Garage floor concrete in Saint John IN - a new slab that sheds water the right way

Across the US, replacing a garage floor, including tear-out and hauling, usually costs about $4,000 to $9,000 for a 2-car garage. That's a national range, not our price, and where your job lands depends mostly on the size of the floor and what we find once the old slab is out. My written estimate lists what's included, like removal and hauling, so you can compare it against other quotes.

Guides say to keep cars off a new garage floor for 7 days, though you can usually walk on it after 24 to 48 hours. The work itself takes 2 to 4 days in most cases, and the concrete keeps curing, slowly gaining strength, for 28 days before it's fully cured. Plan other parking for that first week.

Yes, but only with a plan to keep the new slab from freezing, because fresh concrete freezes if its own temperature drops below about 25°F and can lose more than 50% of the strength it could have reached. Industry guidance says to protect it from freezing until about two days after the pour, and any fuel-burning heater in a closed garage should be vented, both for safety and so the fresh surface doesn't dust into powder. We plan every pour around the weather, and if I think waiting is the better call, I'll tell you at the estimate.

Check before any work starts, because the Town of St. John requires a building permit before you renovate, repair or add to a building, and its Building and Planning Department takes the applications and can tell you how that applies to a floor. The city also requires a pre-pour inspection before any concrete is placed, garage floors included, so the pour waits on that inspection. The city handles this, not the county, and it asks companies that build and repair to register with it. We're fully licensed and insured, and we check with the city and handle the permit when the job needs one.

Start with the concrete itself, because scaling, the surface flaking off in chips, is less likely with dense, good concrete that has entrained air, tiny bubbles mixed in on purpose, and with good placing and curing. When you're comparing quotes, ask each contractor about the mix and the curing plan. After that, hose off the salt your car carries in when the weather allows, and in the first winter keep deicers off the new floor and use clean sand for traction.

Wait until the slab is past its young stage and truly clean, because a floor that looks dry can still be too new for a coating. Oil, moisture, leftover curing compound and tire marks can all keep a coating from sticking. If you're planning one, tell me at the estimate so we can plan the floor with it in mind.