Coating floors in Reno
Reno sits on the edge of the high desert, between the western Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada. That location gives the city large swings in temperature and real winters, and both show up in garage and shop floors. Bare concrete in Reno garages takes freeze-thaw cycling, de-icing material from the roads and cold slabs that make winter installation tricky.
Freeze-thaw and the surface of the slab
NOAA's engineering weather data for Reno–Tahoe International Airport records an average of about 123 freeze-thaw cycles a year. Water that soaks into concrete expands when it freezes, and repeated cycles can scale and spall the surface, particularly where salty water sits on it. A garage floor that comes in wet from snowy tires and freezes overnight sees this damage first, often near the door. Before coating, damaged and scaled areas need to be ground back to sound concrete and repaired. A properly bonded coating then keeps water and salt out of the surface pores.
Salt, sand and brine
The City of Reno's main ice-control material on its streets is a mixture of salt and sand along with salt brine, and crews pre-treat priority streets, bridges and inclines with brine before storms. Whatever goes on the roads comes home on the tires. Sand is abrasive, and salt residue can dull a coating and leave a film. In a Reno garage, look for a topcoat with good abrasion and chemical resistance, a textured finish so a wet floor still has grip, and a walk-off area at the door. Rinse salt and sand off regularly through the winter.
Winter installation
Washoe County's residential design criteria use a 17°F winter design temperature. Cold slows the cure of most coatings, and every product has a minimum slab and air temperature. A garage slab in January can be far colder than the air inside the house. If the work is done in winter, the crew may need to heat the space and the slab before and during the job, or use products made for cold application. Ask what the minimum temperatures are for each product, how they'll be measured and what happens if the space can't be kept warm enough. Many owners simply schedule garage coatings for the warmer months.
Dry air doesn't mean a dry slab
Reno's air is often dry, but that doesn't tell you what's coming up through the concrete. A slab poured without a vapor barrier, or one next to irrigated landscaping, can still test high. Test with ASTM F1869 or ASTM F2170 before coating, and use a moisture-mitigating primer if the results call for it.
Sun at altitude
Garages that face south or west and stay open take a lot of sunlight. Standard aromatic epoxies yellow in sunlight, so the topcoat choice matters. Polyaspartic and aliphatic polyurethane topcoats are used where color stability matters.
Checking a contractor in Nevada
Nevada's contractors board publishes a free license lookup. Check that the business holds an active license for the kind of work it's bidding, and that the name on the license matches the name on the contract.