Epoxy Flooring in Gentilly, New Orleans

Gentilly

Near City Park and Bayou St. John, toward the lakefront. Gentilly Boulevard and Elysian Fields Avenue are its main roads. Dillard University is here.

Many homes here are slab-on-grade ranch houses, and many were repaired or rebuilt after 2005.

Why the reading comes first

Much of New Orleans sits below sea level, behind levees, with pumping stations moving storm water out. Moisture in a slab can make a floor coating fail after it goes down, which is why coating makers generally require a moisture test first. On a repaired house the garage slab may have been under water and dried out since, or partly replaced. Neither rules out a coating, but either can change the primer. Two common tests are used:

• An in-slab relative humidity probe, which reads moisture deeper in the concrete.
• A calcium chloride dome, which measures how much vapor the surface gives off.

The pass and fail numbers are set by the coating maker, not by a rule of thumb. Ask which product the installer plans to use and what its limit is.

Carport or closed garage

A closed single-car garage with a flake epoxy system runs about $1,500 to $3,000. A carport is open to sun and blowing rain, so it should get a UV-stable polyaspartic topcoat and a textured finish — about $2,000 to $3,600 for a single bay.

Applying it in the wet months

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. An installer working a carport in summer will often start early, check the dew point before each coat, and stop if a storm is coming in. That patience is part of the job.

What the quote should show

A written quote worth comparing lists four things as separate lines: prep, repair, the coating system, and the finish. On a repaired slab, the repair and primer lines carry most of the difference between bids.

1. 1PrepThe method (diamond grinding or shot blasting), the moisture test, and any moisture-tolerant primer that test calls for.
2. 2RepairCrack and spall repair, removal of an old coating or sealer, and whether that number is fixed or an allowance the crew settles once the floor is opened up.
3. 3Coating systemThe chemistry, the number of coats, and the total mil thickness, not just a product name.
4. 4FinishSolid color, flake, or metallic; the topcoat; and the return-to-service windows for foot traffic and for vehicles.

Light colors in the heat

On a carport that takes afternoon sun, a lighter flake blend or base color stays cooler underfoot and shows less fading than a dark one.

Permits. Gentilly is in Orleans Parish. Whether a floor coating job needs a permit is a question for your city or parish permit office — for the parish, the Orleans Parish permit office — and for the installer, who should know before quoting.

Other neighborhoods: Lakeview and Mid-City. Every area by parish is on the service areas page.