Get three quotes for the same garage in Miami and the numbers can spread by thousands of dollars. The floors in the photos all look similar. So what are you actually paying for, and what are you giving up at the low end?

We have repaired enough failed floors across Miami-Dade to tell you the differences are real, they are mostly invisible on install day, and they show up one to three years later. Here is what separates epoxy contractors in this market, from a company that competes in it.

1. Whether They Grind

Mechanical diamond grinding is the floor of professional work, literally. It opens the concrete so the coating can bond. Some outfits still acid-etch or roll a bonding primer over a quick mop, because grinders are expensive, slow, and dusty. The coating sticks either way, for a while. The difference is whether it is still stuck in year three when the hot tires and the Florida moisture have had their seasons with it.

Ask every contractor one question: what machines do you prep with? If the answer does not include diamond grinding with dust extraction, the quote should be a lot cheaper, because the floor will not last as long.

2. Whether They Test for Moisture

South Florida slabs are wet. The water table is high, much of the housing stock is slab-on-grade over sandy soil, and vapor pushes up through concrete constantly. A contractor who quotes your floor without asking about moisture, or testing for it when the slab is suspect, is gambling with your money. Vapor pressure under a non-rated coating is the number one failure mode we see on repair calls.

We test questionable slabs before we write the system spec, and when the numbers are high we install vapor-blocking primers rated for them. That line item is a difference between contractors that never shows up in the photos.

3. Material Grade

The word epoxy covers everything from hardware-store paint to industrial resin systems. The honest version of the differences:

Tier	What It Is	Where You Find It
Water-based epoxy paint	Thin film, low solids, short life under traffic	DIY kits and the cheapest quotes
100 percent solids epoxy	Thick build, real chemical and wear resistance	Professional base coats, including ours
Polyaspartic / polyurea topcoats	UV-stable, fast-cure, abrasion-resistant wear layer	Professional systems built for Florida sun and turnaround
Urethane cement	Thermal-shock and chemical workhorse	Commercial kitchens and washdown environments

When two quotes are far apart, the material spec is usually why. Make every bidder write down what resin system they are installing, layer by layer. We put it in every quote because the spec is the product. For commercial work, the difference between a generic coating and a urethane cement system in the right environment is the difference between passing and failing your first health inspection.

4. License and Insurance You Can Verify

Florida makes this easy. Any contractor working in your home should hand over a license number you can check on the state DBPR portal and a certificate of insurance on request. For commercial work in Doral or anywhere else in the county, your landlord or property manager will require the COI anyway, so a contractor who hesitates on paperwork is a contractor who has not done much commercial work.

5. Who Actually Shows Up

A chunk of the low-bid market is brokered: the company that sold you the job subs it to whatever crew is free, and quality depends on who you draw. We run our own crew. The people who walk your site, write your spec, and answer the phone at (305) 409-9022 are connected to the people kneeling on your slab. When something needs a decision mid-install, the decision-maker is on the floor, not in a call center.

6. The Warranty Is Written or It Is Nothing

Everyone says lifetime warranty in the pitch. Read the paper. What is covered, for how long, and what voids it? We write workmanship terms into every quote, and we also write down the things that fall outside it, like slab movement we flagged or moisture you elected not to address after testing. A warranty with honest exclusions beats a vague promise every time, because the vague promise evaporates when you call it in.

Where 343 Epoxy Fits

We are a First Responder owned company that installs commercial epoxy, metallic epoxy, flake, quartz, and urethane systems across Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach. We grind every floor, test the wet ones, write the spec into the quote, and put the warranty in ink. That is the whole pitch. The gallery shows the results, and a free site walk shows you the difference in person.

References That Actually Tell You Something

When you check references, age them. A floor reference from last month proves the crew can make install day look good, which every crew can. A reference from three summers ago proves the system survived the climate, the tires, and the maintenance reality, which is the thing you are actually buying. Ask each contractor for one old floor and one recent one, and call the old one first.

Commercial buyers can push further: ask for a reference in your own category. A restaurant floor that has passed inspections since installation tells a restaurateur more than five beautiful garages ever will. We keep category references on hand for exactly this conversation, and any contractor who has done the work will too. The ones who change the subject to their photo gallery are telling you the references do not exist.