Concrete floor stripping & removal in San Francisco CA - bare concrete ready to recoat
Coating peeling, bubbling or stacked in old layers? We find out how much has to come off, then take it down to sound concrete.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Does a peeling floor coating have to come all the way off?
Concrete floor stripping & removal in San Francisco takes an old epoxy coating off your concrete. A chemical stripper can soften it so it scrapes or sweeps off, or a diamond grinder can cut through it layer by layer until you're back to bare concrete that can take a new floor.
Most people call us when a coating is lifting, bubbling or so patched over the years that nobody knows what's under it, and a new coat won't hold until that's sorted out. The price mostly turns on how big the floor is, what kind of coating it is and how many layers there are, how much of it is still holding, whether there's old tile or glue underneath and how the debris leaves your property. The schedule turns on the method, how much has to come up and what's going down next. The removal is often the first half of concrete grinding and surface preparation for a new floor. I'll look at yours on site and walk you through the options and what each one means for your schedule.
How can you tell an old floor coating is failing?
Coating lifting at the edges
You see the coating curling up at a wall, a joint or where the car tires sit, and you can sometimes peel it back by hand. That usually means the bond let go there, and the longer you wait, the more water and grit work under it and pull more loose.
Bubbles and soft spots
Blisters or spots that give a little underfoot usually mean moisture or something on the slab was pushing up under the coating. Leave them and they tend to spread, which turns a small repair into a bigger one.
Layers of old coats
If you can see two or three colors in a chip, someone recoated over a floor that was already failing. A new coat is only as good as what's under it, so painting over it again just buries the problem.
How we handle concrete floor stripping and removal
Not every peeling floor needs to come up, so the first thing we do is check how much of the coating is still bonded to the slab. If most of it is holding, we fix the spots that let go and leave the rest, because tearing up a sound coating costs you money and buys you nothing. When it has to come off, we pick a stripper or grinding to fit the coating, work out how the debris leaves your property and take the floor down to bare concrete. Most coatings that peel had a problem in the slab before anyone opened a can, so we look for that before anything new goes down.
Once the old coating is off, most people want a new one, and that's where our epoxy floor coatings come in, laid on concrete we've just cleaned up. For shops, warehouses and other business floors, the same removal comes before commercial and industrial epoxy floor coatings.
Chemical stripping
A stripper suits a thin, single-coat home coating or a small patch, because it softens the coating so it scrapes off without cutting into the whole floor. On thicker or layered coatings it usually isn't the practical way to go.
Diamond grinding
Grinding is the most common way to get a coating off a home floor, and it handles thicker and multi-coat floors that a stripper won't. It makes a lot of dust, so we plan for that before the grinder starts.
Find out if your coating really has to come off
We reply within 1 business day to set up a free estimate at your property. I come out, check how much of the coating is still bonded and walk you through repair or removal. No pressure, no obligation.
(415) 918-5395Where the debris goes on a San Francisco floor stripping job
We're based in San Francisco and work in the cities around it, down the Peninsula and across the Bay. In San Francisco, construction and demolition debris from a job has to be recycled or reused, and none of it can go to a landfill, an incinerator or a trash bin, so we plan where the ground-off coating and any broken patches go before the first pass. If the job needs a debris box set out in the street, San Francisco Public Works issues the street space permit for it. Permit questions come up at the estimate, and when a job needs one, we help you work through it.
A lot of the floors we strip here are garages under older houses, recoated a few times over the years, where the only way out is the garage door or a narrow side path. We work out access and dust before we start, and we see the same layered garage floors on jobs in Daly City and South San Francisco.
What happens when you call about stripping a floor in San Francisco?
Call us or send the form
Tell us roughly how big the floor is and what's on it, and we'll set up a visit. Mention any old tile or black glue underneath so I know before I come.
I check the floor myself
I check how much of the coating is still bonded, look for moisture in the slab and other old coatings and walk you through repair or removal. You get the options, what each one means for your schedule and a price for the one you pick.
Our crew takes it up
Our own crew does the work, with a lead installer running the job day to day. Dust and debris are handled the way we agreed at the estimate.
We leave it ready to coat
When the coating is off, we leave the slab bare and clean, ready for whatever goes down next. If that's ours too, our crew lays it and shows you how to care for it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my epoxy floor needs full removal or just a repair?
If about 90% of the floor is still bonded and solid, one coating removal guide treats it as a spot repair, not a removal job. Full removal makes sense when the bond is failing everywhere, so a floor letting go in one area usually points to a smaller fix. That's the first thing we check when we come out.
What is the best way to remove old epoxy from a garage floor?
For a standard two- or three-car garage, diamond grinding is almost always the practical choice. It cuts through the coating layer by layer down to the concrete, which leaves the slab ready for a new garage floor coating.
How much does concrete floor removal cost in San Francisco?
Removing a concrete slab usually costs about $11.50 to $13.50 per square foot across the US, and that's for taking out the slab itself, not stripping a coating off it. It's a national figure, so treat it as a rough guide, not a San Francisco price. Your own number comes from the estimate, once I've seen the floor, the coating and how much of it is still holding.
Can I haul away the old coating and debris myself in San Francisco?
Yes, if it's your own property and your own vehicle, you don't need a construction and demolition debris permit from the city to haul it. You still have to follow the rest of the city's debris recovery rules, so it still goes to recycling or reuse. Tell us at the estimate if you'd rather haul it yourself.
Is grinding an epoxy floor dusty, and how is the dust controlled?
Yes, diamond grinding concrete makes a lot of silica dust, and that dust is a serious breathing hazard. California rules require a dust reduction system whenever power tools grind concrete, so ask anyone bidding your floor which system they'll use. Settle how the dust gets handled before any work starts, and we'll go over ours at the visit.
Could there be asbestos in the old tile or glue under my floor?
It's possible, because the Bay Area Air District lists vinyl floor tiles, mastics and transite concrete among materials that might contain asbestos. If there's old tile or black glue on your slab, tell us before any work starts so we can talk it through before anything gets ground or scraped.
San Francisco, CA
Find out what has to come off
A coating that's failing in one corner is often still a repair, and the sooner I see it, the more of the floor we can usually keep.