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Condo Storage and Bike Room Floors Near The Domain: An Illustrative Project

An illustrative walkthrough of a condo association near The Domain coating its bike room, storage cage area and trash room: board approval, resident notice, phasing, system choice and care.

The area around The Domain in North Austin is full of mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings. Many of them have shared back-of-house spaces that residents use every day but rarely think about: bike rooms, storage cages, trash rooms and service corridors. These floors take a beating from bikes, carts, moving dollies and spills, and bare concrete in them tends to look grimy fast. This page walks through an illustrative project: a Condominium association coating its bike room, storage cage area and trash room. It's written by Austin Epoxy Flooring Pro, serving Austin and Georgetown from our office at 2025 Guadalupe Street. We have a 5.0 rating on Google and we're open 24 hours, 7 days a week, with same-day response, at (512) 325-5434.

Please note: this is an illustrative walkthrough, not a record of a specific customer's job. The building, association and findings are a composite example. Your project will have its own plan and price. We aren't affiliated with The Domain or any building or business there; the name is used only to describe the area.

The Building and the Spaces

Our example is a mid-rise condo building with about 120 units and a ground-floor back-of-house area:

Bike room (about 600 sq ft): wall-mounted and floor racks, used daily by many residents.
Storage cage area (about 1,400 sq ft): rows of wire-mesh storage units.
Trash and recycling room (about 300 sq ft): bins, a chute outlet and a floor drain.
Connecting corridor (about 400 sq ft).

Problems the association's board heard about:

Tire marks and grime in the bike room.
Dust and stains in the storage area, which got onto residents' stored items.
Odors and stains in the trash room, where spills soaked into bare concrete.
A generally tired look that didn't match the building's lobby.

Step 1: The Board's Brief

The board, working through its Homeowner association structure and a property manager, wanted:

Cleaner, brighter floors in all four spaces.
Easier cleaning for the janitorial team.
Minimal disruption to residents.
A clear plan and estimate they could present at a board meeting.

Step 2: Site Visit

With the property manager, we:

Measured each space, about 2,700 square feet in total.
Tested moisture, which was in a suitable range except near the trash room drain, which was slightly elevated.
Checked the slab: a few cracks, oil stains in the corridor from moving vehicles and some sealer in the storage area.
Looked at the trash room drain and slope.
Noted access: a single service door and a freight elevator, with resident access by key fob.
Asked about cleaning: weekly mopping, plus trash room wash-downs.

Step 3: Choosing Systems

Bike room: gray flake with polyaspartic topcoat and light texture, which hides tire marks and grit.
Storage area: the same flake system, for a consistent look and easy cleaning.
Trash room: a more chemical- and water-resistant system with coating carried up the wall as a cove base, more texture and careful work around the drain. Moisture near the drain was addressed with a moisture-mitigating primer.
Corridor: the same flake as the bike room, with stain treatment.

Step 4: The Estimate

Commercial floors run $2–$5 per square foot, and polyaspartic systems run $3–$7 per square foot. The written estimate listed each space separately, plus:

Crack repair.
Sealer removal in the storage area.
Moisture-mitigating primer near the drain.
Cove base in the trash room.
After-hours or phased scheduling.

The property manager presented the estimate at the next board meeting, and the board approved it.

Step 5: Resident Communication

Communication is a big part of any shared-space project. The property manager:

Sent notices two weeks and two days before each phase.
Asked residents to move bikes to a temporary location and to clear items from the floor of their storage cages.
Explained the timeline and when spaces would be usable again.
Posted signs at the doors of each space.
Arranged temporary trash collection points.

Step 6: Phasing

The work was done in three phases:

Phase 1: bike room and corridor. Bikes moved to a secure temporary area in the parking garage.
Phase 2: storage cage area, with residents clearing floor items first. Cages stayed in place and the floor was coated around and beneath them where possible.
Phase 3: trash room, with a temporary collection point set up outside.

Each phase took a day or two, with cure time before reopening.

Step 7: Preparation

In each phase:

Protection of walls, doors and cage frames.
Diamond grinding with vacuum dust control, important in an occupied building.
Sealer removal in the storage area.
Crack repair and stain treatment.
Edge work around cage posts and racks.
Vacuuming and inspection.

Step 8: Installation

Bike room, corridor, storage: base coat, full flake broadcast, scraping and a textured polyaspartic topcoat.
Trash room: moisture-mitigating primer near the drain, body coat, cove base, textured topcoat and careful finishing around the drain.

Low-odor products were chosen, and ventilation was set up with the property manager's help.

Step 9: Reopening

Each space reopened after the product's cure guidance, with signs removed and residents notified. Bike racks were reinstalled, and residents moved their bikes back.

Step 10: Care and Results

The janitorial team's routine:

Dust-mop bike room, corridor and storage area weekly.
Damp-mop with a mild cleaner.
Wash down the trash room with a recommended cleaner.
Squeegee water toward the drain.

In this illustrative example, the spaces look cleaner and brighter, the trash room is easier to keep fresh and the board has a maintenance plan.

Why Back-of-House Floors Matter to Residents

It's easy for a board to focus on lobbies, pools and gyms, the spaces residents see when they show the building to guests. But residents use back-of-house spaces constantly. Someone collecting a bike for a morning ride, bringing out holiday decorations from storage or carrying a bag of trash downstairs forms an impression of how the building is looked after. In our example, the board had heard several complaints about grimy bike and storage rooms, and some residents had mentioned that dust from the floor was settling on their stored boxes. A floor project addressed something residents noticed every week.

Bike Rooms in More Detail

Bicycle parking rooms are some of the hardest-working floors in a residential building:

Tires bring in grit, water and mud, especially after rain.
Rubber marks build up where bikes are wheeled in and turned.
Kickstands and pedals can scratch or gouge.
E-bikes are heavier, and their batteries and chargers mean residents spend more time in the room.
Floor racks are often bolted down, and their anchors need care during coating.

In our example, the bike room's floor racks were unbolted and moved during the work, the old anchor holes were filled and new anchors were placed after full cure. Wall-mounted racks stayed in place. The flake finish hides tire marks between cleanings, and the texture gives grip when the floor is wet from rainy-day rides.

Storage Cage Areas in More Detail

Storage areas raise practical questions:

Cages are usually fixed to the floor or walls, so the coating goes around their posts.
Residents' items must be lifted off the floor, which takes coordination.
Some residents are away or slow to respond, so the property manager needs a plan for cages that haven't been cleared.
Dust control is critical, since grinding near stored items can leave dust on them.

In our example, the property manager set a deadline for clearing cage floors and offered help from the building's maintenance staff for residents who needed it. For cages that weren't cleared, the board agreed in advance that staff would lift items onto shelves within the cage or temporarily move them, with a record kept of what was moved. Vacuum-attached grinding kept dust to a minimum, and items near the work were covered with plastic sheeting.

Trash Rooms in More Detail

Trash and recycling rooms are the most demanding of the spaces:

Liquids leak from bags and bins, including food waste, drinks and cleaning products.
Wash-downs put water on the floor regularly.
Bins are heavy and get rolled in and out, often on hard wheels.
Odors linger in porous concrete.
Drains collect everything, and the floor around them often has moisture issues.

The system chosen for our example's trash room was thicker and more chemical-resistant than the flake in the other spaces, with a cove base carried up the walls so wash water couldn't get behind it. Extra texture helped staff keep their footing on wet floors. Careful work around the drain made sure water flowed into it rather than pooling nearby.

Coordinating With the Property Manager

In most condo buildings, the property manager is the day-to-day contact for a project like this. In our example, the property manager:

Arranged access with key fobs and freight elevator reservations.
Handled resident notices and questions.
Coordinated the janitorial team to clean before and after each phase.
Kept the board updated on progress.
Confirmed insurance documents before work began.

We kept in daily contact during the work, with photos of progress shared with the property manager to pass on to the board.

Questions the Board Asked

"How long will each space be out of use?" About a day or two each, depending on the space and cure time. The trash room had a temporary collection point during its phase.

"Will the work disturb residents?" Grinding makes noise, so it was scheduled during daytime hours agreed with the property manager. Low-odor products and ventilation kept odor to a minimum.

"What about electric vehicle or e-bike chargers?" Chargers mounted on walls stayed in place, with the floor coated beneath them. Any floor-mounted equipment was discussed in advance.

"How do we budget for maintenance?" We suggested a yearly walk-through to check wear, with a topcoat refresh in the bike room and corridor when they start to look dull. That can be planned in the association's maintenance budget.

"Can the same floor go in the parking garage later?" Parking garages raise different questions, such as exposure, drainage and traffic. We'd assess them separately.

A Checklist for Associations

List the shared spaces you want to improve.
Gather photos and any known issues, such as drains, cracks or old sealer.
Decide on the scope with the board and property manager.
Request a site visit and written estimate.
Plan resident communication and phasing.
Confirm insurance and access arrangements.
Schedule the work around building events and move-in/move-out days.

Scheduling Around Move-Ins and Events

Condo buildings have regular move-ins, move-outs and deliveries, which often use the same corridors and freight elevators as a floor project. In our example, the property manager checked the move calendar and blocked the freight elevator for the work days. The phases were also scheduled to avoid a planned building social event. Coordinating these early avoids last-minute conflicts.

Comparing Options for Shared Spaces

The board considered several alternatives before approving the project:

Cleaning and resealing the bare concrete. Lower cost, but sealers wear quickly under bike tires and bins, and they don't hide stains or marks.
Painting the floors. Inexpensive, but paint tends to peel under rolling loads and wash-downs, and it would need redoing often.
Rubber or vinyl flooring. Works in some rooms, but seams trap liquids in trash rooms and edges can lift under bins and bikes.
Coated floors. A higher up-front cost, but seamless, durable and easy to clean, with systems matched to each room.

They chose coated floors because the spaces would be easier to maintain over the long term, and because a seamless surface suited the trash room's hygiene needs.

Long-Term Care and Planning

Beyond routine cleaning, a few habits keep shared-space floors in good shape:

Entrance mats at the doors of the bike room and corridor catch grit.
Bin wheels should be checked and replaced when worn, since damaged wheels can gouge floors.
Spills in the trash room should be cleaned during routine checks rather than left until the next wash-down.
Felt or rubber pads under any furniture or equipment in storage areas.
Yearly walk-throughs to note wear and plan touch-ups or topcoat refreshes.

Keeping records of the systems and colors used makes it easy to match repairs, and gives future boards a clear history of the project.

Keeping Residents Informed Afterward

Once the work was done, the property manager sent a short note with before-and-after photos, the new care routine and a reminder about bike room etiquette, such as wheeling bikes rather than dragging them. In this illustrative example, residents responded well, and the board heard fewer comments about the back-of-house spaces. Sharing the care routine with residents also helps, since many small habits, such as wiping a muddy tire before walking a bike in or closing a leaking trash bag before carrying it down, add up to a floor that stays cleaner between janitorial visits and lasts longer before it needs a refresh.

Taking the Next Step

If your association is considering a similar project, the simplest first step is a conversation and a site visit. We'll look at each space, test moisture, talk through systems and give the board a written estimate it can review and present.

What This Example Shows

Shared spaces benefit from durable, easy-clean floors.
Different rooms need different systems.
Resident communication is as important as the work itself.
Phasing keeps the building running.
Moisture near drains needs attention.

Prices

Commercial floors run $2–$5 per square foot, and polyaspartic systems run $3–$7 per square foot. Our garage ranges are $800–$1,200 for 1-car, $1,400–$2,200 for 2-car and $2,000–$3,200 for 3-car. Metallic epoxy runs $6–$12 per square foot.

Contact

Austin Epoxy Flooring Pro serves Austin and Georgetown. Office: 2025 Guadalupe Street, Austin. 5.0 rating on Google. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, with same-day response: (512) 325-5434.

Request a Free Estimate

Call or text (512) 325-5434 (open 24 hours, 7 days a week) or use the free estimate form. Send the approximate square footage, how the space is used, photos of the current concrete, and your timing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a real customer's project?

No. It's an illustrative walkthrough based on how projects like this typically unfold. We aren't affiliated with The Domain.

Can condo bike rooms and storage areas be coated?

Yes. Flake systems with textured topcoats suit these spaces, hiding tire marks and grit and cleaning easily.

What about trash rooms?

Trash rooms need more water- and chemical-resistant systems, cove base and careful work around drains.

How are residents affected?

With phasing and clear notices, disruption is limited to a day or two per space.

What does it cost?

Commercial floors run $2–$5 per square foot, and polyaspartic systems run $3–$7 per square foot, with repairs and scheduling listed separately.

Can you work after hours?

Yes. We're open 24 hours, 7 days a week, and can plan work around building schedules.

How do we get started?

Have your property manager call (512) 325-5434 to arrange a site visit.