Worked case: a 1,600-square-foot four-bay auto repair shop in French Valley with oil-soaked slab and bay striping — what happens and what it costs

The scenario

Picture a repair shop in a light-industrial building near French Valley Airport, four bays of about 1,600 square feet in all. Two bays have a two-post lift. The slab is dark with oil around each lift and under the tire changer, and the shop floor dusts near the roll-up doors. The shop cannot close for a week; it works two bays while the other two are coated.

The owner wants the floor to be easier to clean and to show bay lines, and asks whether oil already in the concrete matters. It does: the slab is degreased and ground, and a patch test shows whether oil keeps coming up.

The starting conditions at a glance:

• Size: about 1,600 square feet, four bays
• Slab: oil-soaked near the lifts, dusty near the doors
• System: solid-color epoxy with grit in the top coat
• Schedule: phased, two bays at a time

What the job involves

1. The shop chooses which two bays go first and shifts lifts, jacks and tool carts into the other pair.
2. Grinding takes off the surface; oil spots are degreased, ground a second time and tested with a small patch to see whether oil keeps rising.
3. Cracks and chipped saw-cut edges are repaired, and the lift base plates are masked off.
4. Primer and pigmented epoxy go down in the first pair of bays, followed by a clear coat with fine grit.
5. Once the first pair has cured per the data sheet, the crew moves to the second pair.
6. Bay lines and walkways are striped after the final cure.

Materials and prep

• A planetary grinder with a heavy-duty extractor
• Degreaser, repair mortar and crack filler for the lift areas
• Primer, a pigmented epoxy and a clear coat carrying fine grit
• Line paint or tape, a chalk reel, spiked shoes and fans for the open bay doors

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Joint filling (saw cuts and control joints) — +$400–$1,200. Saw cuts between bays can be filled with a flexible material.

Why it is done this way

Solid color with grit at $4–$8 per square foot is the typical choice for bays: it cleans easily, takes striping and does not hide oil but does shed it. The oil-and-damp line of $2–$5 per square foot covers degreasing, extra grinding passes and, where a test calls for it, a primer, so the combined range is $6–$13 per square foot.

Hot tires and hydraulic fluid are the shop's enemies, so the top coat and its prep matter more than the color. Hot-tire pickup is mostly a prep and product problem; a ground slab and a system rated for it reduce the risk.

The striping is a flat $300–$1,000 and gives the shop its bay lines, a walkway and a parts-staging area.

The alternatives that were weighed and set aside:

• Quartz broadcast at $8–$15 gives more texture for wet areas.
• A penetrating sealer costs less and wears faster under tires.

What would change the price

• Oil that keeps rising through the test patch means more grinding, a primer or a different plan.
• Removing a lift or filling a pit is building work, outside the coating.
• More cracks bring in the repair line of $1–$3 per square foot.
• Lifts and cabinets that cannot move stretch the schedule.
• Stripe work beyond bay lines is a flat item.