Peeling, chipping, or lifting coatings mean the slab underneath was not prepped correctly the first time. Boston Concrete strips the failed system, repairs the concrete slab, and installs a new coating with proper mechanical prep and full-system application. The result bonds and holds. Free written estimate on every job.
When a garage floor coating peels or chips 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, so the material never bonded in the first place.
Fixing this means stripping the failed coating back to bare concrete using mechanical grinding or shot-blasting. Once the slab is exposed, we assess it for cracks, pitting, and moisture. Any damage gets repaired with the right repair mortars, and the surface is profiled fresh for the new system.
The new epoxy coating, polyaspartic, or polished concrete then goes on as a complete system, primer through topcoat, in the right sequence and temperature. This time it bonds to sound substrate and performs as designed.
Recent work
The repair sequence
How Garage Floor Repair Gets Done in Boston
Inspect and diagnose
We examine the garage floor with you, identify the failure mode (peeling, chipping, hot-tire pickup, moisture lift), and determine what must be removed versus what can remain.
Strip the failed coating
Mechanical grinding or shot-blasting removes the failed coating down to bare concrete, ensuring the new system will bond to sound substrate, not to half-bonded old material.
Repair and profile the slab
Cracks are routed and filled, spalled or pitted areas are patched with repair mortars, moisture is tested, and the surface is profiled to the right profile for the new coating.
Install the new system
Primer, body coat, and topcoat are applied in sequence at the right temperature and humidity, so the coating cures and performs exactly as the manufacturer tested it.
Why coating over coating fails
Stripping Is Not Optional
Applying a fresh coat over a peeling coating is a false economy. The new coating will lift wherever the old one is lifting, and you will be back to the same problem in a season or two.
Real garage floor repair strips back to bare concrete, then rebuilds. During the repair, we often recommend switching to a different system if the original was the wrong choice for your use. Polyaspartic if you need the garage back in service fast, polished if you want no coating at all, or epoxy if cost and durability matter equally. The fix is real prep and a full system, not another coat.
Why coatings fail, what stripping involves, and how to avoid repeating the same mistake.
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 Boston 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.
Boston
★★★★★
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.
Brookline
★★★★★
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.
Quincy
★★★★★
Stripped the failed metallic coating and went polished instead. No more coatings to worry about, the slab itself is the finish now.
N. O.
Cambridge
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Tell us what is happening with your garage floor, peeling, chipping, or lifting, and we will assess it free, explain what went wrong, and provide a written repair quote.
