What drives the price of a restaurant kitchen floor in the Glebe?

Commercial epoxy for a kitchen runs roughly $8 to $15 per square foot installed in published 2025-2026 contractor ranges, and urethane cement, which one coatings maker's article recommends for commercial kitchens, is priced at or above that premium epoxy range on published contractor pages. Your quote will differ based on what is actually on and under that slab.

Several factors move the number, and none of them can be read from a photo.

Slab condition and prep come first. Old quarry tile, ceramic or a previous coating has to come off or be assessed for bond. Surface profile matters too: data sheets for resinous systems ask for profiles in the ICRI CSP 3 to 5 range, and reaching that on a contaminated or damaged slab takes more prep time and cost.

Moisture is a separate line item. One epoxy and polyaspartic data sheet we read asks for a slab at or below about 75 to 80% relative humidity; one urethane cement guide tolerates much wetter slabs. If ASTM F2170 or F1869 testing shows the slab is too wet for the specified product, a moisture-mitigation primer is needed, and we found too few published prices to give a range for that work.

Cove base, anti-slip broadcast aggregate, crack and joint repair, and the linear footage of any floor-to-wall transition all add to the scope. After-hours or phased work, which a kitchen that serves lunch and dinner may require, affects scheduling and price. We found too few published prices to give a range for after-hours premiums.

On the regulatory side, O. Reg. 493/17 (Food Premises) requires that kitchen floors be tight, smooth and non-absorbent and kept in good repair. Ottawa Public Health enforces that rule and asks to be notified when a food premises is being significantly renovated. Whether re-coating an existing kitchen floor counts as a significant renovation is not settled on OPH's published guidance, so ask OPH before booking the work. A seamless resinous floor with an integral cove base is one way to meet the tight, smooth and non-absorbent standard; it is not the only way, and O. Reg. 493/17 does not require coving, drains or slope.

After the job, keep the written contract, the product data sheets and SDSs, any written warranty, and photos of the floor before and after: those records are what you have if a question comes up later.