Polyurethane floor coatings
A flexible, abrasion-resistant topcoat where the floor moves, gets scrubbed, or sits in sunlight.
The build-up, step by step
Every polyurethane floors job Shanks installs follows the same order, because skipping a stage is how floors fail. Taylor is on site for all of it.
Prep and prime
Grind, patch and prime as with any system. Polyurethane is a topcoat chemistry, not a substitute for preparation.
Body coat
An epoxy or urethane body coat builds the thickness and carries the color.
Urethane topcoat
The urethane goes on last for its flexibility, chemical resistance and color stability.
Right room, right system
Floors that flex slightly, rooms with strong daylight, and anything that gets cleaned with aggressive chemicals.
Where it is the wrong call
Situations where a thick, rigid build is what is actually needed. Urethane is the finish, not the structure.
Back in service: Light traffic in 24 hours, full chemical resistance around seven days.
Compare the other systems
Why this floor costs what it costs
Nobody can price a floor over the phone honestly, because two rooms of identical size can be a day apart in work. These are the things that actually move the number:
Condition of the slab
A clean, sound slab grinds in a morning. One carrying old paint, carpet glue, or a failed coating can take a full day longer before anything can be applied.
How much repair it needs
Cracks, spalled edges, pitting and old anchor holes are filled and ground flush before coating. A slab that needs a lot of this can add a day on its own.
Size and shape
Bigger floors cost less per square foot, because the setup, the mixing and the cleanup are much the same whether the room is 400 or 1,400 square feet. Cut-up rooms with lots of edges take longer than open ones.
Which system you choose
Build thickness and the chemistry of the topcoat are the two biggest material costs. A heavier commercial build genuinely costs more than a residential one.
What Alabama slabs do
Freeze-thaw cycling here is mild compared with the north, but it is real, and it is what turns a hairline crack in a porch or a garage apron into a spalled edge over a few winters. Cracks get filled before they are coated, not after.
Most of the housing around Anniston, Oxford and Jacksonville was poured between the sixties and the eighties, and those slabs were hard-trowelled to a tight, closed surface. They look clean and they take a coating badly until they are properly ground, which is why a store-bought kit so often lets go here within a year.
Where the trailer goesWhat the days actually look like
Knowing the shape of the week takes most of the worry out of it. A typical job runs like this:
Before Taylor arrives
The room has to be completely empty, including anything mounted low on the walls if the coating is being coved up. Freezers and fridges need somewhere else to live for a few days, and the breaker for the room should be reachable.
Grinding day
The loudest day. Grinders run on HEPA vacuums so dust stays contained, but it is not quiet, and it is worth knowing that in advance if somebody works from home.
Coating days
Once resin is down, the room is closed. Pets and children need to stay out, and doors get taped so nobody wanders in overnight.
Getting it back
Foot traffic the next morning. Vehicles wait the full window, and putting a car back early is the one shortcut that visibly damages a new floor.
Keeping it looking new
Sweep and scrub with a neutral cleaner; a solid color shows dirt sooner than a chip floor, which is the trade-off for how bright it makes the room. Traffic lanes will show first, and a recoat in those lanes is a straightforward job that does not need the whole floor redone.
Anything Taylor installs comes with a walk-through at handover covering exactly this, plus what to avoid in the first two weeks while the coating reaches full hardness. If something does go wrong later, tell him about it rather than living with it.
The owner is the installer
Shanks Concrete Coatings is Taylor and Heather Shanks, working out of Anniston. Taylor trained directly with Brian Phillips, The Epoxy Dude, in southern Indiana, and he runs the grinder and pulls the squeegee on every job himself. Licensed and insured, Alabama #2602341.
If a polyurethane floors floor is not the right answer for your room, he will tell you that on the first visit rather than sell it to you. More about how Shanks works, or send over the details of your floor.
Polyurethane Floors questions
How is it different from epoxy?
Epoxy is harder and builds thickness; urethane is more flexible and holds color under UV. Most good floors use both, each doing the job it is best at.
Will it yellow?
Aliphatic urethanes and polyaspartics are color stable. A standard epoxy left as the top layer will amber in sunlight, which is exactly why it is not left on top.
Can it go over my existing epoxy?
If the epoxy is sound and can be scuffed, usually yes. It is a common way to refresh a tired but intact floor.
Is it a matte or gloss?
Either. The sheen is chosen at the topcoat stage.
Is the smell bad during installation?
Less than people expect. Modern urethane and polyaspartic topcoats are low odour compared with older solvent-based systems, and the room is ventilated while it cures. It is still not a job to do while somebody is sleeping next door.
Four questions worth asking any installer
Ask these of Shanks and of whoever else you are talking to. The answers separate a floor that lasts from one that looks good for a season, and a straight installer will not mind being asked.
How are you preparing the slab?
The only acceptable answers involve a diamond grinder or a shot blaster. Acid etching and a scrub with degreaser is not preparation, and it is the single most common reason a coating lets go.
Are you testing for moisture?
On any basement or ground-level slab this should be a yes with a number attached. Vapor pressure will push a coating off no matter how good the product is.
Who is actually on my floor?
Worth asking whoever quotes you. With Shanks the person who quotes it is the person who grinds it and coats it, and that is not true everywhere.
What is the topcoat?
A UV-stable polyaspartic or aliphatic urethane holds its color. A cheap job leaves a standard epoxy as the top layer, and it will amber in daylight within a year or two.
Other systems for the same room
Polyurethane Floors is one of twenty-two systems Shanks installs. If the room is telling you something different, these are the closest alternatives, and Taylor will happily point you at the cheaper one if it is the right answer.
Flake Epoxy
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Metallic Epoxy
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Garage Floor Epoxy
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Grind and Seal
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Talk to the person doing the work
Square footage, what the room is used for, and what the slab looks like now. That is enough to get you a real number on polyurethane floors.