Sweet Garage Flooring

What is the cheapest garage floor cover for garages?

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.

In the complete opposite end of the spectrum would be interlocking garage floor tiles. They’re usually among the most expensive, so be sure not to confuse them with the peel and stick type. They will also give you unmatched flexibility, though.

When it comes time to choose your garage flooring, there are many different options from which to decide.

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.

One option you may want to consider with your garage is garage floor paint. With garage floor paint, you can put a nice, shiny coat on your garage floor which will make it easier to clean as well as more attractive. This is a good option if you have a garage floor that’s already been coated with something that has either worn off or is undesirable. Most garage floor paints can be used on top of other epoxy paints or sealants, as long as they are clean and free of any contaminants. Since garage floor paint is typically pretty thick, there’s no need to match colors or anything like that.

Including preparation, many garage floor epoxy coating kits can take as little as three hours to apply. This is comparable to other garage floor solutions, like tile or mats, yet is quite a bit more permanent as garage floor paints are epoxy based. Also, this estimate is for a normal garage. If your garage is quite large, then expect the process to take longer, of course.

Before laying your garage floor paint, the concrete must be prepared for the epoxy solution as per the paint manufacturers direction. This applies even if your garage floor is brand new and has never had so much as a bicycle parked on it. The cement still has to be prepared if the garage floor paint is going to adhere to it as it should and provide you with a long life and beautiful finish.

If the concrete is brand new, as in has just been laid down and still has that darker color that indicates it’s not completely dry, even if you can’t carve your initials in it, then you’ll have to wait a bit before you can begin preparing the garage floor for painting. Most paint manufacturers recommend waiting at least thirty days, but be sure to check with the instructions before starting, as different kits will have different instructions. If you’re not sure when the cement for your garage floor was laid, you may want to get with the contractor and find out. Either that, or you could always wait thirty days from move in to apply the garage floor paint. Since the garage floor will have to be prepped, regardless of condition, there’s no harm in using the garage until the thirty days has passed. That being said, it probably wouldn’t be wise to pile half your belongings in the garage, as that would surely deter you from applying the garage floor paint when the time comes.

Choosing to use an epoxy garage floor coating will be a decision that you will be glad you made later on down the road.  Not only will it look nicer, but your garage floor will also last far longer, with maintenance becoming a non-issue for many years to come.