The GTA has hundreds of epoxy flooring contractors. Some are excellent. Many are not. The market is largely unregulated — anyone with a commercial mixer and a Home Depot account can call themselves an epoxy installer — which means the range in quality, accountability, and honesty is wide.
This article is not a marketing exercise. It is an operational breakdown of what ProEpoxy actually does differently, why those differences matter for the lifespan and performance of your floor, and how to evaluate any epoxy contractor — including us — before you hire them.
The Zero-Subcontractor Policy
The single most important structural difference between ProEpoxy and most GTA competitors is our hiring model. We employ 52 field installers directly. None of our work is subcontracted. Every person who shows up at your property with ProEpoxy branding is on our payroll, covered by our WSIB account, and trained to our installation protocol.
This is not common. The majority of mid-size flooring contractors in Toronto operate on a labour-only subcontract model: they handle the quote and the materials, then hire out labour from a pool of independent tradespeople whose prior training and quality standards are unknown. The contractor gets margin, the subcontractor does the work, and the accountability chain breaks the moment something goes wrong.
Why it matters: When a delamination happens six months after installation, the contractor who used a subcontractor will frequently deflect warranty claims to the "installer," claim the subcontractor used the wrong product, or simply not respond. The installer you paid has no obligation to ProEpoxy's warranty. We have nowhere to deflect.
Certifications: What They Mean and What We Hold
Epoxy flooring is a skilled trade that intersects surface preparation science, chemistry, and quality control. Formal certification isn't legally required in Ontario, which is why most contractors don't bother. We hold the following:
NACE Coating Inspector (CIP Level 2)
NACE International (now AMPP) is the globally recognized body for coating inspection standards. CIP Level 2 certification trains inspectors to verify surface cleanliness, profile, moisture content, ambient conditions, and coating application parameters against spec — and to document non-conformances. Our certified inspector is on-site for the prep phase and first coat of every commercial job. On residential jobs, our crew supervisor holds CIP Level 1.
Manufacturer Applicator Status
ProEpoxy holds authorized applicator status with Rust-Oleum, Sherwin-Williams, and Tennant — three of the major commercial epoxy coating manufacturers with distribution in Ontario. Applicator status requires demonstrated installation volume and documented training, and gives us access to technical representatives, warranty-backed specification support, and non-standard product configurations that are not available to walk-in trade customers.
WSIB Certificate of Clearance
All 13 ProEpoxy crews are covered under our WSIB account. We provide a Certificate of Clearance for every commercial and industrial job — a prerequisite for most general contractor and property management agreements. No third-party liability falls to you if a ProEpoxy employee is injured on your site.
How to Read Google Reviews Intelligently
Online reviews are the dominant decision tool for residential epoxy flooring, and they are widely gamed. Before you choose a contractor based on rating, apply these filters:
Look for Specificity
A review that says "Great job, very professional" tells you nothing. A review that says "Ryan's crew arrived at 7:30 AM as scheduled, ground the old paint coat completely before primer, matched the colour to my garage door trim, and finished inside 8 hours" is a signal of genuine experience. Specificity cannot easily be manufactured in bulk.
Check Response Behaviour on Negative Reviews
Every contractor gets a bad review eventually. The response reveals the real company. A contractor that argues, blames the customer, makes excuses, or promises to "look into it" without resolution is showing you exactly how they handle warranty claims. A contractor that apologizes, explains what happened, and offers a concrete remedy is showing you accountability culture.
Look at Volume Trajectory
A contractor with 200 five-star reviews accumulated over 3 years is more credible than one with 200 reviews accumulated in 6 months. Sudden rating spikes, reviews that all mention the same generic phrase, and a lack of any negative or four-star reviews are signals of manipulation.
Verify the Business Age
Cross-reference the review account creation date with when the business says it was founded. Contractors who claim "15 years in business" with a Google Business Profile created in 2022 have something to explain.
Our Project Portfolio: What 900 Jobs Looks Like
ProEpoxy has been operating in the GTA since 2010. In that time we've completed projects across every category of epoxy flooring in the market:
- Residential garages: 450+ jobs across Toronto, Mississauga, Vaughan, Brampton, Oakville, and surrounding municipalities. Average size: 420 sq ft. Average system: full-broadcast decorative flake with polyaspartic topcoat.
- Commercial fit-outs: 180+ jobs for retail chains, restaurant groups, medical and dental practices, fitness studios, and automotive showrooms. Most completed on overnight or weekend installation schedules to avoid business disruption.
- Industrial flooring: 130+ jobs for manufacturing, food processing, cold storage, logistics, and warehousing clients. Projects range from 5,000 sq ft to over 200,000 sq ft. Systems include epoxy mortar, urethane cement, and polyaspartic topcoats rated for heavy forklift traffic.
- ESD and specialty systems: 40+ anti-static ESD flooring installations for electronics manufacturing, hospital ORs, and data centre environments. All installations include post-install resistance verification per ANSI/ESD STM7.1.
- Parkade and underground parking: 80+ projects for condo corporations, commercial property managers, and municipal authorities. Includes traffic membrane systems, deck coatings, and drain-to-drain slope correction.
The Warranty Comparison: What Competitors Exclude
Warranty language is where epoxy contractors diverge most sharply. The following table compares ProEpoxy's written warranty against common competitor terms in the GTA market.
| Coverage Area | ProEpoxy | Typical GTA Competitor |
|---|---|---|
| Delamination / peeling | 5 yrs residential, 3 yrs commercial | 1–2 yrs, often "workmanship only" |
| Hot tire pickup | Covered — 5 yr polyaspartic topcoat | Often excluded or 90 days |
| Road salt exposure | Not a void condition | Often voids warranty |
| Normal cleaning agents | Not a void condition | Specific cleaners listed; others void |
| Moisture vapour failure | Covered if moisture test was done pre-install | Excluded — "substrate condition" |
| Warranty documentation | Written, signed, delivered at completion | Verbal or "on request" |
The Free Site Assessment Includes Moisture Testing
Most epoxy contractors quote from measurements and photos. ProEpoxy visits the site before every written quote — residential or commercial. During that visit our estimator conducts a moisture vapour emissions rate (MVER) test using a calcium chloride kit, or an in-situ relative humidity test per ASTM F2170 for larger commercial projects.
This matters because moisture vapour transmission is the leading cause of epoxy delamination in Ontario — and it's an invisible problem on visual inspection. A contractor who quotes without testing is either planning to exclude moisture from the warranty, or planning to discover the problem mid-install when you have less leverage to negotiate.
Our moisture test is free. It takes 24–72 hours for the calcium chloride test, and we schedule around that — not you. If elevated MVER requires a vapour-barrier primer system, we tell you in the quote, not after the first coat lifts.