Tell me about garage floor paints

Question:

I am in the process of building a new garage/shop that will have a concrete floor. I am hoping that somewhere along the road your publication has published some information on paint or stain for a concrete garage floor.

The information obtained from local paint suppliers is confusing and none were able to provide any information about the durability of their products in a garage floor application.

I have received the recommendation of both concrete stain and epoxy paint. I am concerned about their performance when floor jacks are used; tires are turned by the steering wheel, the pressure of shelving, etc.

Answer:

I can’t recommend a specific brand of stain or coating from personal experience but I can offer some general recommendations that you may find useful.

As with any kind of painting or topical coating, good surface preparation is one of the keys to success. Your concrete garage floor should be fully cured, which usually means that it should have been poured at least six months ago and preferably longer. And most importantly, the concrete needs to be scrupulously clean. This can pose quite a challenge if there are oil stains and the like because concrete is actually porous and substances like oil will seep pretty deep into the slab.

Some coating kits come with a cleaning agent and even for those that don’t, the manufacturer usually provides detailed cleaning instructions.

One more bit of advice—your local fire department can be an excellent source for floor coating recommendations. Most fire departments have epoxy coatings on the fire house floor and given the weight of the trucks and frequency of activity in the firehouse you can usually learn a lot about what does and doesn’t work. You can also find out the name of a company in your area that does the application if you don’t want to do it yourself.