University Park Garage Epoxy Flooring
A University Park garage holds a lot more than the car. The second fridge lives out there, the bikes lean on the back wall, a tool chest rolls around on casters, and the last owner’s paint is often still on the slab. Many homes here are older, with detached or alley-loaded garages and concrete that has shifted on DFW clay for decades. We plan the floor around what the room holds, then clear it, grind it, repair it and coat it.
What Lives in the Garage Picks the System
Before anyone talks color, Cody asks what the room does on an ordinary Tuesday. A garage that parks two cars every night needs a topcoat that can take hot tires rolling in off a Texas summer street. A garage with a rolling tool chest needs a surface that shrugs off casters and the occasional dropped wrench. A second fridge or a chest freezer means one corner sees condensation and a spill now and then. Kids’ bikes mean kickstands, and a kickstand will find any soft spot in a floor.
Those answers point toward a system. A flake broadcast is the usual pick for a working family garage, because the chips hide dust and give wet shoes something to grip. A solid color suits a shop bay where you want lines painted for benches or parking. A metallic pour belongs in a showcase garage far more than in one that also stores the recycling bins and the lawn mower.
We would rather spend ten extra minutes on these questions during the walk than coat a floor that looks great in pictures and wears badly in daily use. The room’s habits decide most of the finish, and only the people who live with the garage can tell us what those habits are.
Emptying the Room Without Losing a Weekend
Every inch of concrete has to be bare before the grinder starts, so staging is part of the job and we plan it with you. Most households move the cars out to the driveway, carry boxes and bins into the house or a side yard, and leave the heavy pieces for us to talk through together. A tool chest on casters rolls right out. A workbench bolted to the studs has to come loose and move too, because anything left standing on the slab leaves an uncoated patch under it.
The second fridge is the one people forget. It has to come out and live somewhere else for the length of the job, so empty it ahead of time or find it a spot inside the house for a few days. Shelving that stands on the slab comes out as well, even when it is bolted to the wall. We walk through every heavy piece with you before install day.
Detached and alley-loaded garages are common in University Park, and some sit behind a narrow alley or a side gate that changes how our equipment comes in. We look at access on the walk, so the first install morning starts with grinding.
Old Sealer, Rolled-On Paint and Cracks in Clay Country
A lot of older garages here carry a coating some previous owner put down. Sometimes it is a clear sealer from a hardware store aisle, and sometimes it is a gray or tan garage paint rolled on one Saturday and peeling at the tire tracks ever since. New epoxy will not hold to either. Diamond grinding takes the slab down past the old film to clean, open concrete, and we keep grinding until that coating is gone everywhere, including the strip along the walls where it likes to hang on.
Then come the cracks. DFW clay swells when it gets wet and shrinks as it dries out, and a slab that has sat on it for a few decades tells that story in hairline cracks, wandering cracks and the control joint across the middle. We chase each crack open with a grinder so the repair has something to grab, fill it, and grind it flush. The joint gets a decision of its own: fill it so the floor reads as one surface, or keep it as a line where the slab can still move.
Below is a different garage partway through that stage, with a whole web of cracks already opened up and filled.
Where the Floor Meets the Wall and the House Door
At the walls there are two choices. A cove base carries the coating up the bottom of the wall in a smooth curve, so water and dirt have no corner to sit in and the floor hoses out almost like a tub. A straight stop ends the coating right at the wall with a crisp cut line, which suits garages with finished drywall or baseboards the owner wants to keep.
The step up to the house door gets its own attention. That edge takes more foot traffic than anywhere else in the garage, along with wet shoes and dropped grocery bags. We either wrap the coating over the nose of the step or stop it at a sharp line on its face, and we can add grip there if the household wants it.
The garage door threshold is the last edge, and it meets driveway grit and rain. We end the coating on a straight line just under where the door seal comes down.
Walk the garage with us before anything moves.
Cody looks over the slab, the edges and what has to come out, then sends a firm, itemized price within 48 hours of the visit.
When the Car Can Come Back In
Once the topcoat is down the room is off limits for a while, and the timing depends on the system, the number of coats and the conditions inside the garage. Light foot traffic comes back first. Shelving, bins and the rolling tool chest follow. The car comes last, because a hot tire is the hardest thing a fresh floor will ever carry. You get the dates for your own floor before we pack up, and Cody would rather add a day to the wait than watch a new coat lift under a tire.
Texas summer heat also changes how fast resin sets, so a July job can run on a different schedule than a March job in the same garage. We plan the coats around the season you book in, and installs usually land two to three weeks after you approve the price.
Sherwoods is based in Dallas, right next door to University Park, and Cody is on every install as lead installer. Our garage epoxy flooring page covers the work in general terms, and the gallery shows finished floors from other jobs. A written workmanship warranty stands behind the floor once it is done.
Garage Floor Questions From Older Homes
Do I have to empty the whole garage?
The floor has to be bare, so cars, bins, bikes and anything on casters come out. Shelving and cabinets that rest on the slab come out too, even if they are fixed to the wall. We go over each heavy piece during the walk so nothing surprises you on install morning.
A previous owner painted the floor. Is that a problem?
It has to come off, and grinding takes care of it. Garage paint and store-bought sealers sit on top of the concrete, and epoxy poured over them only holds as well as they do. We grind past the old film to bare concrete everywhere, edges included, before any primer goes down.
Will the cracks in my slab come back through the floor?
Repaired cracks are chased, filled and ground flush, so the coating goes on over a sound surface. A slab on DFW clay can still move, and a crack that moves a lot may show again over the years. We point out any crack we think is still active before you decide.
Should the coating run up the wall?
A cove base suits a garage that gets hosed out or holds a fridge or freezer, since nothing collects in the corner. A straight stop at the wall suits finished drywall or baseboards you want to keep. Both look clean when the cut line is done carefully by hand.
How soon can I park in the garage again?
Foot traffic comes back first, then shelving and stored items, and the car comes last because hot tires are hard on a fresh coat. The exact days depend on the system and the heat in your garage, and you get them in writing before we pack up.
Does a detached garage change anything?
Sometimes. A detached or alley-loaded garage often has no air conditioning, so the slab runs warmer in summer and we time each coat around it. A narrow alley or side gate can also change how the grinder and vacuum come in, which we check during the walk.
Other Floors for University Park Homes
Want a second opinion on an old garage floor? Talk to us and we will set up a time to see it.
University Park, Next Door to Dallas
University Park sits beside Dallas and Highland Park and is home to SMU, close to our Dallas base. Our University Park page lists every service we offer here, and the Dallas County page covers the towns around it.