A Guide to Choosing Your Concrete Flooring Contractor
Starting a new project in itself can be overwhelming, not to mention choosing the contractors you’ll be using on said project. There are several questions that likely run through your mind in these situations, such as are they experienced and knowledgeable enough? Are they asking a fair price? Are they going to be honest with me and tell me if they’re not qualified to handle something? Can I trust them to complete the job in a satisfactory manner? Will they communicate clearly with me during the project?
As you make your way through the project, those questions are likely only going to be the tip of the iceberg so to speak, depending on the size of your project, and you want to feel confident and comfortable in who you’ve chosen to do work with. We thought it would be helpful to create a guide of sorts to help you navigate selecting your concrete contractors, not only for our clients, but anyone that plans to have any home improvements or projects taken care of. We want you to have the tools necessary to choose a great concrete coatings contractor, though much of the following information can be applied to many fields.
One of the easiest ways to weed out any potential less than stellar contractors is by measuring your interactions. How do they act? You’ll want to look for someone who is friendly, informative and responds to you in a timely manner. What is their warranty like? If their warranty consists of several pages of fine print and/or offers a lifetime warranty, you can almost bet on that being a red flag. Sadly, nothing really lasts a lifetime. A warranty should be concise and easily interpreted. If a contractor skirts around a question or doesn’t directly answer a question, doesn’t seem to get back to you or seems standoffish in any way, consider it an unprofessional sign and continue your search.
In addition, ask for a couple of references and verify that what they’ve told you can be backed up from other clients. Ask things like; did they stay on budget, complete the work when they stated they would and did they communicate well about the progress of the project? The most important question to ask: are you satisfied with the end result?
Finally, look for experience. This process is essentially a job interview. Have they been doing this long enough to make you confident in their abilities? We recommend a minimum of five years, but the longer the better. The longer someone has been in business, the more time they’ve had to encounter any problems that could arise and come up with solutions. They’ve learned what works and what doesn’t and you’re less likely to end up in a precarious situation.
When it comes to concrete coatings specifically, we suggest someone who performs condition testing by checking the moisture content and density of the concrete they’ll be coating. Moisture can be a real problem with coatings and ensuring that your slab doesn’t require a moisture barrier is imperative. If it’s determined that your slab needs leveling or you’re experiencing sinking in some areas, this is likely a separate contractor. Unfortunately in some cases a demo and re-pour could be required if the damage or repairs needed are too great, though we don’t run into that too often.
Selecting a concrete coatings contractor that provides several types of coatings can also be beneficial. They’re able to assess your area and take into account what you intend to use the area for and suggest the best coating based on that information. Sometimes what you want may not be the best option for that area for a myriad of reasons. For example, an epoxy around a pool, which would be far too slick and dangerous.
At Chattanooga Floor Care we’re proud to say all work is performed by our team and we don’t subcontract any of our coatings jobs, meaning us and only us are responsible for your project. We’re also locally owned! What does that mean for you? If you have questions, want to pay a bill, or just say hi, there’s no phone tree, you’re not constantly being passed off to the next person, there’s no corporate chaos to get through, we’re right here in Chattanooga and we’re family owned and operated. We’re kind of like the Ferrari SP38 Deborah, there’s only one in the entire world. Ok, maybe we’re not that cool, but we’re pretty unique!
We hope we’ve provided you with some useful tools for years, and projects, to come and hope that someday it’s us you’re interviewing for your concrete project.
Clement, J. (2021, January 21). How to choose a concrete contractor. Ozinga. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://ozinga.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-concrete-contractor/