks chased open, filled with rigid or flexible filler depending on movement and ground flush, with honest talk about what will show.
The next towns over
- Burbank
9.3 miles away, Los Angeles County
- Santa Clarita
9.6 miles away, Los Angeles County
- Stevenson Ranch
11 miles away, Los Angeles County
- La Crescenta-Montrose
12 miles away, Los Angeles County
More in Los Angeles County, on the services page and in the gallery.
Questions before the grinder shows up
Do you come out to San Fernando?
Yes. San Fernando is about 28 miles southwest of our shop in Palmdale, inside the 60 miles we cover for homes and well inside the 150 we cover for commercial and industrial work. We come out, look at the floor and give you a price after we have seen it.
What should I know about a slab from around 1957?
Oil that has soaked in for decades goes deeper than a grind reaches. We degrease, grind and treat the worst spots so the base coat can bond there. Skip that step and the coating lifts right where the car used to drip.
Will leaves and tree debris stain a coated floor?
A coated floor resists stains far better than bare concrete, which soaks up tannins from wet leaves. Debris that sits wet for a long time can still mark the surface, so sweep it out after windy days. A mid-tone flake blend hides what little does show.
A tree root lifted the edge of our garage slab. Can it still be coated?
The lifted or cracked section has to be dealt with first, because a coating follows the concrete and will crack wherever the slab moves. A small offset can be ground flush and patched; a badly heaved section may need replacing by a concrete contractor. We tell you which one you have before we quote.
Our garage is from the 1930s and sits at the back of the lot. Is it worth coating?
Usually, yes, once the slab proves sound. Expect more prep than a newer garage, since crumbling edges, settling cracks and decades of paint and oil all have to be dealt with. We tell you during the look if the concrete is too far gone for a coating alone.
Water runs down the driveway into our garage when it rains. Can a coating fix that?
A coating keeps water from soaking into the slab, though it will not stop water from coming in. For that you need a drain or a threshold seal at the door, which we would recommend before or alongside the floor. We seal the coating edges well so runoff cannot creep under them.
Why won’t you price the floor over the phone?
Because two garages the same size can need completely different prep. One might be bare concrete; the next might have three layers of paint and a moisture problem. Seeing it is the only honest way to price it, and we can often come out the same day.
When can I park on it?
Cars wait longer than feet, because hot tires on a fresh top coat can mark it. Plan on several days before parking, depending on the system and the weather. We give you the date before we pack up.
Does grinding make a mess?
Our grinders run with a vacuum attached, so most of the dust goes into the bag instead of your house. We tape off doors and openings and clean up before coating, because any dust left behind ends up in the finish.
Can you coat a floor in summer heat?
Yes, but heat speeds up the cure, so we work early in the day and mix in smaller batches. A garage that bakes in the afternoon gets coated in the morning. We pick products that handle the temperature.
Planning a floor
in San Fernando?
Send a few photos of the floor and the room and we will tell you what it needs.
What to send and what happens next. Want proof first? See the floors.