Garage floor protection

Once you have your garage completed, you need to have some sort of garage floor protection to keep the concrete from cracking, chipping and from becoming stained. The most common method that homeowners use is to coat the floor with some sort of protective substance. There are four basic types of coatings – epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic sealer and latex.

Epoxy forms hard surfaces on the concrete, but you have to do special preparations beforehand to ensure that it will stick to the concrete. The epoxy does contain properties that make it resistant to chemicals, but if it is exposed to sunlight for long periods of time, it can become yellow and lose the glossy finish. When you apply the epoxy, you have to have a temperature of 60 – 80 degrees with low humidity. At lower temperatures, the epoxy gets too thick to use and at higher temperatures, it is too thin to use. Although it dries quickly, you will not be able to drive a vehicle over it for several days.

Polyurethane is a very expensive protection for garage floors and you should never apply it directly to concrete. You have to use an epoxy primer first, which doubles the time and the money. You can get latex paint for the garage floor and this is the cheapest option for floor protection. You can paint the floor in different colors for a colourful effect or choose a color that matches the color of the home. You can also use stains that are specially designed for concrete floors. These protectors sink into the concrete, so you have to make sure the floor is completely free of any dirt or debris. If not it will show up when you apply the stain and then mar the look of the new floor.

An easier option of protecting the garage floor is to purchase roll out coverings or mats that do not need any special application tools or skills. All you have to do is roll out the desired length you need and cut it off with a utility knife. These coverings come in various sizes and you can put the edges together to give the effect of having the flooring in one piece. You can get mats that fit under the tires of the vehicle or large ones to cover the space under the vehicle. If you want you can also put several mats together to cover the whole floor space. Whichever one of these floorings you choose, you will protect the concrete because the heavy material will not allow any fluids to seep through and stain or cause the concrete to crack. To clean up any mess, you can just hose it down or mop it up with an ordinary household cleaner.