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Colin Coatings Des Moines
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Des Moines, Iowa · We Fix Failed Floors

Epoxy Floor Removal & Recoat Des Moines

The most common call we get: "The epoxy on my garage floor is peeling. Can you fix it?" Yes. Colin Coatings removes failed DIY kits and contractor coatings by diamond grinding, repairs the concrete underneath, and installs a polyaspartic system that's built to stay down through Iowa winters. Across the Des Moines metro, usually in one to two days.

Glossy light grey flake floor in a finished commercial space by Colin Coatings, Des Moines, Iowa

Why Your Old Floor Coating Is Peeling

Nine times out of ten it's one of these, and none of them is the fault of epoxy itself:

  1. Acid etching instead of grinding. The coating bonded to dust and laitance, not concrete.
  2. Moisture vapor. The slab pushed water up under the coating and popped it off in blisters.
  3. Too thin. A 3–4 mil kit can't survive hot tires or salt.
  4. Wrong temperature. Applied in a cold garage below the product's cure range.
  5. Contamination. Oil, silicone, or old sealer under the coating.
  6. No UV-stable topcoat. Bare epoxy left in direct sun chalked and ambered, then flaked. A polyaspartic or urethane top prevents it.

Whichever it is, the fix is the same: take it all off, fix the cause, and install a proper system. A 100% solids epoxy or polyaspartic floor over ground, moisture-tested concrete with the right topcoat doesn't do any of this.

How We Remove and Recoat a Floor

  1. Inspect and moisture-test. We find out why it failed so it doesn't happen twice.
  2. Diamond grind everything off. Planetary grinders with dust collection remove the old coating down to bare concrete. No chemical strippers.
  3. Repair the slab. Cracks, pits, spalling, and joints.
  4. Address moisture with a mitigating primer if the test calls for it.
  5. Install the new system. Polyurea/epoxy base, full flake broadcast, polyaspartic topcoat. → Garage floor coatings
Restored floor after removing a failed epoxy coating by Colin Coatings, Des Moines, Iowa
Restored floor after removing a failed epoxy coating by Colin Coatings, Des Moines, Iowa
Grey flake floor with a black inlay border by Colin Coatings, Des Moines, Iowa
Grey flake floor with a black inlay border by Colin Coatings, Des Moines, Iowa

Removal & Recoat Cost in Des Moines

Itemized so you can see removal, repair, and the new system separately.

Questions

Can you just coat over the old epoxy?
Only if it's well-bonded everywhere, which peeling floors never are. In almost every case we grind it all off. Coating over a failing floor just means paying twice.
How do you remove epoxy from concrete?
Diamond grinding. It's the only method that removes the coating and profiles the concrete for the new system in one step. We don't use chemical strippers.
Will the new floor peel too?
Not if the cause is fixed. That's why we moisture-test and grind every floor and install a polyaspartic topcoat. Our written warranty covers peeling and hot-tire pickup.
Can you remove other coatings, like paint or sealer?
Yes. Paint, acrylic sealers, urethane, and old polyaspartic all come off the same way.
How long does it take?
Removal adds half a day to a day. Most 2-car garages are done in two days total, and you park on it 24 to 48 hours after the topcoat.

Service Areas

Colin Coatings Des Moines removes failed epoxy and floor coatings and installs replacement polyaspartic systems in Des Moines, Iowa, and the surrounding metro. Reach us at (515) 800-9393 or colincoatingsdesmoines.com.

Ready for a floor you can hose off?

Free on-site estimate anywhere in the Des Moines metro. Most garages done in one day.