Garage, basement and commercial floor coatings built on a diamond-ground slab and a moisture reading written into the proposal.
Ankeny Epoxy Flooring has spent 20+ years laying epoxy flooring in Ankeny, IA, and the work covers garage floor epoxy, basement floor coatings, polyaspartic and flake systems, metallic epoxy, polished concrete, and commercial, industrial and kitchen floors. Every one of those jobs starts the same way, with the bare slab, a grinder and a moisture reading, because a coating is only as good as the concrete it is bonded to.
Most failed floors we are asked to look at did not fail because of the resin. They failed because the slab was acid etched instead of ground, because nobody tested it for moisture, or because the coating went down in a garage too cold for it to cure. Our proposals are written to rule those causes out before a price is final, and they name the product line, the coat count and the finished thickness so you can hold the floor up against the paper.
This page walks through the work the way a customer meets it: the garage first, then the basement, then the color and finish choices, then the commercial floors that run on shift schedules and inspection rules. If a slab is not ready for a coating, we would rather say so here than after the job is sold.
What we do
Epoxy flooring and polished concrete for Ankeny, Iowa
Ground, moisture-tested epoxy garage floors with flake and a salt-resistant topcoat, built for central Iowa winters.
Diamond-ground, densified polished concrete for showrooms, warehouses and basements, with the aggregate exposure you choose.
Fast-curing, UV-stable polyaspartic floor coatings over a ground, moisture-tested slab, for garages, shops and basements.
Basement floor epoxy that starts with the water question: moisture testing, sump and drain tile checks, then a ground slab.
Hand-worked metallic epoxy floors with a marbled, three-dimensional look for basements, showrooms and offices.
Diamond grinding and shot blasting to a measured surface profile, removing old coatings and high spots with dust captured at the machine.
Crack, spall, joint and scaling repair for garage, basement and commercial slabs, with a straight answer when a slab needs replacing.
Epoxy and polyaspartic floors for retail, offices, clinics, showrooms and service bays, phased around your business hours.
Static-dissipative and conductive epoxy floors, grounded and resistance tested, for electronics, labs and sensitive production areas.
Vinyl flake epoxy floors in the blend and chip size you choose, broadcast to full coverage and sealed under a clear, durable topcoat.
High-build epoxy and urethane cement floors for warehouses, manufacturing plants and shops, phased around production.
Seamless urethane cement kitchen floors with coved bases and wet-area texture, planned around the Food Code and your service hours.
We have been grinding, repairing and coating concrete floors for more than twenty years. That time has mostly taught us which slabs to leave alone until they are fixed, how a winter of road salt treats a garage floor, and why the first hour on a job belongs to a moisture test rather than a mixing paddle.
Every slab we coat is opened with a diamond grinder or a shot blaster to a measured ICRI concrete surface profile, so the epoxy keys into clean, open concrete rather than sitting on the weak, chalky skin a muriatic acid wash leaves behind, which is the layer that peels first under a hot tire.
No price is final until the slab has been tested, with ASTM F1869 calcium chloride kits or ASTM F2170 relative humidity probes written into the scope, because parts of Ankeny sit on poorly drained Webster and Canisteo soils with a seasonal high water table, so vapor is found before it lifts the coating rather than after a warranty claim.
Garage floors here are specified for the brine and rock salt that ride in on tires from November through March, with a polyaspartic or polyurea topcoat over a full flake broadcast, so the surface sheds chloride slush and protects the slab from freeze-thaw scaling rather than relying on a thin roll-on film that dulls and lifts by the second winter.
Cure schedules follow the slab temperature and the dew point spread at the surface, never the calendar, and an unheated garage in a central Iowa winter is told to wait, so amine blush and a soft, cloudy film are never sealed into the floor rather than rushing a cold job to hit a date.
Every commercial kitchen floor we plan is drawn around the 2017 FDA Food Code that Iowa adopts and the state inspects, with a coved base closed at the wall and a texture chosen for the wet zones, so the floor cleans easily and meets the code rather than a flat coating stopped short of the wall where grease and water collect.
No proposal leaves our hands without the product line, the number of coats and the finished thickness written down, so the finished floor can be measured against what was promised rather than a vague premium system line that lets a crew thin the build after the deposit clears.
An epoxy garage floor job starts with a walk-through, a moisture test and a crack map, and the written proposal comes after those readings. Install days cover grinding, repairs, a base coat, a flake broadcast and a topcoat. You get one date for foot traffic and a later one for parking, because the coating needs time to reach full hardness before it carries a car.
Most garages on newer Ankeny houses are attached, with a door straight into the mudroom or kitchen. We grind with a vacuum shroud at the machine so dust is captured rather than tracked inside, and we offer low-odor products for families who want to be back in the house that evening. That choice is about comfort and re-entry, since Iowa sets no rule requiring it.
More than 60 percent of Ankeny’s homes were built in 2000 or later, and it is tempting to assume a young garage slab is a safe one to coat. The model residential code, under the IRC R506.2.3 exception, lets a garage slab be poured without the vapor retarder required under a living-space slab. We test the slab whatever year the house was built, rather than guess what went under it.
Moisture vapor moving up through concrete is the most common reason a coating blisters or lets go. We use the ASTM D4263 plastic sheet test as a quick screen, then calcium chloride kits under ASTM F1869 or in-situ relative humidity probes under ASTM F2170 when the numbers matter. The result decides the primer and the system, and it goes into the proposal.
Cracks, spalls and pitting are mapped before we quote, and each is handled by type. A static hairline crack is filled and ground flush, a moving crack is detailed as a joint, and broken edges are rebuilt with repair mortar. When a slab is heaved, scaled across most of its face or broken into pieces, we say plainly that it should be replaced before anyone coats it.
Bare concrete in a central Iowa garage spends the winter soaking up meltwater laced with calcium chloride and rock salt. Each freeze-thaw cycle in those saturated pores pops a little more of the surface loose, which is the flaking and scaling you see near the overhead door. A sealed, nonporous coating keeps that brine on top, where it can be squeegeed out instead of soaking in.
Epoxy and polyaspartic resins need the slab, not just the air, inside their temperature window while they cure. Federal climate normals put the area at roughly 128 to 150 nights a year at or below freezing, depending on the station, so an unheated garage between late fall and spring often cannot hold a proper cure. In that case we book a warmer stretch rather than coat a cold slab.
Hot tire pickup happens when a warm tire softens a thin coating and pulls it off the floor as the car backs out. It shows up most on single-coat kits and poorly bonded films over a slab that was never ground. A properly profiled slab and a high-build system with a hard topcoat resist that heat and stay put rather than letting go in tire-shaped patches.
Big-box epoxy kits are mostly thin, water-based products rolled over an acid-etched slab, so the finished film is a fraction of a professional build. A 100% solids epoxy base, a full flake broadcast and a polyaspartic topcoat over a diamond-ground slab make a far thicker, harder floor. The kit costs less on day one, and the professional floor is the one still bonded after several winters.
Garage floor pricing moves with square footage, the slab’s condition, the repair work and the system chosen. A sound two-car slab with a standard flake system is the simplest job, while heavy crack repair, old coating removal or a moisture-mitigation primer add cost. We price after the moisture test and crack map, so the number you sign reflects your slab rather than an average.
Basement floor epoxy turns a gray utility slab into a floor you can clean, finish and live on. The question we answer first is moisture, because parts of Ankeny sit on poorly drained soils with a seasonal high water table. We test the slab before recommending a system, and the reading decides whether a standard primer is enough.
New Ankeny basements are drawn with drainage tile and a sump pit on the foundation plan, and those are what keep groundwater off the slab. We work around them, finishing the coating cleanly to the pit lid and drain rims without sealing anything shut. Before a basement is coated we look in the pit and confirm the tile is discharging, because a coating does not stop seepage.
An unfinished basement in a new house is the easiest one to coat, with open floor, no trim to protect and no furniture to move. Coating before framing lets the finish run under the future walls, so there are no cut edges at the bottom plate. A new slab can still be giving off construction moisture, so we test it first rather than assume.
Older basement floors often carry layers of porch paint, patch compound and black mastic left from vinyl tile. All of it comes off down to sound concrete, because a new coating bonds only as well as whatever it sits on. Old black cutback adhesive can contain asbestos, so we ask about the floor’s history before any grinder touches it.
White, chalky powder on a basement floor is efflorescence, the salts left behind when water moves up through the concrete and evaporates. It is a moisture signal, not a cleaning problem. When we see it, we test the slab and look for where the water is coming from before choosing a primer, because coating over active efflorescence traps the salts under the film.
When a basement slab’s vapor emission or relative humidity reading is above what the coating maker allows, a moisture-mitigation primer goes down first. It is a dense, penetrating epoxy built to hold back vapor that would otherwise blister a standard system. It handles vapor drive, not liquid water, so it never stands in for a working sump and drain tile.
Polk County’s hazard plan rates flash flooding as Ankeny’s highest flood hazard, and basement water after a hard storm is how that shows up in a house. If water has been in the basement, the slab is cleaned, dried and tested again before any coating goes on. We would rather wait a few weeks than seal damp concrete, and the water source gets fixed first.
A coated basement floor suits the rooms that see spills, sweat and dropped tools. Laundry areas get a seamless surface that wipes clean, workshops get a harder topcoat that shrugs off oil and dragged equipment, and home gyms get a texture that keeps footing under a sweaty shoe. Rubber gym mats can sit directly on the finished floor.
Most coating warranties exclude failures caused by moisture vapor transmission and hydrostatic pressure, and that exclusion matters most in a basement. We explain it before the job is sold, along with other common limits such as slab movement and chemical exposure. Knowing what is not covered is the reason we test first and write the reading down.
A floor coating is not radon mitigation, and we never sell it as one. In Iowa, radon testing and mitigation take a state credential under Iowa Code chapter 136B, and a sealed floor does not replace a vented system. A coating is not waterproofing either, because it cannot hold back water pushed up by hydrostatic pressure, so the right specialist comes first for either problem.
Vinyl flake floors get their look from the blend of colors and the size of the chip broadcast into the base coat. Larger chips read as a bold speckle, smaller ones as a finer texture, and a full broadcast to refusal hides the concrete completely. A full broadcast also hides dust between sweeps, which is why it is our usual garage recommendation.
Metallic epoxy uses pearlescent pigments in a clear base to make a marbled, three-dimensional floor. The look depends on the installer working the material while it is wet, so no two floors match exactly. It needs a flawless, ground slab, because every flaw in the concrete shows through, and it suits basements, showrooms and offices better than a busy garage.
Polished concrete carries no coating, since the slab itself is ground through progressive diamond grits, hardened with a lithium silicate densifier and polished to a sheen. How deep the first grind goes decides the look: a cream finish keeps the top paste, salt and pepper shows fine aggregate, and full exposure reveals the larger stone. We grind a test area so you see your slab’s aggregate first.
A high-gloss topcoat looks sharp on day one and shows every footprint, swirl and fine scratch. Satin and matte finishes hide dust, tire marks and wear far better, which is why many garage owners choose them. We show sheen samples beside the chip blend you pick, because the same floor reads very differently under each finish.
Quartz aggregate broadcast floors use colored quartz sand seeded into the base coat and locked under clear coats. The result brings color and grip in one step, with a texture that stays firm under foot traffic and wash-downs. Quartz suits locker rooms, commercial restrooms and wet entries where a smooth coating would turn slick.
A solid color epoxy, often a light gray, is the simplest coated floor and sometimes the right call. It brightens a shop, makes dropped parts easy to find and keeps cost down where looks matter less than a clean, sealed surface. We add a fine texture where the floor gets wet, so plain does not have to mean slippery.
Epoxy can yellow, or amber, under sunlight and ultraviolet light, which shows most near an open garage door or a sunny window. We put a UV-stable polyaspartic or aliphatic polyurethane topcoat over the epoxy wherever light reaches the floor. That keeps a light chip blend or a white metallic from drifting toward yellow over a few seasons.
Saw-cut lines can divide a floor into tiles or panels, and a contrasting border can frame a workbench, a parking stall or a showroom display. Logos and lettering can be set into the floor with stencils and colored coats before the clear topcoat seals them in. We lay these out with you before grinding, because a cut line is permanent.
A commercial floor job is larger, runs on a schedule set by the business and is usually built to a written specification. It can mean thicker systems, chemical resistance requirements, coved bases and tight return-to-service times. We plan the phasing, the cure windows and the access around operations, and all of it goes into the proposal.
Warehouse and distribution floors take hard forklift wheels, pallet jacks and constant turning loads. We use high-build 100% solids epoxy or urethane systems over a shot-blasted slab, with joint fills and line striping that hold up to traffic. The distribution parks along I-35 around Ankeny, such as Corporate Woods and Crosswinds, are full of floors that work this hard.
Food plant and food distribution floors are hosed, scrubbed and sanitized every shift, often with hot water and strong cleaners. They need a seamless, nonabsorbent floor that sheds water to the drains and closes at the wall with a coved base. We specify the system against the cleaning chemicals and water temperatures the plant actually uses.
Restaurant kitchens in Ankeny are inspected by the state DIAL Food Safety Bureau against the 2017 FDA Food Code, which calls for smooth, easily cleanable floors and coved floor-to-wall junctures under section 6-201.13. Ankeny also requires a 1,000-gallon minimum outdoor grease interceptor for food service establishments. We coordinate the floor with the drains and plumbing so the coving and slopes meet them cleanly.
Urethane cement is a heavy-duty resin and cement blend that tolerates hot water, thermal shock and cleaners that would soften an ordinary epoxy. It is our usual choice for commercial kitchens, food plants and wash-down rooms. It goes down thicker than an epoxy coating and can be troweled up the wall into a coved base.
Machine shops and manufacturing floors see cutting oil, coolant, hydraulic fluid and dropped steel. We choose chemical-resistant epoxy or urethane systems with a hard topcoat, plus safety striping for aisles and work cells. Spalls under machine bases are repaired before coating, so the floor does not break down where the load concentrates.
Auto repair shops and fleet garages combine the worst of a home garage and a shop floor: hot tires, brake fluid, antifreeze, road salt and floor jacks. A high-build epoxy with a polyaspartic or urethane topcoat and a light texture holds up to that mix. We plan around bay schedules so a shop can keep some bays working while others are coated.
Offices, clinics and showrooms want a floor that looks finished rather than industrial. Polished concrete, metallic epoxy and clean solid color systems give those spaces a durable surface that is easy to maintain. Where clients will judge a floor as they walk in, we take extra care with sheen, edges and the transitions to other flooring.
Iowa has no state VOC rule for floor coatings, and the binding limit is the federal 40 CFR 59 Subpart D national architectural coatings rule, which caps floor coatings at 400 grams per liter and applies to manufacturers. Low-odor and 100% solids products still matter in an occupied building, because they let staff work nearby and shorten the wait before people return.
Many businesses cannot close for a floor. We phase warehouse, food plant and shop work around shifts, with overnight and weekend windows when a line cannot stop. Fast-curing polyaspartic and urethane systems help a finished section go back into service the next morning.
Ankeny Epoxy Flooring provides epoxy-flooring throughout the greater Ankeny area, with the same crews and the same standards on every job.
Good to know
Foot traffic usually comes back within a day, and vehicles return a few days later once the coating has hardened enough to take a hot tire. The exact times depend on the product and on how warm the slab is during the cure. We write both dates into your schedule before the work starts, so you can plan around them.
Iowa does not license general, flooring or coatings contractors. Contractors register with the state under Iowa Code chapter 91C, and out-of-state contractors post a bond as part of that registration. Registration is not a license, so it is worth asking any contractor what a registration does and does not mean before you sign.
They do different jobs. A 100% solids epoxy builds thickness and bonds well to a ground slab, while a polyaspartic cures fast, stays clear in sunlight and resists abrasion as a topcoat. Many of our garage floors use both, with epoxy underneath and polyaspartic on top, so you get the build of one and the wear surface of the other.
Life depends on the prep, the thickness of the system and what the floor goes through. A well-bonded, high-build floor on a dry, ground slab can carry years of parking and winter salt, while a thin film over an etched slab may fail in its first season. We would rather tell you what shortens a floor's life than promise a number.
Rarely. An existing coating that is peeling, chalking or poorly bonded has to come off, because a new layer is only as strong as what it sits on. We grind old paint and coatings down to sound concrete in most cases, and we tell you in the proposal if any of the old material can safely stay.
Sweep or dust-mop to keep grit from scratching the topcoat, and wash with a pH-neutral cleaner and a soft mop or squeegee. In winter, squeegee brine and slush out of the garage rather than letting it sit and dry. Avoid harsh acids and solvent cleaners, and put a pad under kickstands and jack stands.
A smooth, high-gloss coating can get slick under water or oil, which is why texture is part of our specification rather than an afterthought. Flake broadcast, quartz aggregate or an anti-slip additive in the topcoat changes the grip. We name the texture in the proposal so you know what you are getting on the wet side of the room.
Ankeny's published permit list names driveways and sidewalks, decks, egress windows and structural remodeling, and it does not list floor finishes. Replacing a slab or remodeling a commercial space can be a different question. When a job goes beyond coating the existing floor, we check the permit question with the city before work starts.
Yes. The whole floor has to be clear for grinding and coating, including shelving that sits on the slab, so we can reach the walls and edges. Wall-mounted storage can usually stay in place. We give you a move-out date and a move-back date with the schedule, and the cure time decides the second one.
Two quotes can describe very different floors. One may be an acid etch and a single thin coat, while another is a ground slab, a 100% solids base, a full flake broadcast and a polyaspartic topcoat. Compare the product line, the number of coats and the finished thickness, which is why we write all three into every proposal.
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