Your Garage Floor Coating Options

There are many options these days, if you like to provide a protective coating to garage floor. There are two important advantages of coating the garage floor. Of course, the obvious one is that it changes the looks of the floor, making it to be more presentable and respectful and that certainly is a pleasure. The other and main advantage is that it offers protection to the concrete sub floor. It doesn’t get damaged so easily and is better equipped to bear the normal abuses such floors are exposed to. Apart from safeguarding the floor, it also safeguards you by making the floor non-slippery, despite getting covered with a mixture of water and oil.

There are two main types of coating for the garage floor that shield its concrete floor. These are epoxy and polyurethane. Of the two, epoxy coatings get preference of most householders as they yield an extraordinarily hard surface on getting cured. An epoxy comprises of two materials: the resin and the hardener. The two materials are stored separately till about the time of application. That’s because within ten minutes or so of mixing the two components, the process of curing starts. So, at one time you should prepare mixture just enough for about six square feet of floor area, thus getting sufficient time to roll it over the floor before it begins to get cured. The floor needs to be cured for eighteen hours before you could walk over it. However, it needs three days to allow you to move your car on the new garage floor.

If you put in color flecks on the floor after epoxy has been applied but before it has fully cured, you get additional safety by way of firmer footing and the floor gets a fine accent. You may choose flecks in colors that complement the color of your car or the color of paint already applied over the house. Having flecks on the floor minimizes chances of a slip, even if the floor were wet due a mixture of water and oil.

Polyurethane is the other type of garage floor coating. This coating is very tough and therefore long lasting. Compared to epoxy this is more elastic. It’s not much prone to wearing over continued use despite being exposed to sunlight that may enter through the windows or door of the garage. The downside is that its application necessarily needs two processes. First you need to apply a coating of primer, followed by application of polyurethane. Quite like epoxy, it may be tinted and you could also put in color flecks.

You also get floor paints and they work like any other paint, offering no protection against any spills. Coating of garage floor isn’t a difficult DIY project. It protects not only the floor, but also reduces the chances of accidents even in case of spills.