Garage Innovations
About us
Garage Innovations provides the highest quality concrete coatings for residential and commercial applications: Garage, Basement, Warehouse, Retail, Office Space, and more. We provide all polyaspartic, hybrid polymer and epoxy coatings suited to your application. Since 2008, we have installed over 1000 floor coatings. We are an employee based company (no subcontractors or temp labor like many most garage floor contractors) and we guarantee all of our work. Please call us at 866-994-7677 to schedule your estimate.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Commercial Coatings, Garage Floor Coating is our specialty. We offer full chip and solid color flooring. Vapor Emission Blocking Coatings to eliminate concrete moisture problems Metallic Epoxy Coatings, and custom storage solutions., driveway sealing
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 67% | ||
| 13% | ||
| 11% | ||
| 6% | ||
| 4% |
"Note to Angies List - Please correct the category for this review to be Epoxy Floor Coating"
"Note to Angies List - Please correct the category for this repair to Epoxy Flooring"
"Please correct the category of this review to Epoxy Floor Coatings"
The new deck looks great. It did come out on the high end of the estimate for the cost.
After the deck was done I've had a couple of unintended emails asking me if I wanted to proceed, etc. The owner has been trying to fix his email program.
"Customer hired us in April of 2014 for long list of repairs. He has never brought his concerns of poor workmanship to our attention so we can't fix what we do not know about. When the customers uses terms like "it took longer than it should have" or the work was "hacky", it is difficult for us to know where to begin in addressing his concerns. I can attest we no longer do hacky work and each job takes as long as it should?? Four months later the same customer hired us again for a $650 project. All customers should know if they have any issues with our service they can call me directly on my mobile # 253-514-1099. We will do whatever is needed to make your project right. Craig"
Craig met with us to scope the project, explain the process, show us color options, and provide an estimate for the work. He was punctual and provided great input. His was the only company among those we interviewed that provided base trim - your choice of 4" or 6" sections that run along the perimeter of the floor and up the walls. It adds cost, but it really enhances the finished product. Craig followed up with the estimate that evening.
My wife and I were undecided on color. Craig mentioned that he would on the road the following Monday and could drop by to show us the options again, including some new combinations. With his help, we selected the tuxedo - black and white flakes on a grey background - and elected to add silver glitter to add depth to the finished floor.
Craig provided us with references, since the number of reviews for his company on Angie's List was limited to less than a handful due to the short time that Garage Innovations has been included in Garage Floor Sealer (Epoxy Flooring). What was impressive was not only the glowing recommendations, but that these references responded immediately.
The overall cost of going with Garage Innovations, even adding the base trim and glitter options, was very competitive.
Craig mentioned that a slot opened up that Friday and he could schedule us in. Although we were in no particular hurry, the opportunity to finish earlier than anticipated was appreciated.
The work staging was impressive. Garrett was the first arrive and completed the grinding to prepare the surface for the primer coat and the initial concrete repair. Prior to grinding, Garrett put up plastic to protect the door from the house to the garage. He also taped around the door track touching the floor so it would not be sealed with the floor coating.
At this stage, two more technicians arrived to assist in installing the base trim, complete the concrete repairs (the cracks were filled in with up to three coats of patching material), and begin installing the floors coating..
Once the base trim and repairs were complete the technicians worked quickly to put down the primer coat. The roll of each technician was well choreographed so the work went quickly and they did not get in each others way.
Once the primer coat had cured sufficiently, the Garage Innovations team applied the second coat that would hold the color flakes and glitter. Our garage is not huge, but they spread 6-7 large buckets of flakes on the floor to ensure coverage.
The base trim took more time than anticipated and we agreed with the crew's recommendation to return on Saturday rather than work into the night.
Garrett and another technician arrived at the appointed time on Saturday. It took them about three hours to complete the install - vacuuming excess flakes, scraping to level the flakes, and applying the third coat of polyaspartic.
They did a great job in cleaning up the job site. When Garrett had to enter the house, he always put on booties to protect the floor, which was appreciated.
Watching the Garage Innovations team work brought home the fact that this us definitely not a DIY project. The finished floor looks amazing and has garnered the attention of some of our neighbors.
This project was a big mistake. Nobody should use this product or procedure for an outside wooden deck. This product is intended for use on cement garage floors. It is totally unsuitable for wooden decks. I felt misled by Home Innovations as they assured me that my deck was perfectly suitable for this application but it turned out to be totally ill-conceived.
When they were done the deck was full of humps, dips and wavy distortions of the surface. Upon seeing this Craig said that he agreed that the project needed some aggressive re-sanding and recoating. When they finished this second attempt it about 50% of the irregularities and distortions remained. At this point they told me that my wooden substrate made it impossible to provide an even, flat surface-the humps, bumps and wavy distortions would have to stay as they were.
As I said they told me before starting the job that my deck was perfectly suitable for their product/procedure. They sent me pictures of another deck they had done in Seattle and arranged for me to see a cement garage floor that was resurfaced with their product. These applications looked flawless-perfectly flat, even and distortion-free. They said nothing about a flawed expectation on a wooden surface until the job was over. For that Craig apologized but offered no remedy or concession.
The removal and replacement of my pickets was accomplished in a most unprofessional manner. When they removed the pickets they just piled them up in a manner that dinged and marred the pickets which necessitated my repainting them. Further, to accommodate the slope of my deck the pickets are of different length and they replaced them in randomly out of order which looked ridiculous. So, even though I had just repainted these pickets before starting this project, I had to remove them and repaint them yet again myself. It took me a couple of weeks to reprime and repaint these pickets. Craig agreed to have a handyman put in a new 10 ft. cedar rail to make up for my labor and lost time. It took the handyman about an hour to replace that rail-hardly a fair trade for my two weeks of sanding, priming, painting and reattachment.
When they applied their sealants, coating, etc. they were very sloppy. Things were not properly masked. They did come out to correct most of that problem but in doing so they removed some of the paint on trim work. Derrick said he would come back the next day to repaint that trim but he never came and I haven't seem him since. That was November 3rd.
I saw some very nicely done countertops in the garage to which I was referred by Home Innovations before starting my project. I decided to do the same on my countertops on the deck. But, because they were improperly prepped the countertops ended up showing seams along the edge. I complained to Craig about that, who agreed that it was not properly done, so he sent his team back to redo the countertops but all they did was lay a seam of caulk in the in the flaw which only served to make it more obvious! When I complained again Craig sent another man to do it right-redo a 1 inch strip to hide the seam. I guess those guys don't talk to each other because all this guy did was lay another skinny little layer of chips and finish over the same little seam so the seam remains obvious to anybody's eye. It doesn't look any better than it did before.
Over all I am very dissatisfied with their work. They provided a good deal of assurance and promise upfront but got very weasel-like as work progressed.
As I told Craig in an email, "My expectations were set by the floor I was referred to (as well as the pictures they sent) which were perfectly flat and flawless. As far as my substrate goes (wooden deck) I believe that the customer should be made aware of the issues involved so he can share in the decision (to proceed with their product) up front. That would be much more forthright and consequences of the decision would clearly rest with the homeowner alone."
Craig responded, "I should have added the disclaimer about wood decks and flaws in the substrate." There was no mention of any flaws in my deck before work started. He went on to say, "It is not realistic to send you to view a concrete garage floor and not discuss the differences between a concrete contiguous surface supported by floor joists with 24" separation, etc. For that I apologize". APOLOGIZE-THAT'S IT!
Again, please do not let these people near your deck. It costs a lot and looks awful.
"[removed member name]'s deck coating came out very nice. It is a shame he doesn't like it. In short, the bottom line issue for [removed member name] is that he set an expectation for himself that was not appropriate. This expectation was never discussed ahead of time nor did our written bid in any way promote this expectation. He asked to see an installed deck and I told him he could go see a wooden deck project near South Seattle or if he wanted to see a garage floor within a few minutes of his house he could do that. He did not want to drive to see the deck and opted to look at the garage floor. Only after the coating was installed did [removed member name] tell us that his expectation was that the deck would be as uniform (flat, level, blemish free) as the concrete floor he had visited. I explained that he did not have a concrete substrate to start with and it was not realistic to expect any COATING PROCESS to somehow change the structural nature of his deck. [removed member name] then asked me why we didn't recommend substantial repairs to his deck surface prior to coating . I explained that after we removed the outdoor carpet, we made some minor repairs, removed carpet glue, inspected for rot or damage,etc. I let him know that we discussed the deck surface internally before proceeding and assured him it was a sound structure. He asked me why he wasn't consulted and given the option to pay for decking replacement. I told him it was not needed and we are not going to burden the customer with problems that we don't feel are legitimate. [removed member name] just kept repeating that his expectation was set by the concrete floor he had looked at. He knew full well that at that point there was simply nothing we could do about his expectation. Even if he wanted to pay for it, we would not have re-done the deck because under no circumstances would he have been satisfied and did not want to hear about the fundamental differences between his wooden deck and a concrete garage floor. I have no doubt that [removed member name] will enjoy his deck coating for many years to come and will eventually come to appreciate the work and effort put forth in an attempt to make him happy. Sincerely, Craig DuFrenne / Owner / 253-514-1099 is my direct line. You may contact me at any time regarding this project."
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