New garage floors can add more than practicality to a room – they can also make an aesthetic statement. When considering your garage as a multifunctional space, however, finding flooring solutions capable of withstanding daily use becomes essential.
There are various options to consider. Here are ten ideas to get you going:
Paint
Concrete floor paint is more cost-effective than other options and can be applied easily using a standard garage door roller. Just a few coats will create a durable surface resistant to mold and mildew growth, chemicals such as gasoline stains or oil leakage, scuff marks or chipping.
1-part epoxy garage floor paints offer two times longer durability, plus stronger adhesion properties to help protect against peeling and hot tire pick up. They are also available in many colours for you to select the one that best matches your priorities when choosing a shade.
Plain concrete produces more dust than you might realize, dispensing microscopic particles with each step, sweep or drive of your vehicle. Painting your floor will help reduce this burdensome dust emission while making vehicle cleaning simpler.
Epoxy
Epoxy forms a tough, durable garage floor surface that can withstand years of use without chipping away at its integrity. Furthermore, epoxy resists oil stains while being easy to maintain – just wipe clean when necessary!
Epoxies come in both solvent- and water-based formulas. While solvent-based epoxy may produce hazardous fumes when working with it, water-based epoxy provides safer working conditions due to not producing solvent fumes.
Professional contractors get garage epoxy coating within one day or less. Prior to application, however, a comprehensive preparation must be conducted that includes filling any cracks, cleaning and etching the concrete surface, as well as using degreasers to eliminate grease build-up.
For optimal results, choose an experienced epoxy flooring contractor using high-quality products. They will prepare the concrete surface before masking and taping, before rolling two coats of epoxy onto it while scattering color flakes as they go. This process should only take hours; once hardened, these flakes can either be sealed in or left as decorative touches for an attractive finish.
Concrete Stain
Concrete floor coatings are an increasingly popular way to upgrade the aesthetic and protect a garage from damage. Available in an assortment of colors and designs, concrete floor coatings come with many decorative and protective benefits for concrete garage floors. Plus, these tough coatings resist chemicals, hot tires, oil stains, road salt and debris that could otherwise harm it!
Concrete stain is relatively inexpensive and easy to apply yourself without professional assistance, making it an economical solution for old or new concrete surfaces alike. Before staining begins, however, cracks must be filled in and cleaned off with heavy-duty degreaser to improve durability before sealing with sealant afterward; you may opt for either solid or semitransparent stain that lets its natural hue variations show through.
Tiles
Tiles offer something durable, affordable, and visually appealing that fits the bill – they come in various materials and colors so you can select something to meet your own aesthetic needs.
Interlocking floor tiles come in PVC, rubber and vinyl varieties and snap together without sticking to concrete floors during installation – making it easy for homeowners with no experience to perform this task on their own.
Garage floor mats are like tiles but are meant to cover your existing garage floors instead of sitting on top of them. Installation is easy and they’re resistant to oil stains and chemicals; additionally they reduce noise while offering a comfortable surface to stand or kneel on. Unfortunately scrubbing them may prove challenging but these inexpensive options make up for that shortcoming!
Rubber or PVC Mats
If you don’t want to spend the time or effort covering your garage floors yourself, mats may be an easy and economical solution. Available in various colors and styles – some similar to rugs while others more like gym mats – mats serve one key purpose – protecting concrete from oil or chemical spills.
Rubber structures make these mats extremely resilient and abrasion-resistant. Cleanup requires only a quick sweep or damp mop. Depending on thickness, they provide cushioning which is great for comfort while cutting down hollow sounds that echo around a garage space – they absorb noise instead of reflecting it back at you! They come in rolls to cover larger spaces or tiles for more customizability and their installation process is straightforward as well.
Carpet
Garage floors take a beating. From exposure to chemicals in auto fluids and household cleaners, hot tires and dirt, rainwater and snowmelt soaking through, garage floors take quite a beating.
Many homeowners use their garage as a work space or multipurpose room, so it must be durable yet stylish at the same time.
Home-improvement approaches for restoring garage floors often rely on floor paint and fillers, even though these options tend to be cost-effective solutions that require frequent touchups.
Carpet might seem an unconventional choice for your garage floor, but special products exist specifically designed to withstand oil spills and power washes while being laid as tiles – with some even featuring glow in the dark properties!