Garage Floors

A typical garage floor is a concrete slab that forms the foundation of the garage itself. You can have several different finishes of the concrete such as:
• Smooth finish – the concrete is smoothened out using a steel trowel to make sure that it is perfectly even.
• Thread finish – you go over the wet concrete with a broom to produce a threadlike design in the concrete and have an anti-slip finish to the floor.
• Swirl finish – this is also known as a timber float finish and has some threads in swirl or circle designs.
• Specialty design – this produces a look or stone or other patterning in the concrete floor known as Stencilcrete. You can have the driveway done in the same pattern.

Once the garage is in place, most owners apply some sort of protectant to the floor to avoid stains, cracks and chips. The sealant used most often for floors in garages is epoxy. This forms a hard durable surface on the floor because it bonds to the concrete. It offers excellent chemical resistance, but it will cause the floor to look a yellowish color if it is exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. You also have to be careful when applying the epoxy because you need to have the temperature between 60 and 80 degrees. Any colder will make the epoxy too thick too use and higher temperatures will make it too thin.

You can also get special floor coverings for the garage in tiles and roll on covering. These help to protect the concrete underneath because they do not let any liquids through that could stain or damage the main floor. They are very easy to clean with simple household cleaners. You can even hose them down with the garden hose and leave the door open to let the air dry the floor.