Western Coatings & Waterproofing

01/06/2020

A small bathroom floor I did this week. I put a polymer concrete coating on the wood subfloor and then coated that with metallic epoxy to get this cool look. It’ll look really nice when th base trim and vanity are installed.

17/08/2019

I don't always install a new coating- sometimes I remove a failed coating and prepare the concrete for someone else to install a new coating and not fail. Here I removed 1,800 square feet of failed pool deck coating and ground the concrete for another contractor to install a new coating. Thanks to Mr Honey Do Repair Service for helping out with the manpower.

03/04/2019

A customer wanted to turn his garage with an uneven, stained and badly cracked floor into a workshop for repairing fiberglass kayaks. I helped him with grinding, moisture v***r remediation and a beautiful epoxy coating.

28/02/2019

I don't just do coatings- I also polish concrete. Here's a recent job where I did what's known as a grind and seal. I did two stages of grinding to level out the humps in the concrete floor, removed wine & pet stains from the concrete and applied a product to close the pores in the concrete and make it denser. This improves the stain resistance of the concrete and helps prevent the dust that comes from concrete. When this was done, I applied two coats of a stain protector to help keep stains from setting into the concrete, again. When the customer's budget allows, it's easy to go back and finish the polishing, giving it a shiny appearance.

01/10/2018

I'd like to talk a little about concrete damage, namely cracks and spalls. While we all know what cracks are, many people don't know that a spall isa spot on the surface of the concrete that is dished out, like a shallow bowl.

Hairline cracks are about 1/16" wide and are many times harmless, but they can grow into wider, meaningful, cracks. The first picture shows a crack that is starting to become trouble. You can see the spot where it's getting wider, has some islands in the middle of the crack, and is spreading. This crack is still affordably repairable by cleaning it out and installing a crack repair material designed for this job.

The middle picture is showing cracks in the floor that are bringing moisture to the surface of the concrete. The blackish areas are concrete that is stained by excessive moisture. The whitish areas are efflorescence- the moisture carries the powdery components of the concrete to the surface. The moisture condenses on the concrete surface and leaves the white efflorescence behind when it ev***rates. This is a serious issue if you cover the floor with carpet, rubber mats, epoxy coating, etc. This problem is correctable with proper crack repair and an effective moisture blocking epoxy primer.

the third picture shows a spall created by a crack that was not repaired. This problem is still correctable, but is more work- and expense- than just filing the crack.

10/09/2018

Here's a job I did a couple weeks ago. It's a new construction project for a dog breeder in Silverdale. I started by grinding the new slab with diamond grinders, applying an off white epoxy primer and finally a two color metallic epoxy with a polyurethane topcoat to keep it looking great for years to come.

11/08/2018

Here are some pictures from a v***r remediation project I did a couple weeks ago. When I visited with the home owner, the rom really smelled musty. It wasn't a good smell and made being in the rom unenjoyable. I installed a v***r remediation coating and replaced an expansion joint that was installed incorrectly. When the project was finished, the room smelled good and the home owner enjoyed being in there, again.

06/07/2018

Slab V***r is Destroying Floors

The rate of new or almost new concrete floor coverings has been increasing dramatically the last few years. By far, the number one cause of these failures is moisture from the concrete, or coming through the concrete. But, flooring damage is not the only problem- moisture degrades the air quality of our living spaces, up to and including mold. Here, we’ll talk about the leading cause of excessive moisture on existing slabs and how to mitigate it.

The leading cause of moisture problems in existing concrete slabs is the lack of an effective v***r retarder under the slab. The ground naturally contains moisture and it can be added to by rain, sprinklers, etc. With the right temperature and humidity differences between the ground and air, this moisture will come up out of the ground. People think that concrete is a hard and impenetrable thing that moisture can’t pass through, but it isn’t. In fact, concrete is very porous and will wick water a long, long ways. Without an effective v***r retarder, this moisture will come up through the slab, usually in the form of v***r.

If this v***r is prevented from continuing into the atmosphere by a floor covering such as an epoxy coating, vinyl tile, wood laminate, hard woods, etc., it just hangs out between the slab and the floor covering. When the temperature and humidity conditions change enough, the v***r will turn into water between the slab and floor covering. This water carries the minerals from within the concrete with it, which breaks the bond between the slab and floor covering. This is why you see bubbles in coatings, VCT tiles and similar floor coverings. The condensed water and minerals break the bond and the pressure pushing the v***r through the concrete in the first place pushes the floor covering up to create a bubble. Depending on your floor covering, this problem can be difficult and expensive to fix.

But, even if you have a soft covering, like carpet, this v***r can still cause you big headaches. If the v***r is coming through the slab faster than it can work its way through the carpet padding, it can still condense into water under your carpet. If this happens enough, it can lead to mold in the carpet. The moisture can also introduce itself into furniture, curtains, etc. It’s a slow process that we don’t notice until one day it’s built up to a high level. If you’ve ever had a basement with a musty smell that you couldn’t get rid of and couldn’t figure out where it’s coming from, this is usually the answer.

The fix to this problem is a moisture v***r mitigating coating. Most are a water based epoxy product designed to withstand the pressure of the v***r being pushed out of the ground. All of these products, that I’m aware of, require very aggressive diamond grinding, shot blasting or scarification to prepare the concrete for the coating. Not aggressive enough preparation will not allow the coating to pe*****te the concrete deeply enough to do its job. Many of these products allow the use of sand or another aggregate to make the surface rough to give tile mortar, glue, etc. something to hold onto.

Flooring failures can easily be prevented by measuring the amount of moisture coming through the slab. The test is unobtrusive and inexpensive and will tell what level of mitigation is necessary to prevent the destruction of your new, expensive floor.

06/07/2018

06/07/2018

17/11/2017

Do you ever wonder why a floor coating from a contractor costs so much more than buying a kit from a big store and doing it yourself? Well, here's one reason why: The first picture is a metallic coating kit you can buy at the store. It costs about $110 retail and you need two for a single car garage, according to the instructions. The second picture is the material I buy for a metallic coating in a single car garage. It retails for about $900. Both will give a nice looking floor if the applicators take their time and do a good job, but the more expensive professional product will provide a much deeper, much more durable finish.

11/07/2017

18/06/2017

Pictures don't do this floor justice. It's truly beautiful. Definitely the nicest garage around.

18/06/2017

We did a training job in Hansville this morning with the manufacturer of the coating line we use. We learned how to make a concrete floor look like a giant slab of burled maple. The pictures don't do it justice.

12/05/2017

A beautiful quartz floor we did in a basement bathroom & laundry room, this week