Epoxy Flooring in Shreveport, LA

Most of the epoxy flooring we install in Shreveport goes over concrete that has already lived a full life. American Community Survey figures for 2019 to 2023, as summarized by Point2Homes, show that 15.1% of the city's homes were built in the 1950s, 17.6% in the 1960s and 20.8% in the 1970s. Put together, more than half the houses in town went up in those three decades. Only about 15% were built in 2000 or later. That age shows up on the garage floor long before it shows up anywhere else in the house.

What an older Shreveport slab usually looks like

When we walk into a garage in Broadmoor, Pierremont, Highland, Lakeside or Caddo Heights, we tend to see the same handful of things:

• Oil and transmission fluid soaked deep into the surface where cars have parked for decades
• One or two coats of porch or floor paint, often peeling in the tire lanes
• Hairline and wider cracks, some of them stable and some that open and close with the seasons
• A slightly rough or dusty top layer where the original cement paste has worn away
• A step down or a crack at the line where an old carport was enclosed or a garage was extended

None of these rule out a coating. Each one changes the prep. Old paint has to come off, oil has to be pulled out or ground away, and weak surface concrete has to be removed until we reach sound material. That is why we price after we see the floor.

Built for an oil town, used like a workshop

Shreveport grew up on oil and gas. Wikipedia notes that Standard Oil of Louisiana kept its headquarters here until the 1960s and United Gas Corporation until the 1980s. That trade still shows on garage floors here, many of which double as workspaces. If you run a welder, a parts washer or a jack stand on your garage floor, a thin paint coat will not last. We usually suggest a ground-and-bonded epoxy base with a flake broadcast and a chemical-resistant topcoat for those floors.

Get a Free Estimate

The heat question

Shreveport tied its all-time record high of 110°F on August 25 and 26, 2023, matching a mark first set in 1909. A closed garage on a day like that is hotter still, and resin cures faster as the temperature climbs. A batch that would give us twenty minutes in April can start to gel in a few minutes in August. We plan summer jobs for the early morning, keep mixed material out of the sun and measure the slab before we pour. On the hottest weeks we often recommend a polyaspartic topcoat, which lets us finish a garage in a shorter window.

A city with a lot of rental housing

Point2Homes puts Shreveport at 53.3% owner-occupied and 46.7% renter-occupied. Landlords and property managers call us about garages, laundry rooms and slab-on-grade utility rooms in rental houses. For a rental, the goal is a floor that cleans up quickly between tenants and does not keep old oil stains or odors. A solid-color epoxy or a dense flake floor with a clear topcoat is usually the practical choice. Owner-occupants are more likely to ask about metallic finishes for a game room or a home gym.

Which systems fit which Shreveport floors

• Older garage, heavy oil, peeling paint: full diamond grind, oil treatment, crack repair, epoxy base, flake and topcoat
• Enclosed carport or garage turned den: metallic or solid epoxy, with the old step or seam repaired first
• Backyard patio or pool deck: a textured, light-colored outdoor coating that stays cooler underfoot and has grip when wet
• Detached shop or small commercial bay: a thicker 100% solids system that can take dropped tools and fluid spills
• Newer slab in a recent subdivision: grind and coat, often with polyaspartic for a faster return to service

Storms and spring timing

Wikipedia lists spring and summer as the main season for severe thunderstorms here, with heavy rain, hail, damaging wind and tornadoes. Rain on its own is not a problem for an indoor garage. Wet tires, open doors and a rising dew point are. If a line of storms is due the afternoon of an install, we may move the topcoat to the next morning. A day's delay costs less than a cloudy, poorly cured finish.

Carports, slabs and shops behind the house

Not every Shreveport home has a closed garage. Many of the older brick ranches have an open carport, a slab behind the kitchen door or a detached workshop near the back fence. An open carport gets sun on one edge and blowing rain on the other, so we treat it as an outdoor floor and use a UV-stable topcoat with texture. A detached shop gets our heavier shop system. We can price the house garage, the carport and the shop on one visit.

What our Shreveport estimate covers

We measure the floor, take moisture readings, mark every crack, test any existing coating and look at how the slab drains toward the door. Then we write down the system, the number of coats, the repair work and the total. If the slab has a problem a coating should not cover, such as a section that keeps settling, we tell you that before you spend money on a finish. Call (318) 706-4311 to set a time.