Although adding garage flooring can definitely make your garage look sharp, that’s not really the point here.  Did you know that installing epoxy garage floor paint or garage floor tiles will increase the value of your home by far more than the cost to apply such things?  Even if you have to pay someone to do it, it’ll be worth it in the long run.  And consider the value of  painted garage flooring versus a cracked and stained one.  Even if you don’t plan to sell your home any time soon, there’s no telling what the future will bring. By the time you do end up selling your home, it may be too late to easily improve your garage flooring.

Your garage is a part of your home, and it should be treated as such.  There’s no reason to have a bare concrete garage floor when cheap epoxy garage floor kits cost under $60.  There’s just no point in letting it go, or putting it off, especially not when you make it so much harder on yourself by doing so.  Even if all you do is put a garage floor mat down as a temporary measure, it’s much better than nothing.  It’ll protect the concrete garage floor from stains, and some of the biting winter cold until you can get around to taking care of it.

Still don’t think it’s important?  Do a quick search of “damaged garage flooring”.  You’ll find out real quick just how fast your garage flooring can become very ugly.  A bare concrete garage floor may be okay with you, but how about stained, cracked, and chipped?  It’ll happen a lot faster than you think.  Yes, just parking your expensive SUV on your garage flooring will do it.  Just changing your oil will do it.

If you’ve got a new home, don’t think that it’s immune to garage flooring damage.  All concrete is intended to be finished if you want it to last, and that’s not something that home construction people typically take care of.  Make sure that it’s been a while since the concrete was laid, but get it taken care of before you regret it.

Quikrete High Gloss Sealer

This is a water based, waterproof sealer that Quikrete says is intended for use on both painted and garage floors, so it stand to reason that it should be fine on painted garage floors.  It can also be used on bare concrete garage floors, and even masonry, brick, aggregate, stone, and pavers.  Hah, this means you could put it on a brick house and end up with a waxed looking house.  Anyway, since this is a sealant, you might not want to apply it to concrete that isn’t etched since you’ll probably end up with a pretty slick garage floor.

Quikrete Wet Look High Gloss Sealer

Another water based sealer, but a different product.  This one does not specifically mention one way or the other if it should be used on paint, but Quikrete does say that they don’t recommend it for use on garage flooring.  Upon deeper investigation into the product specifications, it does say “Previously sealed surfaces must be porous…”, which an epoxy garage floor coating is most certainly not.  So the verdict is, no, Quikrete Wet Look High Gloss Sealer should not be used on garage floors, painted or otherwise.

Quikrete Etching Stain High Gloss Sealer

I’m being dead serious with these product names.  In an age where people find much of their information on the internet, they couldn’t have made these different products harder to search for, using the same three words in every title.  Quikrete says that this product can be used on your garage floor.  They do not specifically mention painted surfaces, but the product information does say, “Avoid using this product on non-porous, sealed surfaces”.  That makes it pretty clear that, no, you cannot use this product over epoxy garage floor paint.  It also says that, as the title indicates, it is meant for use on floors that have been treated with Quikrete Etching Stain, so it would probably create a rather slick surface.

So, in summary, if your garage floor is painted or unpainted, you’ll want to look for Quikrete High Gloss Sealer, and be absolutely sure there are no other words in that title.

The beginning steps to installing any Quikrete concrete stain is to clean your garage floor until it sparkles.  Can a garage floor sparkle?  I guess you’re going to find out, aren’t you!?

Quikrete Etching Stain

This is the product that Quikrete recommends for use on garage flooring.  This is probably because the etching element will add texture, increasing traction.  Unfortunately, it’s also the most expensive option by far, clocking in at over $300.   It’s fairly easy to install, promising a one coat applications, although that’s sort of misleading since you still have to clean the floor, and then apply a sealant.  Neither cleaner or sealant comes with this product.  The end result is a very pretty, textured old world stone look.

Quikrete Semi-Transparent Concrete Stain

Quikrete recommends that you not use their Semi-Transparent Concrete Stain on garage floors.  Notice I didn’t say that they don’t recommend it.  That would mean that they omitted their opinion on the matter.  No, they actually specify that you should not use this stain on garage flooring.  Personally, I think it depends on what you plan to do in your garage.  If you only plan to park cars on it, I don’t see a problem since you have to use a sealant anyway.  I think the main reason they say this is because it doesn’t etch the concrete, which means no added traction, which I suppose could lead to liability.  Amusingly, though, one of the suggested uses includes driveways.  It may also have something to do with the fact that it is by far the cheapest option, costing less than $30.  Sometimes you get what you pay for, though, and customer reviews on this product are…bad.  Apparently it’s less a stain, and more a thin paint.  It sounds like when they say “Semi-Transparent”, they mean “You really should apply a second coat, but that would make this not so cheap”.  Proceed with caution.

Quikrete Multi-Surface Concrete Stain

It’s a sealer!  It’s a stain!  It’s…something.  No one can seem to make up their mind exactly what this product is.  Quikrete calls it a stain, but every place that sells it sells something with “Sealer” on the label instead of stain.  Maybe it’s supposed to be both?  I’m honestly not sure, and at over $100, I’m not willing to guess.

Too Much Moisture For An Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Sometimes, in some areas, epoxy just won’t work.  No matter what the homeowner tries, the garage floor paint just peels, or comes apart when touched by hot automobile tires.  In these cases, you may consider garage floor stain, but beware.  Stain offers zero protection to your concrete garage floor.

Some People Only Park Cars In Their Garage

Another excellent reason to consider garage floor stain.  If you don’t even do anything in your garage that would warrant protecting the concrete garage floor, then considering garage floor stain suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.  Always consider, however, that anything concrete still needs a seal, so be sure to apply whatever garage floor seal your stain recommends.

Garage Floor Stain Is Different

Everyone wants to be different, don’t they?  Well, since many people don’t even realize that you can stain concrete (in a good way, anyway), garage floor stain remains at least a little unique.  Will it stay that way?  Time will tell.

Sometimes It All Comes Down To The Money…

Staining garage flooring is pretty darn cheap.  The only thing cheaper is epoxy garage floor paint, and I suspect that’s because of the thick competition in that department.  Comparing a garage floor staining kit to an epoxy paint kit will return prices that are nearly identical, but always consider that you also have to apply a sealant after garage floor stain.  The sealant generally does not come with the stain, although the manufacturer of the stain will certainly recommend it somewhere on the product.  All things considered, you can usually get away with spending less than $200 if you do it yourself, which is less than a set of garage floor tiles.

Epoxy Garage Floor Paint

As opposed to some other applications that also carry the name “paint”, the goal is not just to change the color of the garage flooring.  An epoxy garage floor coating will also provide some of the best protection for the concrete underneath.  It’s often the cheapest, too, as long as you can afford to install it yourself.  It will likely be the most difficult of any finish to install.  Epoxy garage floor coatings have a very long life span, and can often be installed over other paint jobs, depending on the kit.

Garage Floor Tile

Tiles are probably the next best thing when it comes to the most comprehensive solution.  Garage floors with tiles are protected almost as well as those with epoxy, but the install is not nearly as finicky, though it can be just as time consuming depending on the type of garage floor tiles used.  Unfortunately, tiles can also easily be the most expensive of all garage flooring.

Garage Floor Stain

This option is not for those who want to protect their garage flooring, but more for those who want an interesting looking floor where they park.  The object is not to add any type of garage floor coating, but just to change the color of the existing concrete garage floor.  Concrete staining is really seen less in garages than interiors, so this would probably be the most unique choice.

Garage Floor Mat

There are two main different types of garage floor mats: parking mats, and compartment mats.  Both can be referred to as garage floor coverings, so be sure to check the sizes of what you are buying to be certain that you get what you’re looking for.  A parking mat may take up your entire garage, and be referred to as a whole garage floor mat.  Alternatively, it could only take up as much space as the vehicles that park there, since the purpose is to protect your garage flooring from their leavings.  Compartment, or containment mats generally have raised edges or some other method of controlling the flow of any dropped liquids, and are used primarily for working on vehicles.  They are not intended to be a full time garage floor covering, being only a temporary, used-as-needed tool.

So, that’s all of the various garage floor finishes in one post.  Check out some of the other posts for more information about each individual option.

That’s a question that a lot of people ask, especially as winter hits, when there will be tons of nasty stuff being dragged into their garage with the snow.  Mud, sand, twigs…dog poop…you name it, will all be mixed in with the snow, so having a good, solid garage covering of some sort is very important.  However, no matter how important it is, it doesn’t mean people suddenly have a ton of money to spend on something like garage flooring.  With Christmas just around the corner, everyone has less money, and most can’t justify spending a ton on their garage floors.

Back to the original question.  There are really two answers, and I’ll explain that.

Generally, when someone mentions a garage floor covering, I immediately think of mats, or maybe tiles.  Garage floor tiles either use traction like mats, or stick to the concrete, and a garage floor mat just lays on top of it as well.  I usually consider epoxy garage floor paint more of a garage floor covering.  However, if you lump them all together under the even more generic “cover” term, I would have to conclude that garage floor paint is definitely going to be the cheapest, with a few caveats.

For one thing, it has to be installed.  If you plan to do it yourself, that means getting on your hands and knees to apply it, waiting for the various coats to dry, and so on.  There are also temperature (in general, the temperature needs to be between 55 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and moisture limitations that apply even if you have someone else do it, so think long and hard before you decide to take this route.  Depending on your area, this may not even be an option until March or April.

Now, if paint isn’t an option, or you just don’t want to mess with it, then you’ll be looking at tiles or mats.  Both will be much easier to handle here in the winter months, especially a garage floor mat, which you can just lay out on the floor and be done with.  Tiles do take some installing, especially the peel and stick variety.  The garage floor tiles that stick to each other can be installed no matter the temperature, but the peel and stick ones generally have some sort of temperature requirement.

So, What Is Quikrete?

First and foremost, Quikrete is a brand name.  They’ve been around since 1940, and produce a lot more than just concrete repair products, which is what they are best known for.  In addition to Quikrete garage floor coatings, they also make tile setting products, blacktop mixes, floor underlayments, stucco, sand and aggregates, as well as many other items.  They make numerous products that could be used on your garage floor as well.

Quikrete Garage Floor Preparation Products

These products are intended to be used before you apply any epoxy garage floor paint.  They include the Bond-Loc concrete cleaner, as well as an oil stain remover.  Although the oil stain remover can be used at any time, and probably should be used early since stubborn stains may require multiple treatments, the floor will have to be cleaned just before applying the epoxy garage floor coating, unless the directions for the coating say otherwise.  Both of these actions will have to be taken before any epoxy paint is applied, Quikrete or not.

Quikrete Garage Floor Clear Coating Products

If you simply want to add a clear coating to your concrete garage floor, Quikrete offers two products.  They have an stain sealer that will add a high gloss to your stained garage floor and protect it to some degree, and they also have a high gloss clear coating for garage floors that are not stained.  If all you are looking for is some protection against oil and other chemicals, then this might be your best choice, though it will not be as durable as an epoxy coating.  The regular clear coating can be used for painted floors, though, so that may be a good idea if you have an older epoxy paint job that is starting to fade.

Quikrete Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Products

Three different products are available from Quikrete when it comes to epoxy.  Their one part epoxy, which can be had in 16 different colors other than gray, is a resin based product.  They also have a clear water based product to coat any type of garage flooring.  The big daddy, though, is their epoxy garage floor coating kit.  It comes with their cleaner as well as color flakes, and is available in 64 different colors in addition to tan and gray.  There are even different color options for the color flakes.

Quikrete Concrete Stain

If the goal is to give your garage floor some color, but not necessarily add protection, then Quikrete Concrete Stain may be for you.  Applying it is quick and easy, it’s relatively cheap, and you’ll certainly end up with unique looking flooring.  Just keep in mind that you will need to apply a seal afterward, and that Quikrete Concrete Stain will not protect your garage floor on its own.

For our purposes, we will define “coverings” as things that can be moved, and “coatings” as solutions that cannot.

Garage Floor Coverings Can Be Moved If Desired

There are a few different situations that come to mind where a garage floor covering may be a better idea than painting the garage floor. Permanency is a big factor. Do you need something that is going to protect the floor forever, or something that you can just pick up when you’re done? Some people like the look of a clean concrete garage floor as opposed to paints, mats, or tiles. Of course, this preference obviates the need to keep said the concrete very clean, which is where garage floor mats come in quite handy.

Garage Floor Coverings Are Quick To Install

Even a garage floor mat that is designed to cover the entire garage is faster to install than paint. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of cutting the mat to fit, then throwing it down onto the floor, and you’re all done. This is opposed to paint, which takes hours to install, or tiles, which can sometimes take even longer, depending on their design.

Garage Floor Coverings Are Easily Tossed If Needed

When it comes to garage flooring, sometimes you just have to anticipate taking losses. There are some things that even the toughest paints, tiles, or garage floor mats simply are not going to survive without taking some damage. Although it can be an expensive proposition, a garage floor mat can easily be thrown away and replaced if damaged or stained. For these reasons, some people who paint their garage floors use mats as well – to protect their paint! They may cover their entire garage when they get ready to work, or just the area likely to be contaminated. Even if not anticipating damage or stains, it’s much easier to clean a mat than it is to clean an entire painted floor. Just be careful that you do not get into any anti-environmental habits as it becomes very easy to just dump everything out of your garage floor mat onto the ground outside.

Garage Floor Coverings Are Easy To Install

For those of us whose backs or knees are not up to kneeling or stooping for hours, a big garage floor mat may actually be cheaper, even though paint by itself is far less expensive. This is because even those with physical issues can generally install garage floor coverings on their own. When you factor in the cost of install, suddenly the price savings of using paint go right out the window.

Garage floor paint will provide you with an excellent garage floor coating, and will also give you some nice color as well.  This paint is designed to keep your garage floors nice looking, in addition to protecting it from chemical stains and other damage.  There are quite a few brand names and types of garage floor paint out there, so we’ll quickly take a look at a few of them.

Rust-Oleum EPOXYShield Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Rust-Oleum’s EPOXYShield garage floor coating is available mostly in browns and other tans.  To some, this may be a deterrent, since many people purchase paint because they want to add some colors to their garage floors.  However, if brown is okay, or you simply do not care what color your garage floor is, than this Rust-Oleum might be good for you.  It comes available in a kit that is designed for a one car garage, and even includes an instructional DVD for installation.  It is, like most garage floor coating, waterproof and stain resistant as well.  The reviews on this particular product are great, which really speaks for the ease of install.

Weatherbeater Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Generally available for a little less than Rust-Oleum’s product, the Weatherbeater Epoxy Garage Floor Coating offers most of the same promises, minus the instructional DVD.  It’s not rated as well, but does come with decorative chips to accent your garage floor.  Without the instructional DVD, it’s very likely that the poor reviews are coming from people’s inexperience at installing garage flooring, so you may want to take those reviews with a grain of salt.  Speaking of salt, Weatherbeater claims that their garage floor paint is resistant to salt, as well as other chemicals such as gasoline and oil.

Quikrete Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Quikrete is probably the most popular garage flooring paint, and is available in over 40 colors.  They also include color flakes, like the Weatherbeater, if you would like to add such accents to your garage floor.    Their formula is twice as strong as concrete, and they claim that it is the toughest garage floor finish available.  It is a bit more expensive than the other two, however, and reviews are hard to come by.  Sometimes no news is good news, though, and you can bet if this hadn’t worked on many garage floors for whatever reason, there would be plenty of negative reviews.

Although probably the hardest to install, especially correctly, garage floor paint is definitely the cheapest option of all.  If you are willing to do the work yourself, you can easily coat an entire single car garage for under $75.  Considering the money you’ll be saving on repairing concrete in the future, that’s a heck of a deal.  There’s no doubt that there are many other reasons to choose an epoxy garage floor coating.  Just make sure you check out all your options first, before deciding, since it would be rather difficult to undo.

Hopefully you did this search well before the cracks started, but if you didn’t, Quikrete can be used for both a garage floor coating and a repair substance, depending on the situation, of course.  The best part is, as far as epoxy garage floor coatings go, Quikrete is both cheap and easy to work with, making some things a do-it-yourself process that you really didn’t think you could do.

First, before you can begin your epoxy garage floor coating, and before you can understand what Quikrete is, it’s important to understand exactly what concrete is.  Concrete is a blend of water, cement, and some sort of aggregate, such as sand or gravel.  It’s used for building material in so many places because the components are everywhere and, more importantly, cheap.  It’s also moldable and can even come in different colors, which makes it very versatile and useful in all sorts of projects.  It’s also very tough; resistant to rot, decay, fire, wind, water, extreme temperatures, and wear-down by animal traffic.  Unfortunately, though, it’s hard to work with and very slow to fully dry.  That’s where Quikrete improves upon traditional concrete.

The biggest advantage for Quikrete when it comes to choosing an epoxy garage floor coating is that, depending on how much is used, it can set in as little as ten minutes.  Even the average job is dry between 20 and 40 minutes.  It’s available in small packages for repairing either a garage floor, or even a sidewalk or driveway.  It’s also easy to find in bulk in case you want to use it for larger jobs, such as a garage floor coating.  Once you get it home, you can prepare, set, and finish your job all in one day.  This stuff removes a lot of the cost and time associated with home repairs, and if you don’t want or can’t afford heavy equipment or a contractor, then Quikrete is a godsend.

Quikrete is much easier to mix than traditional cement.  That being said, there are still some challenges when it comes to mixing quikrete, and you’d be wise to do some research on the matter before you start.  If you’re no stranger to home repair, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the product instructions, while helpful, aren’t always everything you need to get the job done.  Either way, whether you’re using it as a repair substance or a garage floor coating, Quikrete just might be what you’re looking for to simplify that nightmare of a project.