Putnam County, FL
Putnam County’s River and Lake Country Floors
West of St. Augustine, Putnam is the St. Johns River, Crescent Lake and the lakes out past Interlachen. Spartan Coatings makes the drive over for garages, porches and patios.
Where the St. Johns runs past Palatka
Putnam is west of us, along the St. Johns River. Palatka, the county seat, sits right on the water with a historic downtown, and every spring the azalea festival brings people in. East Palatka faces it from the other bank.
South and west, it turns to lake and river country. Crescent City is on Crescent Lake in the southeast corner. Pomona Park is a small town off US-17, Welaka is a little river town known for its fishing, and Interlachen sits out among the lakes on the western side of the county.
Lake country means water close to the surface. A slab on sandy ground near a lake or the river can push a lot of moisture up from below, and humid air does the rest. A coating laid over that without a test is living on borrowed time. Matt checks it first, and when the number calls for it, a moisture vapor barrier primer goes down before anything else.
Older porches, river-town garages and room for a boat
Around Palatka’s historic downtown and the older streets near it, the floors people ask about tend to be a front porch, a back patio and a garage that has carried a few coats of paint over the years. Those get ground first. A new coating is only as good as what it is bonded to, and old paint is a weak thing to bond to.
Out in the lake and river towns, a garage often has another job. If yours holds a boat on a trailer and the fishing gear, the floor has to take wet tires and the odd dropped tackle box. A full flake broadcast hides the mess and cleans with a hose. A screened porch or patio near the water gets the same grip and UV-stable topcoat we would put on one at the beach.
A new coating is only as good as what it is bonded to, and old paint is a weak thing to bond to.
Six river and lake towns
Putnam is over to the west, a longer drive than our own county but well inside the area we cover. The water shapes the floors in every one of these towns, just not the same way twice.
Palatka’s historic downtown on the St. Johns means older buildings and porches, and an old slab there earns a careful look at its cracks before anyone talks color.
Looking back at the county seat across the river, East Palatka puts garages close enough to the St. Johns that a vapor barrier primer is often part of the plan.
With Crescent Lake on its doorstep, a patio in Crescent City gets lake humidity in the morning and hard sun by afternoon.
Out in the lake country on the western side of the county, Interlachen floors sit on sandy ground with the water table close beneath them.
In a small town off US-17 like Pomona Park, a garage usually works harder than the car parked in it, so a tough flake or solid color beats a glossy paint job.
Known for its fishing on the St. Johns, Welaka is a little river town where a coated garage or porch has to put up with wet boots and wet trailer tires.
Matt makes the drive west
Putnam is a drive west for us, so Matt sets the visit up to see everything in one trip: the garage, the porch, the patio, whatever you have been thinking about. He tests each slab for moisture, looks at the cracks and spalls, and asks how each floor gets used.
He tells you plainly if a slab is too wet to coat yet or if something needs repair first. If it is ready, you hear which system he would choose and why. Have Matt look at your slab, or call Matt at (904) 671-3930.
Or email spartancoatingsfl@gmail.com with the town and a photo of the floor.
Matt answers this phone himself
Based in St. Augustine, FL, working in Putnam County.
Finished floors first? See all of Matt’s floors.
Questions from around Putnam County
We’re out past Interlachen. Will you make the trip for one garage?
Tell Matt where you are and what you want done. Putnam County is in our service area, and a garage floor is a normal job for us. If there is a porch or patio you have been thinking about too, mention it, since doing both on one trip is easier on everybody’s schedule. Call (904) 671-3930.
Our garage holds the boat. Will wet trailer tires hurt a coated floor?
No. Water sitting on a properly built floor does not hurt it, and a full flake broadcast with a polyaspartic topcoat handles trailer tires and the grit they bring in. Where we take extra care is the lip at the garage door, which gets the most water and wear. That edge gets ground and repaired so the coating has solid concrete to grab.
Our house is near the lake and the slab feels damp. Can it still be coated?
Often, yes, with the right primer. Matt tests the moisture coming up through the slab. If it is high, a moisture vapor barrier primer goes down first and the coating system goes over that. If the reading says the slab is too wet even for that, he will tell you so instead of coating it and hoping.
Do you coat concrete steps and the porch edge, or only flat floors?
Steps and edges get coated too. They take more hand work, and the nose of each step gets texture so it is not slick in the rain. Porch edges and step faces are also where old paint and chips like to hide, so they get ground and patched the same as the flat part of the porch.
Will a coating keep tannin stains off our patio under the oaks?
It helps a lot. Bare concrete soaks up tannin from wet leaves and turns brown, while a coated surface keeps the stain on top, where a hose and a soft brush can reach it. Leaves left sitting in a puddle for days can still mark a light color, so a darker flake blend is the forgiving choice under big trees.