Covington, in a few lines
The parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, north of Mandeville. The Bogue Falaya River runs along the town. The Tammany Trace rail-trail starts here.
Many homes here sit on wooded lots, and many have detached garages, workshops, or long driveways.
Workshop floors
A shop floor works harder than a garage floor. Jack stands, welding spatter, solvents, sawdust, and dropped steel all land on it. The system should be built for that:
- A thicker epoxy body coat that absorbs impact rather than chipping.
- A chemical-resistant topcoat for fuels, oils, and cleaners.
- Some texture, because sawdust and oil on gloss is a slip waiting to happen.
- Light colors if you want to find dropped screws; flake if you want to hide wear.
A shop sized like a two-car garage runs about $2,500 to $5,500 with a flake epoxy system; larger outbuildings follow the commercial bands, around $6 to $12 per square foot under a thousand square feet. The commercial epoxy flooring page covers heavier-duty builds.
Detached garages
A detached garage is often older or simpler than the house, sometimes without a vapor barrier under the slab and sometimes with a doorway that lets water in. Both are worth checking before coating. A moisture reading answers the first; a look at the threshold and the grade outside answers the second.
Driveways under trees
South Louisiana has a hot, humid climate, and humidity can matter twice for a coating: moisture in the slab, and condensation on a cool slab during application. Under a canopy, concrete stays damp longer and collects leaf stains, sap, mildew, and algae. A coating system is the wrong product for a driveway; cleaning plus a sealer is the right one.
- Penetrating sealer — about $2 to $4 per square foot. Invisible once dry, repels water from inside the concrete, and does not get slick.
- Decorative sealer — about $3 to $6 per square foot. Darkens the color and adds sheen, but wears faster in sun and can be slick when wet.
Stains from leaves and tannins often fade with proper cleaning; a sealer then slows new ones. If the surface is flaking, resurfacing at about $4 to $9 per square foot comes first. See sealing and resurfacing.
Patios and porches
Back patios and screened porches on slab can take a sealer, an overlay with a textured finish, or — for a screened, covered porch — a UV-stable flake system. The patio budget runs about $1,200 to $4,000 depending on size and finish.
Getting a shop ready to coat
Years of oil and coolant soak into a shop slab, and that contamination is the main reason shop coatings fail. Before grinding, oil-soaked areas are degreased and sometimes heated or treated so the oil comes up rather than bleeding into the new coating. Point out every stained area at the site visit, including spots now hidden under benches. Clear the floor completely, unplug equipment, and plan for the shop to be out of use through the full cure.
Garages under heavy shade
A garage under big trees stays cooler and damper than one in the open, which can slow a coating's cure and leave condensation on the slab in the morning. Expect an installer to check the slab temperature against the dew point more carefully here, and to wait for the surface to dry fully before each coat.
Permits. Covington is in St. Tammany Parish. Whether a floor coating job needs a permit is a question for your city or parish permit office — for the parish, the St. Tammany Parish permit office — and for the installer, who should know before quoting.
Nearby: Mandeville and Slidell. Every area by parish is on the service areas page.