What does garage floor epoxy typically cost in New Brunswick?

Garage floor epoxy in New Brunswick typically runs $3–$8 per square foot for professional installation, or $300–$700 in materials if you go the DIY route on a standard two-car garage (roughly 400–500 sq ft).

Here's how the numbers break down across the range:

• Budget (DIY big-box kit): $300–$700 in materials. These are the Rust-Oleum-style kits from Home Depot or Kent. They work, but they're water-based epoxy with a thinner mil thickness — typically 3–5 mils versus 10+ mils for professional-grade systems. Expect 3–5 years of decent performance before recoating.
• Mid-range (professional, standard epoxy): $1,500–$2,500 installed for a two-car garage. This usually includes floor prep, acid etching or diamond grinding, a base coat, and a topcoat with broadcast flake or quartz.
• High-end (polyaspartic or polyurea system): $2,500–$4,500+. These cure faster, handle NB's freeze-thaw cycles significantly better, and typically carry a longer warranty (5–10 years). Worth the premium if your garage sees heavy use or you're in a flood-prone area.

New Brunswick's climate is the single biggest factor in how long your floor lasts. The freeze-thaw cycles we get — especially in Fredericton, Woodstock, or anywhere inland — are brutal on improperly prepped concrete. Road salt tracked in from our winters is equally punishing. If the contractor skips the diamond grinding step and just acid-etches, you'll see peeling within a year or two. Always ask specifically how they're prepping the surface — grinding is the gold standard.

Moisture is the other NB-specific concern. Many garages, particularly in homes built in the 1970s–90s in areas like Riverview, Quispamsis, or New Maryland, have concrete slabs with minimal vapour barrier underneath. Before any coating goes down, a moisture test (calcium chloride or relative humidity probe) should be done. Epoxy applied over a wet slab will delaminate — guaranteed.

DIY is genuinely doable here if you're comfortable with prep work and have a weekend to commit. The prep — patching cracks, grinding or etching, cleaning thoroughly — is 80% of the job. Where most DIYers go wrong is rushing the cure time or applying in temperatures below 10°C. In New Brunswick, that means your window is roughly May through September for garage work, since most garages aren't climate-controlled.

For a professional job, no building permit is required for a floor coating — it's a cosmetic finish, not a structural change. This is one of the few home improvement projects where you have full flexibility to shop around purely on price and reputation.

A practical next step: Get two or three quotes and ask each contractor specifically whether they use a polyaspartic topcoat and whether they diamond-grind the surface. Those two questions will quickly separate the quality operators from the cut-rate ones. You can find flooring and concrete contractors serving your area through the New Brunswick Construction Network directory.