While naked concrete does carry a certain rustic charm when used as a garage floor, it’s also not without its fair share of issues, the biggest one being durability, then more minor issues such as aesthetic problems. Concrete floors can dent, wear down with heavy wheel traffic which makes it difficult to get rid of stains, and can be damaged by too much thermal or chemical exposure.
Depending on what you do in your garage, you will want a better way to deal with the various possible hazards in your garage. That’s where a durable floor coating comes in. However, floor coatings aren’t all made equal. Some are better than others for specific jobs, and choosing the right one is a matter of knowing what you plan to do with your garage, and what your budget is.
Concrete Sealers
Concrete sealers are a tough coating of translucent plastic, typically acrylic and latex, and they’re easily applied onto floors in the same manner as paint. With a semi-gloss finish, a concrete sealer keeps the gunmetal grey of cement while giving you a shinier and cleaner surface, as well as a much more durable one. As per Concrete Network, acrylic sealers are fast-drying, and an excellent choice for outside floors due to UV resistance.
They can also be made of urethane, which makes these sealers even tougher, but they don’t bond well to concrete and cost a good deal more.
Epoxy
Another very common sealant, epoxy, is a thermosetting polymer, as per Epoxy Europe. Through a chemical reaction of heat with a catalyst, its soft resin form becomes tough and irreversibly hard. Epoxy takes about a week to properly cure, however, and the application process must be swift. If it’s your choice for garage floor coating, then you’d best call a professional service like Granite Garage Floors.
Paints and Stains
There are other coating solutions, but they’re much less durable. Paints and stains can both add a great deal of aesthetic value to your garage, but they don’t outdo sealers or epoxy in terms of durability.
