Water first, always
If water gets in through your walls or at the wall-floor joint, you solve that before any coating. A floor coating is not waterproofing and it will not hold water back.
Basement
Basement Epoxy Flooring That Stops the Dust and the Damp
A bare basement slab powders, and that dust gets into everything you keep down there. We seal it so the room becomes storage you actually want to use. We test your slab for moisture first, free, because that is what decides whether a coating will hold at all.
Get Your Free Quote
Call or Text (203) 496-6386
Free, no obligation, and nothing to sign. We answer the same day, weekends included.
Can you put epoxy on a basement floor?
Usually yes, and your answer turns on one thing that has nothing to do with the coating.
Moisture is the whole question
A slab sitting on damp ground passes water vapour upward. A coating on top of that can lift, blister or lose its bond, and it is the most common reason a basement floor fails. We test yours before we quote it.
The test is free and you can run it
Tape a square of plastic sheet to the slab, seal the edges, leave it a day and look underneath. Condensation means moisture is moving. It costs nothing and it tells you more than any brochure.
If it tests wet
That is not the end of it. We put a moisture mitigation layer down first, and your job costs more than a dry slab. Better that you know now.
Benefits of Basement Floor Coating
Mostly we stop your floor being a nuisance.
No more dust
Bare concrete sheds fine dust constantly. It settles on everything you store down there, and it is why boxes in a basement always feel gritty.
It cleans
A sealed floor mops. Bare concrete drinks whatever you spill on it and keeps it.
It reads as a room
Once the floor is finished the space stops looking like a foundation and starts looking like somewhere you could put something.
Every floor on this page is one we poured
How Atlas Coats a Basement Floor
Our sequence is the same as any floor with one addition at the front, and that addition is the whole reason your basement is its own job.
The moisture test comes first
Before anything is quoted, the slab is tested. You can run the plastic sheet test yourself in a day for nothing, and it is worth doing before you take a single quote from anybody.
Mitigation, if it is needed
A slab passing vapour gets a moisture-tolerant primer or a mitigation layer before the system goes on. This is not optional and it is not an upsell. A coating applied over a wet slab lifts, and it lifts after you have paid for it.
Grinding
Back to bare concrete with our dust extraction running. Your basement is enclosed, so extraction matters more here than anywhere else in the house.
Repairs and the perimeter
We cut and fill the cracks, and we decide with you what happens where your slab meets the wall. In a basement that edge is often where water has shown up before, and it is worth talking about rather than coating over.
Base, broadcast and top coat
As any floor. We usually put flake down, because it hides a slab that has had fifty years of storage on it.
Ventilation while it cures
An enclosed space needs air moving through it during cure. Brad will tell you what he needs open and for how long.
What Affects the Price of a Basement Floor
More variable than a garage, because more of your slab is unknown until we grind it.
Whether it tests wet
Your largest single variable. A dry basement slab is an ordinary floor. A wet one needs mitigation first and costs accordingly.
What is on it now
Old paint, adhesive from tiles or carpet, and sealer all have to come off. Basement slabs have often had two or three lives before we get to them.
Access
Our grinding equipment has to get down there. A narrow bulkhead or a tight turn on your stairs adds time, so mention it when we quote.
Slab condition
Basement slabs are often thinner and less well finished than a garage slab, with more pitting and more variation in level than you would expect.
Common Basement Floor Problems, and What a Coating Does About Them
Some of these a resin floor solves outright. Others it does not, and it is better to know which is which before you spend anything.
Concrete dust
Solved. A sealed slab stops shedding, which is why everything you store in an uncoated basement feels gritty.
Staining and spills
Solved. Bare concrete drinks whatever lands on it. Your coated floor does not, and it mops.
Cold underfoot
Not solved. A coating is a thin surface, not insulation. If warmth matters to you, that is an insulated subfloor question, and a subfloor goes on top of a coated slab perfectly well.
Damp walls
Not solved. A floor coating does nothing about water coming through your walls, and if water is getting in, that is a different trade and it comes before us.
Efflorescence
That white powder on your slab is salt left behind by evaporating water. It is a symptom rather than the problem, and it is a strong reason to let us run the moisture test before you go further.
What customers wrote
4.7 from 15 Google reviews. We publish every one of them on the reviews page, including the one star and what came of it.
amazing job on my basement thanks again Brad the epoxy flooring was better then even i expected
great job on my shop Floor thanks again Brad
Floors came out great and the countertops too!
Finishing a Basement, and Where the Floor Fits
Order of operations, because getting it wrong costs you money.
Then the slab
Let us coat it while the space is empty and accessible. Grinding a slab between finished walls is slower, dustier and costs you more.
Then build on it
Your framing, subfloor and finishes go on top of a sealed slab. A coated slab under a subfloor still earns its cost by stopping vapour and dust.
Or stop there
A coated slab is a perfectly good finished floor if your basement is a workshop, a gym or storage. Not every basement needs to become a living room.
Basement Floor Colors and Finishes
A short note, because basements get treated as an afterthought and your choice matters more here than in a garage.
A light color changes how a dark room feels
Your basement probably has no natural light. A light floor measurably improves how the space feels under a bulb.
Flake hides fifty years of storage
Most basement slabs are marked. A busier blend absorbs that history so you stop seeing it.
Gloss shows more
We often steer you to satin in a basement, where dust settles and nobody is polishing the floor weekly.
Coatings we install
We install six systems, and most floors we put down combine two of them.
Flake
- Where it fits
- Garages and basements
- How it looks
- Vinyl chip broadcast into the body coat. Busier blends hide more of a working slab.
- Where we use it
- The garage floor we put down most.
Solid color
- Where it fits
- Workshops, warehouses, basements
- How it looks
- One flat color, sealed and cleanable.
- Where we use it
- Floors you need easy to clean, where we can add line marking.
Metallic
- Where it fits
- Attached garages, showrooms, countertops
- How it looks
- Pigment moved through the resin while it's wet, so no two floors come out the same.
- Where we use it
- Floors you look at as part of the house, which is where we get asked for it most.
Quartz
- Where it fits
- Commercial kitchens and wet areas
- How it looks
- Colored quartz aggregate for a hard, textured floor.
- Where we use it
- Floors where we have to meet a slip specification.
Polyaspartic
- Where it fits
- Top coat over any system, patios
- How it looks
- A UV-stable clear coat that cures in hours.
- Where we use it
- We use it for sunlight, cold weather and fast turnarounds.
Anti-slip
- Where it fits
- Pool decks, ramps, plant floors
- How it looks
- A coarse broadcast texture in the surface.
- Where we use it
- We put it where your floor gets wet or sits outdoors.
What's under your finished floor
We put down four layers, and each one has its own job. Scroll and we'll take your floor apart so you can see them.
- Polyaspartic top coatWe finish with a UV-stable, hard-wearing coat that takes your tires, your chemicals and the sunlight so the color underneath doesn't.
- Color and flake coatOur body coat carries your flake blend or metallic pour, so this is the layer you picked.
- Primer and moisture barrierWe work it into the opened concrete, and it locks everything above it to your slab.
- Concrete substrateYour slab. We diamond grind it back to bare concrete so everything we put on top has something to grip.
A DIY kit against a professional floor
They look alike on day one. Drag the timeline and watch what changes.
Day 1Year 1Year 3
- Day 1 Rolled onto a washed slab. It looks fine.
- Year 1 Hot tires lift it where it never bonded to the concrete.
- Year 3 Peeling and stained, and we have to grind the old coat off before anything new goes down.
- Day 1 We diamond grind your slab, then put down the primer, body coat and top coat.
- Year 1 We bond ours to opened concrete, so nothing lifts.
- Year 3 Yours wipes clean, and we back the coating with a lifetime product warranty.
How big is your floor?
Slide to your size and see what fits it. Brad gives you the exact number when he's seen the slab.
2-car garageAbout 20 by 22 feet
What we'd suggestFlake, solid color or metallic
What we put downWe grind your slab, then primer, a color or flake coat and the top coat
Install timeMost residential floors are finished in a day.
How your epoxy floor gets done, from first call to parking on it
Three steps, and Brad does every one of them himself. Most residential floors are finished in a day.
- 1
You call, text or send the form
Tell us the room and roughly how big it is. We'll talk you through the range and book a time to come and look, often the same day. Weekends count, and there's nothing to sign.
- 2
Brad reads your slab and you pick your finish
He checks for cracks, old coating and moisture, then measures up. You choose your flake blend or metallic against your own floor, not a brochure. Your written quote comes back the same day.
- 3
We grind it back and build your floor up
Your slab goes back to bare concrete under a diamond grinder with dust extraction. Then the primer, the body coat with your flake or metallic, and the top coat. You get your walk-on and park-on times with the quote.
Moisture comes first in a basement
A slab passing moisture upward lifts a coating off it. The test costs nothing and takes a day, and it is worth running before you take any quote.
Get my free quoteQuestions people ask
Will it stop my basement being damp?
No. A floor coating is not a waterproofing system for your walls. If water is getting in, that is a different job and it comes before us.
Can I do it before finishing the basement?
That is the sensible order. Let us coat the slab, then build on it.
What if there is already paint on the floor?
It comes off in our grinding. A previously painted slab takes us longer to prepare than a bare one, and that shows in the quote.
Can you put epoxy on a basement floor?
Usually yes, and it turns on moisture rather than on the coating. We test your slab first, and the test is free.
How do I test my basement slab for moisture?
Tape a two-foot square of clear plastic to your bare concrete, seal all four edges, leave it a full day and look underneath. Condensation means moisture is moving through your slab. We will do it for you at the visit.
My basement floor has white powder on it. What is that?
Efflorescence, which is salt left behind as water evaporates out of your slab. It means water has been moving through the concrete, and it is a reason to test before you coat.
Will a coated floor make my basement warmer?
No. It is a surface, not insulation. It will make your basement cleaner, sealed and far easier to live with.
Should I coat the floor before or after finishing the basement?
Before. We coat the slab and you build on it afterwards, which is cheaper than us working around finished walls.
Can you coat a basement with a floor drain or a sump?
Yes, and tell us about both before the day so we get your falls and your edges right.
What if my basement floods occasionally?
Tell us at the quote. A coating survives water on top of it far better than your bare concrete does, but a floor that floods is a different specification.
Should I coat the slab before finishing my basement?
Yes. Coating your empty, accessible slab is faster and cheaper than us grinding between finished walls, and it stops vapour and dust under a subfloor.
Will a floor coating stop water coming into my basement?
No. Water entering through walls or at the wall-floor joint is a different trade and it comes first.
Ready to stop looking at that floor?
Tell us roughly what you have and we'll come and look at it. The quote is free, there's nothing to sign, and you'll know what your floor costs before you commit to anything.
Get Your Free Quote Call or Text (203) 496-6386