Quote check
Is this quote comparable to the other one?
Price alone does not show whether two coating quotes describe the same work. A lower quote may omit preparation, testing or edge details that another quote includes. This page derives the line items relevant to YOUR slab, then turns observable gaps into questions you can ask.
Comparability
45%
Not comparable. Most of what decides the outcome of this job is unstated.
Ask these, in this order
Missing items come first, followed by details worth confirming even when a quote looks thorough. Written answers make the scope easier to compare; they do not prove workmanship or price fairness.
- What test did you run, what did it read, and what limit does the product you are using publish?
- What profile are you taking the slab to, and with what machine?
- How many mils, or which manufacturer build sheet are you following?
- How are you preparing the perimeter the machine cannot reach?
- Are cracks chased open and filled, or filled flush?
- How are the saw cuts treated, and with what product?
- What day can I walk on it, and what day can I park on it?
- Is the coating saw-cut into the slab at the door, or does it just stop?
- What containment goes up, and what happens to the dust that is collected?
- Does the warranty cover delamination, and what voids it?
Required scope for this slab
Each line below is required because of something you told us about the floor. "Missing" means we can see it is absent from the quote you described. "Confirm it" means the item is one the trade routinely omits, so it is worth hearing an answer even on a quote that looks thorough.
| Line item | Status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Quantified slab moisture test, with the readings written down | missing | It is the one test that predicts whether the floor stays down, it costs a fraction of the job, and a contractor who skips it has transferred that risk to you without telling you. |
| A named surface profile and the method used to reach it | missing | Profile is the difference between a coating that is stuck on and one that is merely lying there, and it is the first thing a low bid economises on because nobody can see it afterwards. |
| A stated total dry film thickness, or a stated product build | missing | Two quotes for "epoxy" can differ by a factor of five in material. Without a thickness there is nothing to compare and nothing to hold anyone to. |
| Hand preparation at walls, columns and thresholds | confirm it | No walk-behind machine reaches a wall. A floor prepared everywhere except the last few inches fails at the edge first, and the edge is where you look. |
| Chasing and filling static cracks before coating | confirm it | A crack coated over telegraphs through within a season, and by then it is under the finish rather than in the slab. |
| Flexible treatment of movement joints, over backer rod | confirm it | A joint filled with rigid material does not stop the slab moving; it just decides where the new crack goes. |
| A written date you can drive on it | confirm it | Foot traffic and vehicle traffic are days apart, and a car driven on too early leaves permanent tyre marks that are not a warranty item. |
| Termination at the garage door threshold | confirm it | The threshold gets sun, water and the most abuse of any part of the floor, and a coating that simply stops there lifts from that edge. |
| Dust containment and post-preparation clean-down | confirm it | Concrete dust travels through a whole building and settles into everything. Containment is cheap on the quote and expensive to skip. |
| A written warranty naming what is and is not covered | confirm it | Delamination caused by slab moisture is excluded by almost every warranty, which is the strongest argument for making the moisture test a line item. |
Why a verbal number is not a quote
A number said out loud commits nobody to a profile, a thickness, a product or a sequence. When the floor fails, there is nothing to point at, and when the price moves mid-job there is nothing to hold. It is not a question of trust: an itemised quote protects the contractor as much as it protects you, because it establishes what was agreed before the machine went on the floor.
If a contractor will not put a profile and a thickness in writing, that is information. Those two numbers are what they are selling.
How the cheap quote gets cheap
A low quote can reflect a genuinely efficient scope, a different product system, or omitted work. Preparation deserves particular scrutiny because it is hidden by the finish and inadequate preparation can cause premature loss of adhesion.
- Acid etch instead of grinding. Fast, cheap, and inadequate for anything but a thin sealer on bare concrete.
- One pass instead of two over a sealed slab. The sealer stays, and it is the bond breaker.
- Skipping the edges. The floor fails at the perimeter first, which is where you look.
- No moisture test. The risk transfers to you silently, and the warranty excludes the failure.
- A thinner film than discussed. It may be hard to detect without a gauge, and it reduces material use.
Every one of those has a question on this page attached to it, and none of them requires you to know anything technical to ask.
Biggest swing factor Whether a surface profile is stated. It is the one line that determines the largest cost and the likeliest failure mode at the same time.