Garage Floor Coatings

Do you have a garage? Then you have a garage floor, and it needs to be taken care of. Look, I know it's just a floor. But when I remember some of the garages I have seen on TV, like Jay Leno's: They are beautiful, and often they have a beautiful custom garage floor is a main feature.

In addition to the appearance factor, your garage flooring takes a huge hit over time from oil leaks, motorcycle kick stands, dropped tools and all kinds of spills. Your garage floor may also need a coating or covering to hide cracks and stains from a previous owner.

There's really two ways to go about this:

• Garage floor coating

• Garage floor covering

In this article, we're going to look a garage floor coatings. You can split these up into just a few major categories, and by the time you read this article, you be able to make an intelligent decision as to which floor coating is right for you.

This is of course the most common and easiest way to go. Usually what you will be using is concrete floor paint. This is no different really, than any outside paint, only it is formulated to withstand wear better. You apply it just like any other paint. There's nothing unusual or special about the way you apply it

If use latex floor paint, you will find that it is easier to do touchups and after work cleanup than if you use an oil paint. And remember, if you use an oil based paint you have to do a primer coat. This is another way that it's exactly the same as if you're painting the garage wall.

Epoxies are all divided into just two simple categories:

• 1 part epoxy

• 2 part epoxies

One-party proxies are exactly what they say they're pretty mixed any role launches like you would paint you do have to make sure that you prepare the surface before hand, but if you do it right, you're going to get a really tough hard surface.

Two-party proxies again, are exactly what you would think. It’s two different parts and they actually make a tougher and harder he talks a garage floor. But you have to work quickly – once you’ve mixed the two parts the possible start to set up so be careful to follow the instructions from the manufacturer carefully.

Some people like to apply a second coat of the proxy but if you want to you can get away with just putting some sealer on top. You know why this is going to give you a beautiful glossy and very very hard surface.

All you will be doing with the stain is changing the appearance of your concrete -- you are not actually covering it up. You can use different techniques such as taping of a grid to leave an unstained area, which will make your garage look like it has a tile floor. You remember that the stain does not provide any protection for your garage floor. Once it is on there, you still have to go back and apply some urethane sealer, or your floor will be susceptible to damage from moisture and spills.

Garage floor sealer

Concrete sealers have become popular for doing garage floors because they are easy to apply. Sealers are applied with a roller just like you would with paint. A bonus is that these can also be tinted, this means that if you want to take the trouble of laying out a grid with painters tape, you can go for a fake tile luck. You'll find that sealers are tougher than standard concrete floor paint.

Urethane garage floor coatings

Urethane sealers are tough but it is hard to get them to bond with concrete. We usually recommend that you apply urethane as a secondary coat on top of your epoxy floor covering.

Acrylic floor sealers

Acrylic and latex sealers are not as tough as an epoxy covering, but you can protect them by waxing them if you like, or you can use them as a primer before you lay down concrete floor paint or an epoxy floor covering.

Well, this concludes our overview of the different floor coatings available for your garage. As you seen, you can achieve a number of different looks and turn your garage into a real showplace with minimal cost and effort.

Your Garage Door Insulation and Seal

Once you have done all of this work on your floor, don't forget that you now have to protect it. Make sure that you insulate your garage properly - especially the door. You would be amazed how much heat you can lose through a thin metal door. Also, make sure that when you do your garage door insulation that you remember to replace the garage door bottom seal at the bottom. This will keep out rain and snow, and further protect your new garage floor.