I'm almost at the point of getting my floor coated. What are some intelligent questions I should be asking installers, i.e. warranty, references, coating technology, etc. so that I make the best choice? Also, does anyone have leads for installers in Oregon?
Now, to answer the question... I would make sure that they have a 'real' business. Are they incorporated? Insurance? License? Then, what do you actually get for the money? How much product are they going to use? What % solids is the product? What is it? Does it have an odor? Basically, you want to ensure they are qualified, financially healthy enough to fix any issues that could arise, and KNOW how much thickness you are going to get for the money. When considering materials it is wise to figure out how many $ dollars is will cost per square foot per mil of thickness.
In other words (lets assume 500ft2 to make the math easier):
Contractor A says they will get your garage complete for $2000 ($4 per square foot).
Contractor B says they will get your garage complete for $2500 ($5 per square foot).
So, you rack your brains trying to figure out if there is a good reason why Contractor B is more expensive. So, you ask what you are going to actually get for the money. Here are the responses:
Contractor A says:
I'm going to apply Brand X which is a 50% solids primer at 5 mils thick, then... a bodycoat at 8 mils of 50% solids material, 5 pounds of flakes, and then a topcoat of 8 mils of 50% solids.
Contractor B says:
I'm going to apply Brand Y which is a 100% solids primer at 5 mils thick, then... a bodycoat at 12 mils of 100% solids material, 75 pounds of flakes, and then a topcoat of 8 mils of 90% solids material.
So, what do you actually get for the money?
Contractor A is charging you about $0.38 per DRY mil per ft2
Contractor B is charging you about $0.21 per DRY mil per ft2... SO you get a floor that is ALOT thicker with this.
* You've GOT to consider the solids of each material that is being used. If a 50% solids material is applied at 5 mils thick then you are only going to have 2.5 (5 mils * 0.5... or 50%) mils when it dries... because 50% will evaporate. If you have 100% solids materials then NOTHING will evaporate. So, if you apply 5 mils of 100% solids material you will get 5 mils when it is dry. Now, the 90% solids material is the same principal... I'm including this one for those that are mathmatically challenged... If you apply 8 mils of 90% solids material then you get 7.2 mils when it is dry (8 * 0.9 or 90%).
So, in the 2 examples...
Contractor A is going to apply only 10.5 mils and 5 lbs. of flakes
Contractor B is going to apply 24.2 mils and 75 lbs. of flakes
So, now we know... the cost we are being charged per square foot and how many DRY mils we will get. *Be certain to understand whether a contractor is speaking about wet mils (before evaporation of solvent/water) or dry mils (what you get when the coatings are cured).
So... here is the calculation
Total $ per square foot/total DRY mils
Contractor A... Total of 10.5 mils at $4 per ft2... So, $4/10.5=0.38095
Contractor B... Total of 24.2 mils at $5 per ft2... So, $5/24.2=0.20661
Now, the next thing to do is to ensure that the contractor actually USES the amount of materials that they said they were going to use. About the only way to do this is to pre-purchase the materials yourself... get them to your garage before the contractor... and make SURE they don't take ANYTHING home!
Okay... I'm about out of breath here. Whewwww... If you don't know enough of the ends and outs to manage the project... then buy the materials from someone who will help you. Obviously... I'm going to recommend Fred at AlphaGarage. You can make this project easier by working out materials with him, getting them shipped to your garage, and THEN... showing the contractor what you have... the instructions... and then getting a simple price of labor! If you want to compare apples to apples... this takes 90% or more of the variables out of the way!
