Getting a Floor Coating Estimate Without a Site Visit

A company can give you a first range from photos, but the firm number comes after someone looks at the slab. GLI Epoxy Flooring's Toronto pricing guide puts it plainly: "Photos help us give a rough range, but the concrete condition, moisture levels, and any old coatings can only be checked in person." GLI sells coating work and offers free on-site visits, so it has its own reason to prefer a visit.

A neutral source says much the same. The Government of Ontario page "Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs" tells homeowners to "never accept an estimate over the phone or without the contractor inspecting the area." The same page says to "get written estimates from at least 3 contractors." That suggests a simple split. Use remote ranges to decide which companies are worth inviting, then use inspected, written estimates to decide who gets the job.

Google business records carry a "Service options" section, and 88 companies in the index have "Online estimates" switched on there. Another option in that section, "Onsite services," is switched on for 68 companies. Counting across both, 47 companies show both options and 109 show at least one.

Read those labels with care. EpoxyFloorIndex copied them from Google and did not test them. The Google record for 89 companies carries no business details at all, 13 more have details but no "Service options" part, and 3 companies have online estimates marked as off. A missing label means the record is silent, not that the company refuses a remote request. Of the 88 companies that show the label, 77 have a website the site links to, so the company's own contact page is usually one click from its profile.

The site stored text from company websites, and 156 records hold more than 200 characters of it. Among those, 88 sites mention a "free estimate" or "free quote." A mention is a phrase on a page. It is not a promise the site checked, and it does not say whether the free part covers a photo range or a visit.

The two signals overlap less than you might expect. Just 42 companies carry Google's online-estimates label and also mention a free estimate or quote on their own site. Another 46 carry only the Google label, and 46 more only the website mention. Taken together, 134 companies show at least one signal, and 87 show neither.

Where sellers spell it out, the free offer tends to be a visit. Epoxy Dudes answers its own question "Do you offer free estimates?" with "We provide free, no-obligation on-site quotes throughout Toronto and the GTA." Toroo Epoxy Coatings writes: "We assess your floor, discuss your goals, and provide transparent, itemized pricing." Both are companies describing their own service.

A photo cannot measure moisture, and it rarely shows how deep a crack runs or whether an old sealer is still on the floor.

GLI Epoxy Flooring describes its own routine this way: "Our crew does a full slab inspection before every quote. We check for moisture, cracks, old sealers, and levelness." Toroo Epoxy Coatings writes that existing "cracks, spalls, or divots in your concrete must be filled and repaired before coating." A spall is a patch where the concrete surface has flaked or broken away. On slabs where a lot of moisture rises through the concrete, which Toroo calls high moisture vapour transmission, it calls for a moisture-mitigation primer and adds: "Skipping this step is the leading cause of epoxy delamination." Delamination means the coating lets go of the concrete.

These hidden conditions are also where prices move. The figures that follow are sellers' own published ranges, not neutral measurements. GLI Epoxy Flooring's Toronto guide lists surface prep for stains, paint, cracks or moisture as a $1 to $3 per square foot add-on. SurfacePro Epoxy Flooring's Toronto guide lists a moisture vapour barrier for slabs with high hydrostatic pressure (water pushing up from under the slab) as a $2.00 to $4.50 per square foot add-on. A remote range cannot tell you whether either line applies to your floor.

How grinding, crack filling and moisture testing work is covered in the guide to slab prep before a garage floor coating. Basements get their own treatment in the guide to coating a Toronto basement floor, because that is where moisture decides the most.

Send the floor size, a set of clear photos and a plain description of the three things GLI says photos cannot settle. The size is the easy part. The site's garage square footage calculator turns length and width into an area you can paste into any request.

For the rest, describe what you know in words:

• Concrete condition. Note where the cracks are, whether any edges are broken, and whether the floor is level.
• Moisture. Say whether the floor ever looks damp, whether it is below ground, and whether water comes in during a thaw.
• What is on the floor now. Name any paint, old epoxy, sealer, tile or carpet glue, and any oil stains.

When a range comes back, ask questions that show what it assumes. Does it include grinding and crack repair, or only the coating? Does it include a moisture test? Armour Guard lists "What moisture testing protocols will be employed?" among the questions to ask a contractor. Finally, ask when the written estimate will replace the range. How to compare written estimates line by line is covered in the guide to reading an epoxy floor quote.

You reach it through its own website. The request form on its profile goes to the site instead. The records hold a phone number for 215 companies, but the live site prints one only after a company claims its listing, and no company has claimed one yet. The site's methodology says: "A claimed listing publishes it; every other listing carries a request form instead."

That leaves three honest routes:

1. The company's own website. The index holds a website for 199 records. The site withholds 20 of those links because the address no longer answers or shows only a placeholder page. The listing stays either way. A company's own site is the only route that can take photos, if its form allows uploads. Only 5 of those websites link to an online request or booking tool.
2. The request form on the profile. The about page says "Every profile carries a request form, or the company's own phone number and website once it has claimed its listing." On an unclaimed profile, the page states that "The form reaches EpoxyFloorIndex," so your request goes to the site first. The site's quote page says the site passes a job to one of the highest-scoring companies listed in your area, which may not be the company whose profile you opened. On 17 September 2026, for an epoxy job, the form asked which service you need, the type of space, its rough size and what is on the floor now (other services get their own questions). It then asked for the property type, timing, an optional job description, your name, phone, postal code and an optional email. It had no photo upload, and the size question offers only rough ranges, so put the exact square footage in the description.
3. The company's Google record. Each profile links to Google Maps, where the business shows its own contact options.

When you book the inspection that follows a range, hours matter: 166 companies list opening hours, and 125 of those show Saturday hours, which suits a weekend visit. The full list is on the companies page.

Ontario's consumer page on renovations says a written estimate should describe the work and list each product and service with its price. In its words: "Estimates should have a description of the work to be done, an itemized list of products and services and their prices." It also says to make sure "everything you're expecting is listed."

The same page explains why the written estimate matters after the visit. The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is Ontario's main consumer law. Under it, "if an estimate is included as part of a home renovation contract, the final price for all goods and services cannot be more than 10% over the original estimate unless you have agreed to new work or a new price." That suggests the estimate worth attaching to a contract is the one written after someone has checked the slab. Prep or moisture work found later could otherwise arrive as new work at a new price.

The page also covers contracts signed at home. For a home renovation or repair contract worth $50 or more that you sign in your home, it says "you have the right to a 10 calendar-day cooling-off period." If an estimate visit ends with a contract on your kitchen table, that period applies.