How To Apply A Garage Floor Coating
The best garage floor coatings not only produce a surface that beautiful, but it also produces a protective surface that protects the concrete from oil drips, chemicals, and other things that could harm the garages floor. Another benefit of applying these coatings to a garage floor is that many of them can help to increase the surface tension of the floor, so it is less slippery and less likely to cause accidents.
For the coating to do its job, however, it has to be applied properly. If the consumer doesnt apply it properly, then they can end up with less than stellar looking floor surface, but could potentially create uneven spots that allow oil, water, and chemicals to damage the floor underneath. And thats not a good situation at all.
Fortunately, these coatings are easy to apply, so most people shouldnt have any problems using them. To show our readers how to do it right, and to illustrate how easy these products are to use, weve provided the following DIY tips that will enable anyone to put a great epoxy coating on their floor and do it like a professional.
Floor Coatings That Work
The key to any garage floor or industrial floor coating is that it works the way it is supposed to. Our high-end Polyurea garage floor coating is a step-up from our other single component products in many ways. High mil thickness, similar chemical resistance and an outstanding performance from a system that has been tested for over a decade
Etch The Concrete Floors Surface
If the epoxy coating came with a concrete etching kit, now is the time to use it. During this process, the consumer needs to wear all of the manufacturers recommended safety gear. This usually includes wearing waterproof boots, long sleeve pants, safety goggles, a respirator, and gloves. As directed by the manufacturers instruction, the etching solution should be mixed with water in the proper proportions. This solution is then poured onto the floor and worked into the pores of the concrete using a broom or a stiff brush. As the product works, it will begin to hiss, fizz, and foam. Thats how the consumer can tell its doing its job. Once the entire surface has been abraded, its then usually rinsed with a garden hose. Its should then be allowed to dry for a few days before proceeding.
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Inspect The Garage Floor First
One of the most important things the consumer can do before they apply an epoxy coating to their garage floor is to properly inspect the floor itself. The consumer should go over every inch of the floor and make sure that there arent any problems that could result in the epoxy failing to adhere to the floor. For example, if the garage floor is painted or sealed, then an epoxy coating isnt going to adhere to it. And if a cure had been applied to the concrete after it was poured, then most that will also cause a problem with the coating adhering to the floor. That doesnt mean a garage floor coating cant be used It only means the paint, sealant, or cure is going to have to be removed first. And that usually involves grinding it off with a floor grinder.
Its also important to make sure that water isnt coming up through the concrete floor. Although many garage floor coatings can stand a little bit of water coming up through the floor, its not generally advisable to coat such a surface. As is always the case, be sure to consult with the floor coatings instructions and find out what it has to say on the subject.
Mix & Apply The Garage Floor Coating
Following the manufacturers instructions, make sure that you mix the epoxy coating properly. Once its been thoroughly mixed, it can then be applied to the floor. As soon as the coating has been mixed, it should immediately be applied to the floor. It can be applied using a 3-inch paintbrush or a 9-inch roller as the consumer sees fit. The user should make sure to go over the entire floor to make sure that its even. Once theyve finished applying the coating to each small section, the metal or decorative chips that came with the kit can be added. Before applying the second coat of epoxy, its generally advisable to wait for at least 12-hours. After that, once the floor has been thoroughly dried, the consumer can now enjoy their new garage floor. As we said, these kits arent hard to use, as long as the consumer follows directions and takes their time.
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Top 9 Best Garage Floor Coatings Of 2022 Reviews
A garage floor coating is almost a necessity for anyone who owns a garage, or at least ones that arent filled to the ceiling with spare furniture or old junk. Thats because these coatings not only make the floor look better but also protects the floor of the garage as well. Some of them not only are water-resistant but also resist the damaging effects of road salt that may fall off the vehicle. Before using one of these products, however, the user has to find the best garage floor coating possible. Which is an area I can be helpful. Below are some of the best garage floor coating products currently available. These are products that look good and will do a good job at protecting the floor of your garage.
Best Garage Floor Coatings Top List
Polyurea Vs Rust Bullet
Rust Bullet, in many cases, does not require grinding. AFW Polyurea will require an etch or grind. AWF Polyurea is thicker and exhibits similar chemical resistance with a couple of key exceptions. If you expect long term exposure to large amounts of brake fluid or diesel fuel, Rust Bullet may be a better alternative. AWF Polyurea spreads easier than Rust Bullet. While care should still be used to avoid imperfections, you are less likely to have roller marks. AWF Polyurea is more versatile in terms of recoat times and the thicker coverage does a better job of hiding flaws in the concrete although still not as well as epoxy.
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Make Sure The Garage Floor Is Clean
Once the consumer has determined that the floor is a suitable candidate for the application of an epoxy coating, its time to make sure the surface is free of dirt or contaminants that could cause the failure of the epoxy coating application. This means making sure that the floor is thoroughly swept or vacuumed to remove any debris off of it and making sure its free of oils, grease or chemical agents. If the garage owner has used a tire dressing on their vehicles tires while it was parked in the garage, the consumer must make sure that the floor is especially clean. Thats because tire dressing acts as a water repellant and will prevent the epoxy from properly adhering to the floors surface. So the consumer should do themselves a favor and make sure that the garage floor is clean enough to eat off of before they continue.
About Garage Floor Coating
Brighten your garage with a clean, glossy, showroom-quality floor that is 5 times stronger than 1-part floor paints. Rust-Oleum® EPOXYSHIELD® Garage Floor Coating Kit applies in one easy coat and protects against gasoline, antifreeze, motor oil, salt, hot tire pick-up and crackingfor years to come.
- 5X stronger than 1-part floor paint
- Walk on in 1-2 days and drive on in 3 days
- Durable protection with no peel promise
- Indoor use only
- Burst pouch technology allows for easy mixing and application
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Garage Floor Coatings Vs Garage Floor Coverings
Garage floor coatings, typically available in either a paint or an epoxy, are more of a permanent solution than their floor covering counterparts. Garage floor paints give your floor a new look while protecting its surface from damages, oil spills, and moisture. Garage floor epoxy coatings, including the Colored Epoxies 1002 Clear Epoxy Resin Coating, use a chemical reaction to harden and create a long-lasting and protective finish.
To create a more durable finish, some garage floor paints like the KILZ Concrete and Garage Floor Paint add a small amount of epoxy to their formula.
Garage floor coverings, offered in floor mats or tiles, are removable protective solutions that shield your existing floor from scuff marks and oil stains. Floor tiles like the GarageTrac Modular Garage Flooring Tile interlock to resurface and protect damaged garage floors. Garage floor mats like the Happybuy Garage Floor Mats are easy to install, rolling onto your existing concrete slab to create a durable and easy-to-clean surface. While garage floor coverings are more convenient, they arent as durable as their garage coating counterparts.
What Is The Benefit Of An Epoxy Garage Floor
Applying a coat of epoxy on your garage floor has a variety of benefits, including its creation of an impact-, stain-, and crack-resistant surface. In addition to their durable qualities, epoxy floors are also moisture-resistant to prevent mold buildup and come in a variety of colors to match your garages design.
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Rustoleum Epoxyshield Garage Floor Coating Is A 2 Pack Water Based Epoxy Garage Floor Paint Offering Excellent Resistance To Heavy Foot Traffic Vehicles Chemicals And Standing Water
EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating offers a multi coloured fleck finish that is user friendly and easy to apply in once coat. The product has an excellent wear, impact and abrasion resistance like heavy foot and vehicle traffic. EpoxyShield resists chemicals and standing water. The kit consists of a two part epoxy coating, a cleaning solution, decoration chips, paint paddle and an instruction DVD.
Silicone Topcoat 100% Silicone Roof Coating
Silicone topcoat renews and restores your roof, enhancing its performance and extending its lifetime. It protects against leaks, splitting seams, and cracks, as well as fending off moisture and insect penetration. This top coating can be used on any surface a smooth metal surface, concrete, gravel, ply, or bitumen.
Silicone is a high solid therefore, you can apply it to your surface without being worried if the material will still be there after curing. Due to its silicone nature, the coating can withstand UV rays, pooling water, and other elements on your building, garage, home, roof, or barn.
Silicone Topcoat can be applied by rolling, spraying, and brushing. However, ensure your surface is clean and dried before application. With just a one-time application, your surface can be restored saving you money and time.
No primer is before applying the coating. It provides excellent adhesion that exceeds building code adhesion conditions. Silicone coating reflects UV rays thus helping to reduce your energy consumption and expenses by up to 20%.
Technical Details
Why would you need a silicone topcoat?
What we like about it:
- Works on any surface
- Worth using in the long run
What we dont like about it:
- Dries slowly even in summer
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Floor Tex Clear Satin Sealer
Suitable for a variety of different surfaces, including both indoor and outdoor masonry or concrete surfaces, this product can be used as a protective coating for any garage floor. Each gallon covers approximately 300-square feet of the surface if two coats are applied, and will dry to the touch in about 4-hours and will be suitable for foot traffic in approximately 24-hours. While it goes on milky, this coating will dry to a clear finish and will go a long way towards hiding stains and imperfections in the surface treated. When dry, this product provides resistance to both chemicals and UV rays.
This kit not only contains the epoxy necessary to cover the floor of a garage but also contains all of the equipment needed to complete the job. Some of the things which can be found in this kit include gloves, brushes, a squeegee, etching solution, and flecks. When the product is applied to the floor and cures, it provides a surface thats durable and is slip-resistant. The coating is also anti-microbial and should be a coating which protects the floor against chemicals and oil for many years. Since it contains everything needed to put a new coating on the floor, its an easy solution for people with limited time to shop for individual tools.
More Recommendations From Amazon
Best Garage Floor Coatings In 2023
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission if you purchase through these links.
As a homeowner, coating your garage floor space can make it easier to maintain and clean while taking care of cracks, spills, chips, and stains simultaneously. A floor coating is also ideal for industrial and commercial spaces. Are you looking to transform your garage floor into something more appealing and easily cleaned?
Heres our comprehensive and detailed guide to various garage floor coatings that might suit your preferences and your space. One can choose from the following types: Epoxy, polyaspartic, or industrial-level epoxy. To know which best suits your garage, you have to take into consideration the performance, cost, and installation process of each kind.
To help you further, here are our top picks for garage floor coatings currently available on the market. We asked our community of metallurgists for the products and brands that worked for them as well as incorporated the most updated consumer sentiment data to identify the very best:
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Best Concrete Paint: Rust
This one-gallon can of paint comes with a protective, smooth gray satin finish that can be applied to garages, patios, and basements. The paint is formulated with advanced acrylic technology and is fade- and stain-resistant for a durable look. Additionally, the easy-to-use paint can be easily cleaned with soap and water.
Best Concrete Paint
Best Concrete Sealer: Siloxa
This industrial-grade floor coating from Siloxa-Tek protects concrete surfaces from water and moisture damage. The clear product comes in a one-gallon bottle that can be sprayed, rolled, or brushed onto surfaces like driveways, basements, patios, and garages. Additionally, the concrete sealer doesnt require pre-mixing and covers up to 250 square feet per gallon.
Best Concrete Sealer
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Get The Garage Properly Prepared
Now that the floor has been cleaned, etched and finally dried, its time to prepare the garage for applying the floor coating. Using wide painters tape, make sure to go along the bottom of the walls where it meets the concrete floor. Its also a good idea to make sure that the bottom foot of the walls are coated in plastic sheeting to prevent the epoxy from accidentally getting on them. If necessary, remove any baseboard that might exist, so the entirety of the garage floor can be coated.
Read The Floor Coverings Instructions
Before continuing, we cant stress enough how important it is for the consumer to fully read and understand the epoxys instructions before you proceed. They should make sure what the coating says can or cant be done before proceeding. And if any of the instructions we have listed here conflicts with the instructions on their products label, then they should always follow the manufacturers instructions and not ours. After all, not all products are used in the same way, so the instructions should be what the consumer follows to get the best results possible with their garage floor coating.
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Best Garage Floor Coating Of 2022
Garage floor coatings add a durable and protective layer to your existing garage slab. Keep reading for our recommendations on the best garage floor coatings. The products included in this article are available at various home improvement stores, local home centers, and online retailers like Amazon.
From colorful paint to protective epoxy, garage floor coatings can help spruce up your garage floor and protect it from scratches and spills. Since picking the right coating may be difficult, the This Old House Reviews team researched the best garage floor coatings on Amazon to help you make an informed purchase. Here are our top recommendations.
How Do I Apply 2k Epoxy Floor Coating
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Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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