Project example: a 4-bay auto shop floor on the Auto Center Drive and Somersville Road corridor — what it involves and what it costs

The scenario

A four-bay repair shop on the Auto Center Drive side of town has a bare, oil-stained slab with a patched crack at one lift post. Hot tires and brake fluid are the daily load, and the owner wants a floor that is brighter and easier to clean.

The moisture test reads high in two bays, so a vapor-barrier primer is part of the system. The owner keeps the shop running on two bays while the installer works on the other two.

Quartz is broadcast into the base for texture under wet feet and tires.

The shop owner also keeps a small customer waiting room by the front bay. The owner asks whether that room should take the same quartz system, and the installer proposes a flake floor there instead, which is quieter underfoot and easier on bare feet.

The shop owner worries about the lifts. Each two-post lift has base plates that the lift maker anchors into the slab, and the coating goes around and over them according to the lift maker's instructions.

What the job involves

1. The owner and the installer mark lift posts, floor drains and bay boundaries and confirm the lift maker's slab requirements.
2. A diamond grinder with dust collection grinds two bays; oil-saturated areas get an extra pass or a degreaser.
3. Cracks near the lift posts are cut, filled and ground flush.
4. Moisture is tested with calcium chloride kits and in-slab probes; the high bays get a vapor-barrier primer.
5. The epoxy base is rolled out and quartz is broadcast to rejection, then swept and a top coat is applied.
6. The first two bays cure per the data sheet while the second pair is done; bay lines are striped last.

Materials and prep

• Diamond grinder and industrial dust collector
• Crack and spall repair mortar, degreaser
• Vapor-barrier primer, epoxy base, colored quartz and top coat
• Line paint and masking

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Coved base, about 100 linear feet — +$800–$2,200. A coved edge along the parts-room wall is possible but not typical in a bay.
• Saw-cut joint filling, about 150 linear feet — +$300–$1,200. Sawn slab joints are filled before the coating.

Why it is done this way

The chemical-resistance chart of the named product matters here: it lists which fluids, at what strength and for how long. A splash wiped up within minutes is a different test from a puddle left overnight.

Quartz adds a thicker, more textured wear surface under tires and tools, and the price per square foot reflects that.

Fluids are the other part of the conversation. The shop uses brake cleaner, a parts-washer solvent and a degreaser, and the installer is asked to match the top coat to the chemical-resistance chart for each one, rather than assuming a general rating.

The shop is closed for a Saturday and a Sunday in the plan. The quartz system needs the data sheet's cure time before vehicles return, and the owner asks that the cure time be written in the bid.

What would change the price

• The moisture test reads normal and the primer is dropped.
• A lift post sits on a cracked or thin patch and needs more repair.
• A wash bay with hot water is added in urethane cement.
• The shop closes for a weekend and does all four bays at once.
• The shop is 3,600 square feet, with a sixth bay.