Understanding Your Epoxy Floor Cost / Questions to Ask When Getting a Bid

Getting a new floor system installed starts at the bottom—the bottom line, that is. 

So when you look at an epoxy floor cost estimate, you should understand what goes into that bid. You should also have the right questions on hand to help you get the right solutions for your money.

Contact us at Epoxy Coating Specialists with your epoxy floor coating needs. Our specialists can easily show you the differences between floor systems, and the customized plans that can fit your needs and your budget.

Plus read on to walk into any flooring negotiation with knowledge as your foundation.

Bidding Process First Step: The Flooring Company

Before you start putting numbers to your epoxy floor cost, you need reputable companies to write out the bids. 

When you’re grooming your search results online, and getting referrals from business associates who’ve had their commercial epoxy flooring system done, keep these questions ready:

• How long have they been in business?
• Has the company done work like you need in the past?
• What are the names of some of their clients?
• Can you talk to any of their clients about the experience?
• Does the company need money upfront?
• Is the company certified by the coating supplier to apply these coatings? (And can you see the certifications?)
• What is the support from the large product manufacturer? (Onsite product reps help ensure the work is done to spec.)
• Does the company test for subfloor moisture before working on it?
• What’s the preparation process before putting on a floor?
• What’s the warranty?
• Do they have any pictures of work that’s 10 years AFTER the floor system was installed? Can we talk to those clients?
• How long have your employees been with you? (Most companies have high turnover, so you may be getting “newbies”). 
• What’s the abilities & experience level of the installers? Think about it this way: if you buy the best, most expensive steak—will the cook make it magic, or turn it into dried-out leather?

If the flooring company can’t readily answer these questions, that’s a huge red flag. Be prepared to take lots of notes, then do your homework looking into the company online. 

Another Red Flag

If part of your epoxy floor cost includes paying that company money up-front, walk away. That’s a complete red flag.

You should not pay the company until the job is complete and you are satisfied. If the flooring company has to have “money down,” they’re either having money flow issues (which is a gamble for you whether they be able to handle anything that goes wrong), or they’re scamming you.

When You’ve Picked a Company to Bid on Your Project

When you’ve narrowed down the prospects for installing your epoxy flooring system, they should come out and do a thorough evaluation before tossing any numbers your way. 

That might seem odd. Shouldn’t they just be able to give you a cost per square foot, and you do the multiplying? The answer is: no. Carpet companies can give you install numbers easily, because they don’t customize the carpet’s construction and composition based upon your concrete floor’s condition, moisture issues, and usage needs. 

A true epoxy flooring system, like the ones we do at Epoxy Coating Specialists, arrives in bags and buckets, not pre-made. Your floor is literally created on-site, hand-crafted from industry-leading ingredients, to perfectly match your usage requirements and budget needs.

Plus, our floor technicians create different floor systems for different areas. Does one part of the work place not require intense non-slip qualities of others? That will change what we install in that area. It truly is a bespoke, customized plan.

So with a company like Epoxy Coating Specialists, here’s what to expect during the on-site survey:

1. Time & Date. Your ECS representative sets a time and date for a team to arrive and conduct a site survey.
2. The ECS team inspects your project area. They’ll get all the pertinent information, such as the scope of work you want done, the general size of the work area, conditions of the current flooring, moisture testing of the substrate, and a needs analysis.
3. We’ll also want to know more about your company. Things like how you use the floor now and in the future, chemicals to which the floor will be exposed, how you want to clean it, and more. 
4. With the information taken in so far, ECS customizes a hybridized system plan. Using your goals and their 27-plus years of experience, this plan will cover all parameters.
5. ECS consults with manufacturers to ensure material decisions provide maximum results and longevity.
6. ECS will give you a bid that includes subcategories listing what we plan to do for each floor area, what it accomplishes, and provide you the line-item costs involved.

Part of our bidding process is not just about the cost. It’s about teaching clients how each flooring system addresses that area’s usage. We have no qualms about explaining how we achieve your goals regarding:

• Time (how long you have to get it done)
• Budget (how much you have to achieve your goals)
• Environmental details (how sustainable/durable the flooring products are)

Our detailed bids educate clients on what’s being done, how it’s being done, and what it will cost. All of it up-front, with plenty of time to ask questions, get answers, and fully understand your epoxy floor cost.

Epoxy Floor Cost: The Big Picture

Knowing the big picture on installing a true epoxy flooring system helps with the occasional sticker shock you might feel when a bid arrives in your email, or during a meeting. 

When a project requires 40,000 square feet of totally customized, location-specific flooring system to be installed in multiple layers, it’s not cheap. And if it is cheap, bluntly put: it’s not good. 

Cheaper floor companies won’t do the intense due diligence, and won’t pay attention to the details that can be the difference between a floor lasting decades, and a floor chipping up within 5 years (or less!). 

Those years of experience can also be the difference between a floor your workers can safely travel when wet or contaminated, and a floor that’s slippery in all the wrong places and a lawsuit waiting to happen.

The Value of Epoxy Coating Specialists

Our team uses specialized tools, owned by the company, and invests a lot of sweat and effort into much better substrate prep. With the right tools and eye to detail, your cement base will be ready to accept and support the flooring system.

For most high-quality companies like ours, the materials and their prices are similar. The big difference is the floor system that suits your location and purposes, and the craftsmanship and experience of the people doing the work. 

Some of our advantages include:

• The site survey. We take the time to diagnose and prescribe the right solution for you, rather than what’s comfortable for us. If the flooring company is just a hammer, every client’s project is a nail. 
• We explain the how’s and why’s along with the nickels and dimes. ECS gives you full transparency, so that you can make fully-informed decisions.
• Floor preparation. We look for the “CSP”: concrete surface profile. This helps us ensure that the floor is adequate according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. If not, we can prescribe the remediation processes that will make sure your floor system adheres properly and functions excellently.
• Fully stocked with tools and materials. As a flooring company, we purchase the tools of the trade and keep them in house and on demand. We don’t worry about whether a piece of equipment is available to rent. We already have it. And we keep extras, so that if one breaks we have another one ready to continue. 
• We’re not the cheapest. How is that an advantage? Cheapening your floor will cost more in the future if the floor design isn’t exactly right for the situation.
• Risk relief. One of the problems with smaller companies is that they may not have the experience to put the floor down the right way the first time. Ask yourself: if they have to come back and fix this large project, do they have the fiscal ability to handle the situation? And if they do, is once learned twice burned? And what is your company’s time worth if you have to stop down to get that floor redone again? Experience matters. And we have over 27 years worth as a company.
• Customer-centric solutions. When bidding out an epoxy floor cost, we’re not creating it to sell you. We’re creating it to serve you. We design our solutions from beginning to end with one purpose: to get you the best results, on time and on budget.
• Communication. We keep you informed throughout the process, as much or as little as you need.. That way you know what to expect through every step.

Epoxy Coating Specialists has the capabilities to do what’s right for you. Because we create each floor as a customized system designed specifically for your project, we’re not trying to sell square pegs for round holes based on price. 

Unlike those kinds of contractors, we base our prices upon the most effective solutions for your situation and your budget.

Examples of some of our clients include:

• Kansas City Royals
• Beechcraft/Cessna
• Merck
• General Dynamics
• The US Department of Defense
• BNSF Railways
• Bayer
• Altec
• And more!

Ask About These Numbers

There are a couple of rating numbers you should als enquire about as you look at the company bidding your epoxy flooring cost.

Dun & Bradstreet

What’s a Dun & Bradstreet number? It’s part of a rating system used by lenders and potential business partners to show the financial stability and reliability of a company. This “DUNS” number shows if the company you’re considering is stable and qualified for your large projects. 

Experience Modification Rating (EMR)

An EMR rating supplies a data-backed numerical symbol representing the connection between workplace injury loss and workers comp costs. Basically, the tinier the number, the much safer a company is. You’ll want an epoxy flooring company with a low EMR.

And yes, Epoxy Coating Specialists has an exceptionally low EMR number.

Speaking of Safety

In December of 2022, Epoxy Coating Specialist earned the 2022 Recognize Safety Excellence Award from Midwest Builders Casualty. 

Their risk management committee makes the award selections based on each nominated policyholder’s overall business operation, employee safety training and education, plus how the organization holistically demonstrates the importance of risk management. We’re honored to not only be a safe opportunity for our clients, but for our employees as well!

The Custom Flooring System That Proves Its Value

Your epoxy floor cost should show value for every dollar. That’s what we do at ECS. Our bids come to you vetted by manufacturer input, built through custom design, and delivered for customer-centric results.

We’ve been in business for 27 years, and all of our OSHA-certified lead installers have well over 15 years of experience in their field.

Contact us today with your questions.The better educated you are, the better ECS looks. Aviation, arenas, restaurants, industrial and more, there’s no project too big or too small for Epoxy Coating Systems. 

Request a quote today.