Protecting your garage with these options can help it look better and last longer
Perfect for handy homeowners.
This includes drying time and how long you’ll wait to be able to drive on it again.
Doing the labor yourself goes a long way.
Your garage floor stands up to a lot—from road salt to chemicals and oil spills (not to mention your 5,000-pound Jeep). While it’s easy to forget about, protecting it from these daily aggressors will keep it at its best for longer.
If you’re looking to transform your garage into a hangout space, or at least prevent it from looking like a mess, these options are the best way to do it.
Epoxy coating hides minor imperfections on the floor while repelling stains and spills. You can transform boring flooring with a solid color, or you can add colorful flakes for a speckled look. These coatings are very durable but sensitive to abrasive cleaners, so properly maintaining your epoxy floor is key.
Polyaspartic coatings provide heavy-duty garage floor protection with plenty of stylish options. Like epoxy, you can choose solid colors or multicolored flakes that mimic real stone or granite. As a bonus, they also dry in an hour or less, so you’ll have your garage back quicker. Though they’re more costly than epoxy, their superior durability justifies the price tag.
As the name suggests, garage floor sealers provide a protective seal against spills, stains, and water damage. These don’t protect a concrete floor as well as epoxy or polyaspartic coatings, but they still create a decent barrier. They won’t disguise any existing stains, though, so you’ll have to take care of those beforehand.
These are your main options:
Urethane
Acrylic
Latex
Urethane sealers offer the best protection of the three. These have a glossy finish and can be either clear or tinted. Acrylic and latex sealers are more vulnerable to chemicals and have more of a matte finish.
Whichever you go with, knowing how to seal your concrete floor will help you get the best results.
Interlocking tiles are a great alternative if you’re not feeling the chemical approach. You can choose from either plastic or rubber tiles, which come in a wide range of patterns and colors.
While tiles are the easiest and quickest to install, they won’t last on high-traffic garage floors. They also get dirty easily. And when you’re dealing with a garage door that won’t close and outside elements like rain and snow, it can trap moisture. However, if your garage isn’t too busy and you value a softer foot-feel, they’re still worth considering.
Garage floor coverings can soak up spills and cover a stained concrete floor. On the flip side, they soak up enough to make a mess if they’re not maintained. Still, they’re easy to clean and offer decent protection, so they’re a viable option.
When you have a garage floor with damaged concrete, you don’t have to break apart the old concrete and pour it again. Concrete resurfacers save time and money while leaving behind a smooth, beautiful new floor. They are a blended product created by a mix of cement, fine sands, and special bonding agents and applied in thin layers across cracked concrete.
Perfect for a DIY project, concrete resurfacers protect your concrete, minimize the maintenance it’ll need moving forward, and can be colored or stained to match the look of your garage.
If your garage’s concrete floor is seriously stained, cracked, or otherwise damaged, these protective options won’t cover it completely. Cleaning, painting, or acid staining can help disguise stains, while a concrete repair specialist in your area can address repair needs.
Finding the best garage floor protection is all about your priorities. Do you want something durable, or are you more concerned with staying on budget? Below are the main points to consider, along with the options that come out on top.
Polyaspartic coatings offer the best garage floor protection overall. Epoxy coatings come in second place, followed by sealers. Tiles and floor coverings are the least durable, but they’re still a good option if you want something simple.
Polyaspartic and epoxy coatings win in the style department. These have tons of different color choices, as well as colored chips for a textured look. Get in touch with a local garage floor coating specialist to learn all your options.
Epoxy is more affordable than polyaspartic coating, but it’s still not the cheapest option. Sealers are more budget-friendly than coatings, but they won’t be as durable and won’t cover imperfections. Floor tiles and coverings are the least expensive, but also offer the lowest level of garage floor protection.
For those who want a quick, easy, and inexpensive install, floor mats and tiles come out on top. These provide the least protection, but again, the simplicity is there.
Polyaspartic coatings are the most durable, but their quick drying time can make them difficult to work with. Epoxy coating and garage floor sealers are easier to DIY than polyaspartic coating, but more challenging than either tile or floor coverings. Depending on your level of skill and the time you have to dedicate, you can choose what works best for you.
Yes. Paint will protect your garage floors, making them more resistant to water, mold, mildew, and oil stains. Depending on your paint choice, painted surfaces are easier to clean and maintain.
It takes time for damage to accumulate on garage floors. After years without maintenance, they will show cracks, stains, and moisture damage while collecting layers of dust along the surface.