Epoxy flooring in Portland, Maine

Maine's oldest housing stock

Portland is Maine's largest city — 68,408 residents in 2020 — and it has some of the oldest buildings in the region. Current ACS estimates put about 46 percent of the city's housing before 1940 and more than two-thirds before 1970. Munjoy Hill, the West End, Deering and Parkside are full of houses with old cellar floors: thin concrete over dirt, patched sections, and floors that have been painted more than once.

Those basements are where a coating makes the biggest difference. After grinding, patching and a moisture test, a basement floor coating seals the concrete, stops the dust and brightens a space that small windows keep dark. Portland is majority renter, so we also see landlords who want a basement laundry or storage area that is easy to keep clean between tenants.

Salt air, snow and city garages

The peninsula is surrounded by salt water on three sides, and the Jetport averages about 69 inches of snow a year, with January averaging a high of 31°F. Garages here take both: salt carried on the air and brine carried in on tires from I-295, Route 1 and Forest Avenue. Bare concrete scales and pits over time, especially near the door. A diamond-ground garage floor coating with a chemical-resistant topcoat keeps salt on the surface where it rinses away.

For garages that double as a gym or a showpiece, a hand-poured metallic epoxy floor is an option — the same grind-first system, finished for looks.

Showrooms, redevelopment and the working waterfront

Portland's commercial floors run from Old Port storefronts and restaurants to Bayside's redevelopment and the warehouses and marine businesses around one of New England's busiest ports. Showrooms and retail spaces often choose metallic epoxy for its look, and warehouses and back-of-house areas get the high-build systems and safety striping in our commercial and industrial coatings, scheduled around business hours.

Off the peninsula, neighborhoods such as Deering — annexed to the city in 1899 — Stroudwater, Libbytown and Parkside have more single-family homes, and garage floors there face the same salt and snow as anywhere in the region. Out on Peaks and the other Casco Bay islands, where everything arrives by ferry, a floor that cleans with a hose and never needs refinishing is worth even more.

Permits in Portland go through the city's Permitting and Inspections department. Portland is on our regular route from Casco along Route 302, and we cover neighbouring South Portland, Westbrook and Falmouth the same way.