Obra for Epoxy floor contractors

Epoxy floor job costing, from the grind to the topcoat

Track each coating job as its own project: primer, flake, topcoat, grinding consumables, rentals and prep and coat labor. Know your real cost per square foot.

An epoxy floor is two days of work, a few expensive kits, and a rental. The material is bought by the kit and the labor is bought by the day, and the margin is decided by the prep: the slab that fails the moisture test, the stain that won't grind out, and the second trip when the client changes the flake.

Obra keeps each floor as its own job, with the kits and the rentals against the budget and the prep surprises recorded as change orders, so you know your real cost per square foot before you quote the next garage.

Kits, rentals and days

Set up the budget the way you buy: coatings by the kit, consumables, the grinder rental, the moisture test, labor by the day. When the receipts come in, they go against the right line and the job's page shows the gap. The cost code guide has a short list you can copy.

Receipts from the supply house

Your crew picks up the kit, the diamonds and the crack filler on the way to the job. They photograph each receipt and send it by WhatsApp. Obra reads it, drafts the expense, and you confirm which job it belongs to. The receipt tracking guide shows the habit.

The moisture, the stain, the pattern

The three change orders below show up on most garages. Price each one the morning you find it, get the client's okay, then record it so the contract moves with the work. The change order guide keeps the wording short enough to send from the driveway.

Which floors paid

When the last check clears, the job's page shows the contract, total cost and margin. Compare your garages against your commercial floors and your metallic jobs. The markup and margin guide helps you set the number to aim for per square foot.

What Obra isn't for a coatings contractor

Not a quoting tool, not a photo gallery, not scheduling. Obra is the money on each floor, in English and Spanish, from receipts your crew already sends, exported clean to the accountant.

Sample budget

Three-car garage, 720 sq ft, full-flake polyaspartic, Riverside

Line item Budget
Primer, base coat, flake, topcoat $1,450
Crack filler, diamonds, consumables $300
Grinder and vacuum rental $250
Moisture test $60
Crew labor, prep and coat, two days $1,600
Direct cost budget $3,660
Contract value $5,600
Gross margin budgeted $1,940

Illustrative figures in US dollars for a fictional project; use them to see the shape of the budget, not to price a job.

The cost codes this trade actually uses

  • 01 Primer and base coat
  • 02 Flake, quartz and metallics
  • 03 Topcoat and sealer
  • 04 Crack and joint repair
  • 05 Grinding consumables and diamonds
  • 06 Equipment rentals
  • 07 Moisture testing
  • 08 Crew labor, prep
  • 09 Crew labor, coat
  • 10 Vehicle and fuel

The change orders that eat the margin

The slab that failed the moisture test
The test reads high. A vapor-barrier primer and an extra day of cure are the difference between a floor that lasts and one you redo for free. Get the okay, record it, then prime.
The oil stain that won't grind out
Twenty years of drips under the parking spot. Degreasing, a second grind and a spot primer are prep the bid never had. Price it the morning you see it and get it approved before the flake goes down.
The pattern picked after the sample
The quote had a standard flake blend. The client sees the metallic samples and wants that instead. The material and the extra coat are a change order, confirmed before the kit is ordered.

Questions people ask

Coatings come in kits and one kit can span two jobs. How do I split it?
Log the kit's invoice to the job that opened it. If a kit clearly covers two jobs, record what each used as its own expense from the same invoice. Over a month you'll know your kits per thousand square feet.
Most of my cost is labor. Can I see cost per square foot?
The job's page shows total cost against the contract. Divide by the square footage from your bid and you have your real cost per foot. Ten jobs in, you'll know which sizes and systems pay best.
Does Obra do quotes or before-and-after galleries?
No. Keep your quoting tool and your photo feed. Obra is the money on each job: kits and rentals against the budget, extras as change orders, and the margin when the topcoat cures.
Can my crew send receipts from the supply house?
Yes. A photo by WhatsApp, email or the app, in English or Spanish. They never see the job's numbers. You confirm it to the right job in a few seconds.
Free download

Not ready for an app? Start with our free Excel template.

A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.

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