Peeling, chipping, or lifting coatings don't need a fresh coat over the same broken surface. Portland Concrete removes the failed system entirely, repairs any damage in the slab itself, and installs a new coating with proper mechanical prep and full-system application. The result holds because the foundation is sound. Free written estimate on every job.
Prep Failure, Not Product Failure: Why Coatings Peel
When a garage floor coating peels or lifts within a season or two, the coating itself is rarely the culprit. The slab underneath was sealed, dusty, or moisture-laden when the coating went on, and no adhesive bond ever formed. The product was fine; the surface prep was not.
Fixing this means starting over. Epoxy or polyaspartic coatings require bare, profiled concrete to bond. We grind or shot-blast the failed coating away, test for moisture, repair any cracks or spalls in the slab, and then apply the new system in the right sequence and temperature.
The second time, the coating bonds because the prep was done right. Whether you choose metallic epoxy for looks, polished concrete for no coating at all, or standard epoxy for value, the fix is the same: proper prep, proper application, proper cure.
Recent work
The repair sequence
How Garage Floor Repair Gets Done in Portland
Diagnose the failure mode
We inspect the garage with you, identify whether the coating is peeling, lifting at the edges, or failing from hot-tire pickup, and determine what substrate damage exists beneath.
Strip the failed coating
Mechanical grinding or shot-blasting removes the old coating entirely, exposing bare concrete so the new system has a sound surface to bond to.
Repair the slab
Cracks are routed and filled, pitted or spalled areas are patched with repair mortars, and the surface is profiled to the right profile for the new coating type.
Install the new system
Primer, body coat, and topcoat go on in sequence, at the right temperature and humidity, so the coating cures and performs as the manufacturer tested it.
Not a band-aid
Why Coating Over Peeling Fails Again
Applying a new coat over a peeling coating is a temporary fix that fails faster than the original. The new coating lifts wherever the old one is lifting, and you end up with the same problem in a season. Real garage floor repair strips back to bare concrete, which takes time and cost, but it solves the problem.
During the repair, we often recommend switching coating types. If the original epoxy failed due to heavy use, polyaspartic cures faster and handles traffic better. If you want no coating at all, polished concrete is ground and sealed instead. The choice depends on how you use the garage and what failed the first time.
Why coatings fail, what the repair process looks like, and how to avoid repeating the same failure.
Almost always because the slab was not mechanically prepped before the coating went on. Coatings rolled over a sealed or dusty slab cannot bond, and they peel at the tires within a season. The fix is to strip back and prep properly the second time.
No, and no honest installer would. A coat over a peeling coating just delays failure; the new coat lifts wherever the old one is lifting. Real repair strips back to bare concrete first, then rebuilds the system properly.
Depends on why the first one failed and how you use the garage. Often the original choice was right, just installed wrong. Sometimes a different system, polyaspartic or polished, is the better fit for the use.
Yes. Cracks are routed and filled, spalled and pitted areas are patched with repair mortars matched to the coating that will go over, and the surface is profiled fresh so the new system bonds to sound substrate.
Usually a few days from strip-back through new install, depending on coating type and cure windows. Polyaspartic rebuilds finish in about a day; epoxy takes longer to fully cure for vehicles.
Homeowner reviews
What Portland Homeowners Say About Their Garage Floor Repairs
Previous epoxy peeled by the door within months. They ground it all back, prepped right, and re-installed the same brand of product. Two years later still solid where the original lasted one season.
S. T.
Portland
★★★★★
Switched from a basic epoxy to polyaspartic during the repair because we cannot afford the downtime again. Done in a day this time, has held up perfectly.
C. L.
Beaverton
★★★★★
Honest assessment that the failure was prep, not product. Repair was thorough, the new floor bonds to the slab like it should have the first time.
L. A.
Gresham
★★★★★
Stripped the failed metallic coating and went polished instead. No more coatings to worry about, the slab itself is the finish now.
N. O.
Vancouver
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Practical reading on planning, finishes and caring for concrete in Portland.
Tell us what is happening with your coating, peeling, lifting, or chipping, and we will walk through the garage with you, diagnose the failure, and send a written repair plan and quote within one business day.
