Epoxy Flooring in Catasauqua, PA

Epoxy flooring in Catasauqua starts with a borough named for dry earth. The name comes from a Lenape word usually translated as "dry ground" or "thirsty ground." Bare concrete is thirsty too. It drinks in oil, water and road salt, and that is what wears it out. A coating closes the pores so spills stay on top.

A town built by iron

Welsh immigrant David Thomas opened the Crane Iron Works here, and Catasauqua became the site of the nation's first anthracite iron around 1839 and 1840. Thomas also set up the borough's first public water system and its first fire company. Wealth from iron built the Victorian homes of what is now called the mansion district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Biery's Port, the older riverfront district along the Lehigh, is listed too.

The borough's population passed 5,000 by the 1910 census, so a large share of its houses are a century old or more.

What older floors look like here

In homes of that age, the basement or garage floor has rarely been left alone. We often find:

• Several layers of paint or sealer, some peeling.
• Old tile adhesive where a floor covering was pulled up.
• Uneven slabs with patches poured in different decades.
• Cracks that have opened and closed for years.
• Damp spots where the slab lacks a vapor barrier.

We grind everything back to sound concrete, fill and level what needs it, and run a moisture test. Only then do we pick the system. In a basement that might be a moisture-tolerant primer under an epoxy finish. In a detached garage it is often a flake system that hides the patching beneath it.

Tight streets and close neighbors

Catasauqua packs about 5,000 people into each square mile across roughly 1.3 square miles. Lots are narrow and garages often face alleys or side streets. We bring compact grinders with vacuum dust collection and plan where the equipment will sit before the day starts. If your basement stairs are narrow or steep, tell us when you call so we can bring the right gear.

When the slab is too far gone

Not every old floor should be coated. If a basement slab is broken into loose pieces, keeps getting wet or has sunk badly in one area, a coating will not last. In those cases we explain what we see and what kind of repair or replacement the floor needs first. Smaller problems, such as chips, scaled spots, shallow cracks and rough patches, are part of our normal repair work. We fill them and grind them flush before the first coat.

Riverside basements

Catasauqua Creek flows through the borough and the Lehigh River runs along its southwestern edge. Homes near water often have damp basements in humid months. Many older slabs here were poured without a plastic vapor barrier underneath, so moisture moves up through the concrete. We measure it before we coat. A reading in a safe range gets a standard system. A higher reading calls for a moisture-tolerant primer, and active leaks get sent to drainage repair first.

Choosing a service

Basement floor epoxy and concrete crack and floor repair are the jobs we see most in older homes here. Garage floor coating and epoxy flake floors suit detached and alley garages. For shops and small storefronts in the borough, commercial floor epoxy is an option too. Call (610) 424-3849 for a free estimate.