The Best Garage Floor Coatings And Coverings Out There

The carport is a fixture of suburbia, and there is hardly a suburban home in America that doesn’t have one. Most garage floors are made of durable concrete, but with the wear and tear of decades of use, this surface can degrade with time. This is especially true when you consider that your garage has to handle two-ton machines driving in and out of it almost every day.

A good coating or covering is worth considering as a way to make your garage floor last for a long time. It may seem unnecessary, but garage floor coatings are quite a good long-term investment. Many garage floor coatings are quite effective at protecting against scratches, heat, and spills. Given that most of these coatings can last a decade or more, it seems a small extra price to pay for peace of mind.    

All The Best Options 

With so many options out there, it can be hard to know just which coating or covering will work the best with your garage setup. Fortunately, it’s easy to choose the right coating because all you have to do is consider what you use your garage for. 

Paint 

Never fear if you should find that your garage floor is tarnished with rust, grease, or machine oil. Refreshing your garage floor so it looks good as new is easy with the right paint. Your driveway has to put up with a lot of damaging things such as salt, solvents, oils, and the weight of cars, but concrete floor paint is designed to protect against all these threats.

Latex floor paints are usually given a satin finish that’s non-slip and designed to stand up to the elements without faltering. Paints designed for concrete floors are made to have hard, stain-resistant finishes that will outperform standard paints.

Garage Floor Paint Has Many Perks

Epoxy

When it comes to protecting your driveway this is the strongest stuff you’ll find. Epoxy is famously tough and can easily shrug off scratches, stains, and other pesky little things without any issue. It is often added in small amounts to mixed epoxy floor paints to increase durability. But the best way to get the full strength is to go for a 100% epoxy floor coating solution.

Epoxies can come in many different colors and will stop just about anything from damaging your driveway whether it be mold or leaking motor oil. Once it cures, epoxy will retain its thickness for the years to come, acting as a permanent protective layer over your garage floor. 

Mats 

Of course, some of us might prefer a semi-permanent solution to an undoable one, and that’s where roll-out mats come in. These mats are usually rubber or vinyl and as such provide a nice and grippy surface that minimizes slipping and makes moving the car around that much easier.

Because these are just a bunch of mats, they are easy to install as no prep work is needed. If you get tired of them, mats can be removed relatively easily as well. Garage floor mats come in many different forms and are usually textured. Some may resemble gym mats, others rugs. At the end of the day, they all offer a more practical DIY-friendly way to protect your garage floor. 

Wood Tiles 

Tiles are similar in floor material choices to mats. They can come in vinyl, rubber, and even in wood composites. These products are purpose-made for garages and as such come with a bunch of interlocking edges which help to form a floor strong enough to support the weight of a vehicle. The main advantage of tile over other coverings is that it can be used to level out a garage surface, which is especially handy if your garage floor has been significantly damaged.

Wood composite tiles can be used for a classy garage floor look. Each panel can support around 4,000 pounds each, so there’s no need to worry about whether they can support the weight of your cars. Installation is easy thanks to a tongue and groove design, and DRICore underlayment can help to support the wood composite tiles. 

Rubber Tiles

Rubber tiles are known for their strength and versatility. They can hold a lot of weight while still being comfortable underfoot. Working on a cold concrete floor can get tiring fast, so those that spend a lot of time working in the garage will love how comfortable rubber tiles are.

Rubber Tiles Can Help Those Who Spend A Lot Of Time in The Garage

Concrete Sealer 

A good industrial sealer is a jack of all trades solution for keeping your garage floors in shape. Sealers are mainly geared towards protecting garage floors from moisture, which is one of the main enemies of a concrete surface. Because the sealer doesn’t require mixing and can be rolled or brushed onto a garage floor, it is relatively easy to use.

This means you can apply a sealer to your garage floor yourself, cutting down on cost and complexity. You can also use sealer in places other than your garage. Patios, basements, driveways, and concrete walkways can all benefit from the protective powers of this product. 

Tips and Tricks

Coatings Vs. Coverings 

Since there are essentially two different ways to protect your garage floor, you may be wondering which one is better. The answer depends on what it is you’re looking for. If you just want something that you’ll apply once, and that will last almost two decades with little to no maintenance, a coating is going to be the better choice. Epoxies are famous for their longevity, and garage floor paints are also quite long-lasting.

However, if you’d prefer something that can be removed or changed more easily, garage floor coverings will be a wiser choice. Coverings such as tiles or mats are far easier to install and can be easily swapped out whenever you feel like it. No prep work is required beforehand, and you don’t need to hire a pro unless you want to. However, a covering is never going to be as durable as a garage floor coating, and as such, you’ll need to maintain and clean coverings regularly to keep them in good condition. 

Paint or Epoxy? 

If you opt for a coating, you’ll have to decide between using paint or epoxy. Paint is the more affordable option, although this does come at the expense of durability. That’s not to say that a purpose-made garage floor paint won’t be durable. It just means that it won’t last as long as an epoxy floor coating. Having said that, some paints do have a bit of epoxy resin mixed in, so go for those types if you want the most durable paint.

A pure epoxy resin will be the best choice for those looking for heavy-duty protection and will work best for amateur mechanics since it provides the most protection possible. If you don’t use your garage for cars, you may not need to worry about getting tiles that are strong enough to support all that weight.  

Maintenance

The most important item in maintenance for both coverings and coatings is cleaning. For coatings, keeping things clean is often as simple as scrubbing with soap and warm water. Coverings are also quite easy to keep clean. Both garage mats and tiles are made of plastic-based materials and so are quite difficult to stain.

As a result, the dirt that does get on them tends to accumulate on the surface where it can easily be cleaned with a mop and some soapy water. A soft-bristled broom can also be used to sweep away any little pieces of dirt the mop doesn’t wipe away.