Epoxy that sticks to Sierra Madre concrete
Sierra Madre is 29 miles south of Palmdale in a straight line. Distance does not change the process: same grind, same base coat, same top coat, same honest walkthrough.
Housing age, and why we care
About 29 miles south of Palmdale. Housing figures from the US Census.
Census numbers put the typical home in Sierra Madre at about 1959. On a slab from the 1950s or earlier, the concrete itself is usually hard and well cured, which is good news. The bad news is everything on top of it: sealers, paint, adhesive from old tile or carpet. Our grinder takes all of that down to bare concrete so the epoxy has something real to grab.
It is slow work, and it is the work that counts.
Most homes here are stand-alone houses, about 67 in every 100. Most homes here are detached houses, which means most floors we would see are attached garages: two-car slabs that take hot tires, oil drips and the odd dropped wrench. That is flake territory, though a metallic floor is always an option if you want the garage to show off.
About 56% of homes are owner-occupied. Numbers like these are why we ask what the space is used for before we talk systems.
Sierra Madre 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 1941 in San Pasqual to 1964 in Arcadia, and Sierra Madre sits on the newer side of that spread.
How the weather shapes the system
The Verdugo and San Gabriel foothills.
The foothill cities are not all old houses. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena carry plenty of commercial space too: studios and production shops, restaurants, showrooms, medical offices and auto shops, plenty of them in older buildings with slabs that have been tiled, carpeted and patched through several tenants. Those floors usually hide a surprise or two under the last finish: mastic, leveling compound, old coatings, or a crack that was covered rather than repaired. Weather matters less indoors, though Santa Ana days still blow grit through every loading door. Commercial work here also tends to run on tight hours, with a business that needs to reopen on schedule.
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.
Where a long driveway runs downhill to the garage, the door threshold takes the water. We seal the coating edge carefully at the door and along the walls so runoff cannot get under it, and grit in the top coat keeps the wet entry from getting slick. If water regularly sheets into the garage, a drain or a threshold seal at the door is worth more than any coating, and we will tell you that straight.
Floors that suit Sierra Madre
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
- Arcadia
2.6 miles away, Los Angeles County
- East Pasadena
2.7 miles away, Los Angeles County
- San Pasqual
3.6 miles away, Los Angeles County
- Monrovia
3.8 miles away, Los Angeles County
More in Los Angeles County, on the services page and in the gallery.
Things worth knowing first
Do you come out to Sierra Madre?
Yes. Sierra Madre is about 29 miles south 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 1959?
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.
We turned the garage into a studio. What floor makes sense?
A metallic or solid color floor with a satin top coat suits a room people live and work in. Old carpet glue, tile adhesive or paint has to be ground off first, and we check for moisture since older slabs often lack a vapor barrier. Flake is still an option if the space gets rough use.
Can you coat the floor of an older commercial building?
Yes. Older commercial floors usually hide mastic, leveling compound or old coatings under the last finish, so we open test spots and grind down to sound concrete. Then the system matches the use, from urethane cement in kitchens to metallic in showrooms. Work gets phased around your hours.
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.
How long does a garage floor take?
Most garage floors take two to three days, depending on the repairs and the system. Day one is usually grinding and crack repair, then the coats go down. We give you the schedule before we start.
Can you coat over my old coating?
No. If the old coating is peeling anywhere, the bond under the rest of it is suspect too, and a new layer on top fails with it. We grind it all off down to bare concrete and start the system fresh.
What about cold weather?
Cold slows the cure, so on chilly days we watch the slab temperature and adjust the products and the schedule. Cold nights matter too, since the floor keeps curing after we leave. Sometimes the right call is to wait for a warmer stretch.
Planning a floor
in Sierra Madre?
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.