Lehner Construction expands to add custom epoxy-coated floor installation

Looking for a way to bring his business indoors in the winter time, Mike Lehner is branching out to include custom epoxy-coated floors.

Along with his wife Terri, Lehner has owned and operated Lehner Construction since 1995, although he‘s been in the construction industry for a total of 37 years. Lehner Construction still performs all the services of a licensed contractor, from small remodel jobs to adding rooms to an existing house or even installing a shop. But now, Lehner can add certified installer of Elite Crete’s epoxy flooring to his repertoire.

With his training, Lehner joins a small group of about 10-15 people in the Portland metro area certified to lay down epoxy flooring for Elite Crete. While there are other companies selling a similar product throughout the United States, Lehner chose Elite Crete after seeing how well it handled at a World of Concrete trade show a few years ago. Performance, coupled with the sincerity of Elite Crete’s customer service team, sold Lehner on putting his decades-old reputation as a contractor in the Clark County area on the line.

Lehner’s first artistic endeavor with his new skill of laying epoxy flooring is showcased in his own home. Timely as it is, his bonus room has a distinct Seattle Seahawks theme, replete with a striking navy, green and grey-swirled floor.

“I like blue, I like grey and, when I was doing this, my wife said ‘throw a little green in it for the Seahawks,’” Lehner said. “That’s the only football team I follow. Did a little rock work, painted a few walls a few colors. It was a process as I went.”

According to Lehner, epoxy floors have earned a bad name over the years. He explains that a quality, long-lasting floor comes down to the prep work. Area residents and businesses can buy an epoxy kit at places like Home Depot, but if they’re not versed on the amount of prep that goes into the floor before laying it, they’ll see visible degradation in a couple of years or less.

Epoxy coatings are most successfully applied to concrete floors. An installer must make sure the floor is void of all grease, grind down any cracks, clean out the cracks, fill in any cracks, put a water sealer down, and anything else that might be necessary, depending on the condition of the floor. Lehner will spend three days prepping a floor and one day putting the coating on. As with many home projects, the results are all in the details.

An exact match of color with epoxy floors should not be expected. Similar to tie-dyeing or batik fabric, no two epoxy floors will ever look the same, even if two people ask for the same colors and amounts of color. A multi-colored floor gives a better finished product although a solid color can be requested. Lehner will come out to a prospective customer’s home with swatches and pull up pictures. Some people, he said, will work with a design artist first to see what floor colors will go best with their walls. Ultimately it’s an art form and that’s one of the aspects of the technique that Lehner enjoys the most.

“All the decorative concrete stuff I do is just a lot more fun than framing a barn or shop,” Lehner said.

The ideal client is someone who wants to convert a garage into a bonus room, or a basement to a game room, or a wine cellar, or they’re looking for something that will make their remodel stand out. Speaking of which, Lehner added stone work to his resumé of skills several years ago. Examples of his projects are walls, patios, fire pits, benches, waterfalls and indoor waterfalls. With the addition of laying epoxy floors, Lehner truly can create a complete room of distinction for area residents and businesses.

For more information, go to www.Lehnerconstruction.net or call (360) 666-3255.