The two types of concrete garage floor sealers are film-forming and penetrating. Film-forming sealers include acrylic, polyurethane, polyaspartic, and epoxy variants. Penetrating sealers include silicate, silane, siloxane, and silicone subtypes.
A penetrating sealer with good breathability protects the floor from flaking and peeling. One with a good water barrier prevents stains from spills. No penetrating sealer is both highly protective and highly breathable. What’s the best compromise?
Learn the benefits of rolling or spraying a garage floor sealer. Our expert guide offers tips for both methods and suggests combining them for optimal results.
Our most popular article warns that we would never apply epoxy to the garage floor, because it’s too easy to get…
You cannot waterproof a residential garage floor, but you can come close using a membrane barrier under the floor and an epoxy coating on top. Polyurethane and acrylic coatings are the next most effective, and penetrating sealers are the least able to block moisture.
Before cleaning the garage with a vacuum and then a mop, consider using the right pressure washer attachments instead. The pressure washer eliminates the post-wash rinse. Or do the traditional: hose down a concrete floor; and use hot, soapy water and a mop on an epoxy floor.
If you’re looking for a durable, safe, and easy-to-maintain garage flooring option, rubber rolls are the way to go. Made of natural or synthetic rubber, these rolls can withstand heavy traffic and provide a slip-resistant surface. They’re also easy to clean and require little maintenance. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top seven reasons to use rubber garage flooring rolls.
The best epoxy for your garage floor should be durable and consist of more than one coat. The best epoxy has a primer coat, basecoat, and a clear epoxy topcoat. One of the best epoxies is Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield , which features a 2-part epoxy (primer and topcoat). You might also like Rust-Oleum RockSolid, an oil-based epoxy, or Restore-a-Garage, a resin solid that requires two coats but lasts for years.
To get a nice paint job that does not fail in three years, you need to etch, repair, vacuum, mop and dry the floor first. Concrete loves water, and paint does not. Even epoxy-enhanced “concrete paint” will fail on an unprepared floor.
A garage floor mat is an essential item for any garage. Even an epoxy floor benefits from mats. Garage floor mats will help to protect the floor from stains and sand.
Epoxy lasts longer than paint, and you need only one coat. Paint is cheaper and easier than epoxy to apply, but you need several coats to get coverage. Paint will stick to imperfect garage preparation. Epoxy will not.
Garage mats are worth the investment. In fact, they have the highest return on investment of any garage floor covering. Mats prevent ice, salt, snow, water, oil and grease damage to the garage floor. The better question might be, “Which garage mat should I get?”
Clean small cracks with a wire brush, a hammer and a cold chisel. Prepare a larger crack using an angle grinder with a crack chasing wheel. Vacuum away the debris. Fill small cracks with RTG Crack Filler. Fill medium cracks with EpoxyShield Patch & Repair. Fill large cracks with Epoxy Patching System.
Rubber is the best garage gym flooring for machines and resistance training. It resists tears and provides cushioning. Vinyl tile is the best garage gym flooring for yoga. It provides the same traction as the wood floor at a yoga studio without cushion to throw you off balance. Vinyl is the best for Martial Arts for the same reason. Artificial Turf is the best garage gym flooring to practice field sports and agility training.
I’d prefer my garage floor concrete not commit suicide by sucking in the winter salt and snow. To protect it, I will put down a PVC floor tile specifically made for garage floors. I found several really good brands, so choosing the “best garage floor tile” was just a matter color preference. That’s why I’m going to show you the brands I like so that you can pick from a good set of choices.
I recommend Lithi-Tek 4500 because it merges the qualities of both a densifier and sealer in one easy to apply product. It also doesn’t change the look of your garage floor and leaves the floor as paintable as it was before you started.
The Resilia heavy-duty garage floor mat is best for protection from oil spills. It protects from water too, but the water sits on top of the vinyl, so large snow melts turn into puddles. The ArmorAll garage floor mat is best for protection from ice and salt. It handles oil spills, but you will have to use a pressure washer and degreaser to get them out.
Replacing garage doors is worth the investment if the current doors are costing you money, are unsafe, or have aged out of their beauty. Replacement doors can have more effective insulation, keeping out the cold and the noise. They can beautify the house, making it easier to sell your home.
These are the products we recommend for prepping, repairing, protecting and, enhancing your garage floor.
Clear out the garage floor. Light the garage. Clean the garage. Control the garage temperature. Beautify the garage floor.
View 109 beautiful examples showing off stunning Swisstrax, Racedeck, Block Tile and Incstore garage floor tile installations.
Concrete cracks are easy to repair so long as they’re not structural. Spalling is the pockmarks that come from freezing and thawing. Aging causes pitting, which looks like spalling but with deeper holes. Salt moving through water to the concrete surface causes laitance and efflorescence. While both are usually harmless, efflorescence can be a sign of structural problems. Consistent puddles of water can point to a serious underlying issue.
Use a de-greaser to remove oil from the surface. Use a wire brush, or a grinder or an acid-substitute, to prepare the concrete. For large areas use a floor buffer with a grinding attachment. Vacuum up loose material. Trowel a patch kit onto the surface.
How do you fix concrete garage floor spalling and pitting? Test for and remove weakened adjacent areas; clean and prepare the surface to be repaired; and patch the area with an epoxy-based topping. Before fixing the problem, though, check for serious moisture or structural issues that would require professional help to fix.
Should you insulate your garage door? Yes, if you first seal any air gaps, and analyze other garage areas, including the walls, windows, ceilings and floor.
I wouldn’t mind having an epoxy-coated concrete garage floor. It’s just that I know how hard it is to get it right. I’d rather cover the floor in PVC tile to protect the concrete from salt, water, ice, chemical and oils.
Kitty litter can be an effective and cheap solution to oil stains especially if they are new. For more stubborn stains like those that have been there for years and stains that are not oil there are better…
Use latex paint for the cheapest floor protection. Use epoxy or polyurethane for a beautiful coating that provides real protection. For the utmost protection against brake fluid and battery acid, choose polyurethane garage floor paint.
