St. Johns County, FL
Epoxy Floors Across St. Johns County, Close to Home
Spartan Coatings is based in St. Augustine, so the old city, the islands, the golf neighborhoods and the farm country out west are all a short haul for the trailer.
A county that runs from coquina to potato fields
Our home base is St. Augustine, the oldest city in the country. The historic district is coquina and old masonry, and the Matanzas River puts salt in the air on the east side of town. Head out SR-16 or down US-1 and the houses get younger fast.
East of the river it is beach country, on Anastasia Island and across the inlet at Vilano. Up north, the Ponte Vedra area runs from Intracoastal homes in Palm Valley to the golf streets of Sawgrass and the new ones in Nocatee. Out west, around Hastings, the floors are in barns and equipment sheds.
Under all of it sits concrete on sandy soil with a high water table, in air that stays humid most of the year, so moisture vapor gets tested first on every slab, from the oldest porch downtown to the newest garage.
Block ranches, beach houses and brand-new three-car garages
In older parts of St. Augustine, St. Augustine South and the Shores, the typical house is single-story block on slab, and people ask about the garage, the front porch and a lanai that has been painted or sealed a few times already.
On the islands it is pool decks, outdoor showers and the entry where sandy shoes come off. In Nocatee, World Golf Village and Sawgrass the garages are bigger and the slabs newer, so the talk turns to flake colors and cure time.
On the islands it is pool decks, outdoor showers and the entry where sandy shoes come off.
Towns we cover in St. Johns County
All of it is close to home for us, but the floors change from one end of the county to the other. Here is what each place puts them through.
Coquina walls and old masonry downtown give way to mid-century block ranches and newer subdivisions off SR-16 and US-1, so one city holds slabs of every age.
Over the Vilano bridge on A1A, houses sit on a thin strip between the Tolomato River and the Atlantic, and sand works its way into every garage.
Most homes here are older single-story block houses on slab along the Matanzas, which makes the garage and back porch the usual candidates for a new floor.
With raised houses, pools and outdoor showers near the pier, the slabs that matter most here are the ones that are wet half the time.
Built along the Matanzas from the 1970s on and home to many retirees, the Shores is full of garage floors that should clean with a hose and patios that should not get slick.
This stretch of Anastasia Island carries Frank Butler’s name, from the days his beach was the one African American beach in the area, and its slabs get the same salt and blowing sand as the rest of the island.
West of I-95 at SR-16, the golf-course neighborhoods date from the late 1990s on, and three-car garages over younger slabs are the norm.
Down toward Matanzas Inlet the beach houses are quiet, but any outdoor coating still spends its life in full sun and salt air.
Building since the late 2000s, Nocatee is mostly new construction, and the first question on a new garage is whether the slab has cured long enough.
Long known for potatoes, Hastings has barns, workshops and equipment sheds whose slabs carry tractors and dirt instead of a family car.
Big lots southwest of Hastings leave room for outbuildings, and a workshop floor out here has to shrug off dropped tools and whatever comes in on the mower.
Around TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, gated golf neighborhoods tend to want a garage finished to the same standard as the house.
Older waterfront homes and newer builds share the Intracoastal here, so one driveway might be a tired, chalky slab and the next a fresh pour.
Near Julington Creek on the St. Johns River, these settled neighborhoods have plenty of garages that have sat as bare concrete for years.
When Matt comes out to see your slab
From St. Augustine, getting to you is a short drive. Matt looks at the whole floor, tests the slab for moisture, checks the cracks and edges, and asks how the space really gets used. Then he tells you which system fits and what the job takes.
Many garage and patio jobs here finish in one day. Metallic and the heavier builds take longer, and you will know that before anything is booked. 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 St. Johns County.
Finished floors first? See all of Matt’s floors.
Questions from around St. Johns County
We live out on Anastasia Island. Is that in your area?
Yes. The whole island, from St. Augustine Beach down through Butler Beach and Crescent Beach, is close to home for us, and so is Vilano. Beach floors see salt, sand and full sun, so outdoor slabs get a UV-stable topcoat and real grip for wet feet.
Our house is in the old part of St. Augustine. Can an older slab still be coated?
Usually. Older slabs tend to carry patches, cracks and layers of paint or sealer from past owners. Grinding takes it all back to bare concrete so we can see what is really there. If something turns up that a coating should not go over, Matt tells you first.
We just closed on a new home in Nocatee. How soon can the garage be coated?
A new slab needs time to cure before it gets ground and coated, and the right wait depends on the pour and the weather. Call once you have the keys and Matt can test it. Coating a slab that is still giving off moisture is how new garage floors end up peeling.
Do you do barn and workshop floors out toward Hastings?
Yes, as long as there is a concrete slab. We do not coat dirt or gravel. On a working slab a solid color system or a grind and seal usually beats a decorative floor, because it sweeps out easily and stands up to equipment. Matt looks at how the building gets used before picking one.
Is there a good or bad time of year to coat a floor here?
Garages and interiors can be done any time of year. Pool decks and open patios depend on the weather that week, because an afternoon storm or a slab baking in the sun changes how a coating goes down. We would rather move an outdoor job a day than coat a wet slab.