Epoxy Flooring in Dubuque, IA

Epoxy flooring in Dubuque is our home turf, and few cities in Iowa hand us a wider range of slabs. Dubuque was chartered in 1833 and incorporated in 1857, and it grew in layers. German families settled the North End in the late 1800s. The South End grew up Irish, with churches, pubs and some grand older homes. The West End filled in after World War II. Each layer left behind a different kind of garage and basement floor, and we plan the work around which one you have.

The North End: low ground and old basements

The North End is still a working-class area with factories, and it holds some of the lowest ground in the city. Dubuque has spent years on flooding there. Parts of Bee Branch Creek were opened back up to daylight in 2015 and 2016, with parks and trails along the banks, to move stormwater through the neighborhood. Basements in this part of town have often seen water at some point. Before we coat one, we look for old high-water lines, efflorescence and patched cracks, and we take a moisture reading. A coating cannot hold back water pushing up through the slab. If the basement still takes on water, we will tell you to fix that first.

Behind the floodwall

Much of the city sits behind a levee and floodwall system about 6 miles long. It went in after the 1965 flood, which came close to 9 feet above flood stage, and it was dedicated in August 1973. The Encyclopedia Dubuque notes the wall was built for river levels up to 28.3 feet, and the 2018 crest reached 26.81 feet. The wall keeps the river out. It does not stop groundwater or storm runoff from reaching a basement floor during a wet spring. That is why our basement estimates in the flats always start with a moisture check.

Bluff streets and hillside garages

Dubuque sits in the Driftless Area, which the last glaciers skipped. The Fenelon Place Elevator, built in 1893, still carries riders up one of the downtown bluffs. Homes on these slopes often have garages tucked into the hill, sharing a wall with the basement or sitting below the house. Those slabs tend to stay cool and can pick up moisture along the back wall. They also tend to pitch hard toward the door. We grind and patch to keep drainage running out the door, and we pick a primer suited to a slab that runs cool and damp.

South End and older alley garages

Census survey data for 2019 to 2023 puts the median year built for Dubuque housing at 1963. Detached single-family homes make up 62.8% of the housing stock. In older blocks that usually means a small detached garage off an alley. Many have a thin slab with years of paint, sealer or kit coating on it. All of that has to come off. Our diamond grinders take the floor down to clean concrete, and we fill spalls and broken edges before the base coat.

West End garages

The West End grew after the war and keeps spreading toward Asbury and Peosta, with shopping at Plaza 20 and Kennedy Mall. Homes here are more likely to have attached two- and three-car garages. The concrete is usually flatter and in better shape, so the job is mostly prep and finish choice. Flake floors are the common pick. Polyaspartic topcoats are popular with families who want the garage back in a day.

Lofts, storefronts and old mill buildings

Dubuque has several historic districts, including Jackson Park, Old Main Street, Fenelon Place and the Dubuque Millworking Historic District. The millworking district was renovated in the early to mid 2010s, and many of its old industrial buildings now hold offices, apartments and shops. Old buildings like these often have concrete floors that are worn, stained or patched in several eras. Some owners want them coated. Others want the character of the old slab kept. We can grind and seal a floor to keep its look, or install a clear or tinted system that shows some of the concrete underneath. In any building that old, we check for moisture and old adhesives before we choose a product.

Wet weather, not only snow

Winter gets the attention, but Dubuque averages about 38.2 inches of precipitation a year, spread over about 118 days with rain or snow. Spring rain and summer storms put water on garage floors and in window wells as often as winter does. A coated slab with a sound perimeter and repaired joints sheds that water instead of soaking it up.

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Floors for Dubuque's workplaces

Dubuque is a working city. John Deere is its largest employer, with about 2,600 workers, and Andersen Windows & Doors and Medline Industries also have big local operations. Plenty of smaller fabricators, machine shops, contractors and warehouses sit around them. Those floors take forklifts, carts, hydraulic fluid and steady boot traffic. For them we use thicker epoxy systems, chemical-resistant topcoats and texture in walk and work zones. Joints and cracks get repaired so wheels roll over them smoothly. We can phase a job by bay or section so the building keeps running.

Which service fits which part of town

• North End and flats basements: moisture check first, then a basement floor coating suited to the reading
• Alley and hillside garages: concrete crack and floor repair, then garage floor epoxy with a flake broadcast
• West End attached garages: epoxy flake floors or a polyaspartic floor coating for a faster return to service
• Shops, plants and warehouses: shop and commercial floor epoxy, built in sections