Garage floors with peeling epoxy
Hot tires, dropped tools and coatings laid over poor prep tend to lift first where you park, and garages are the floors we get called about most.
Concrete Floor Stripping & Removal in Spring Valley CA - a clean slab ready to coat
Old epoxy peeling, flaking or lifting in patches? We take off what's failing and leave bare, sound concrete a new coating can grip.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What stripping an old floor coating involves
Concrete floor stripping and removal in Spring Valley means taking a failing coating off your slab by grinding, shot blasting or a chemical stripper, so the bare concrete underneath is clean enough for a new coating to bond.
It usually starts with a garage or shop floor where the old coating is peeling at the door, lifting where the tires sit or flaking in patches, and you're left wondering whether all of it has to come up. The price turns on how much of the coating still holds, how big the floor is, how hard the old coating is to get off and what's going down afterward, and the schedule mostly turns on whether an older floor needs asbestos testing first. The estimate on site is where you get your own figure. We're based in Spring Valley and work in many of the cities around it, so if you're not sure we cover your address, just ask.
A straight answer on your slab
I'd rather tell you plainly what your floor can handle than sell you a full strip and a new coating that looks good for a season and then lets go.
Prep is where we spend our time
We're known for taking our time on the slab before any coating goes down, because nobody sees the prep once the floor is done, but it decides how the floor holds up.
Your place left as we found it
Stripping is messy work, so we clean up as we go and leave your garage, shop or yard the way we found it, only with a floor that's ready for its next coat.
How our crew strips a coated floor
I start by walking the floor and checking how much of the old coating still holds, because if most of it is bonded, a repair makes more sense than a full strip. On older floors, we want asbestos testing sorted out before we disturb anything. Then our crew sets up to keep dust out of the rest of your house, since grinding concrete throws off crystalline silica dust, and that dust causes silicosis, a lung disease with no cure. We take the coating off with the method that fits your floor and the room, work the edges and corners by hand, then look over the bare concrete for leftover patches and soft spots and clean up before we leave.
Stripping is rarely the end of the job, because bare concrete needs a new finish. Most homeowners follow it with one of our epoxy floor coatings, and shops and warehouses usually go to commercial and industrial epoxy floor coatings built for forklifts and heavier traffic. Planning both together lets us leave the surface the way the new coating needs it.
Floors we strip around Spring Valley
Basements in older houses
Below-grade floors often carry older coatings or layers of old flooring, so the building's age matters a lot here, and we want to know what's under there before the grinder comes out.
Patios and pool decks
Outdoor coatings take sun and water all year, and once one starts to flake it usually comes loose in sheets, so we take off what's failing and leave a surface the next coating can grip.
Shops and warehouses
Bigger slabs with forklift traffic and spills wear coatings unevenly, and they call for bigger equipment and more planning around when the floor can be out of use.
Get a free on-site estimate for stripping
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, look at the floor and write the estimate myself, free and with no obligation.
Photos of the trouble spots
A few pictures of where the coating peels, lifts or flakes help me see what we're dealing with before I arrive, so the visit goes straight to the right questions.
Size and age of the floor
Tell us roughly how big the floor is and when the building went up, because size shapes the price and an older floor may need asbestos testing before anything else.
Coating or the slab itself
This page is about taking a coating off concrete, so if you mean removing the concrete slab itself, say so on the form and we'll know what you're asking about.
Concrete floor finishes and coating examples
These photos show bare, coated and finished concrete floors, the kinds of surfaces worth talking through once an old coating comes off.
Questions about stripping a concrete floor
Straight answers to what Spring Valley homeowners ask before an old floor coating comes up, from repairs to asbestos, dust and permits.
Does my whole garage floor need stripping, or just a spot repair?
Often just a repair, if most of the coating still holds. One coatings supplier's guide says that when 90% of the floor is bonded and solid, it's a spot repair job, and full removal makes sense when the bond is failing everywhere. We'll look at yours and tell you plainly which side of that line it's on.
Could my older floor in Spring Valley contain asbestos?
It could. Flooring is one of the building materials more likely to contain asbestos, most often in materials used before 1980, though newer buildings can have it too. The San Diego County Air District strongly recommends having a trained, accredited asbestos professional take samples and test first, since these materials can release fibers when they're cut, sanded, drilled or scraped.
Is asbestos testing required before removing a floor coating in Spring Valley?
Not for every job. The county Air District's rule doesn't require sampling and testing when you remodel a single-family home with no detached unit, such as a granny flat. It also lists condos in buildings of four or fewer units and work that disturbs less than 100 square feet in any 365-day period. On an older floor, we'll still talk testing through before work starts.
Is grinding or a chemical stripper better for my garage?
Grinding, for most home garages. A coatings supplier's guide says diamond grinding is almost always the practical choice for a standard two- or three-car garage, and saves shot blasting for warehouses and larger commercial floors. Chemical strippers are quieter and make little dust, but the residue has to be rinsed or neutralized, and the smooth concrete usually needs etching or light grinding before a new coating.
What license should a contractor have to strip a concrete floor in California?
The state licensing board has a D-6 Concrete-Related Services class that covers concrete sawing, breaking, floor hardening treatment and concrete restoration. If your floor has asbestos, ask about both the contractor's asbestos certification and their license class, since certified contractors can do abatement only within the classes they already hold. We're fully licensed and insured.
Who issues building permits for floor work in Spring Valley?
In the unincorporated parts of San Diego County, the county's Building Services Division issues building permits for homes and commercial buildings. Some addresses around here fall under a city instead, so before we start, we check with the office that covers yours. If they tell us a permit is needed, we'll walk you through it and take care of our part.
Call about the floor coating that's letting go
We answer the phone from early morning until 9 PM every day, so call (619) 648-8003 and tell us roughly how big the floor is.