What’s the Best Garage Floor Paint for My Garage?

Considering how beneath us they are all the time, floors are often overlooked – garage floors doubly so. Garage floors can take considerable abuse from all sorts of things – oil, chemicals, salt, and just general wear and tear from feet and wheels. An unkept floor can become chipped, cracked, and just generally unsafe – causing all sorts of potential fire and tripping hazards. A great way to keep it not only looking fresh but improve its lifespan is to coat it with the best garage floor paint.

Painting your floor requires a little bit of work, but is considerably cheaper than other alternative floor coverings. There are many different types of paints, stains, and coating that can work depending on the type of flooring you have. Regardless of what you have, there is going to be a considerable amount of floor prep required, along with collecting the right tools for the job.

This can include cleaning using powerful solvents and degreasers, along with repairing any potential cracks, holes, and other surface problems. Muriatic acid might also be needed to properly etch the floor, allowing the paint to penetrate.

Doing all of this will not only make your garage floor look better, but also improve the overall lifespan and safety of it.

Types of Garage Floor Paints

Most garage floors are concrete, and thus need a special type of floor paint. This type of paint is a tougher variant than what is normally put on walls. This paint can come in latex, and is often applied directly to the surface, and is notable for having a good mold, mildew, and water resistance.

Oil-based paints require a primer coat beforehand but boast higher durability than latex.  Both oil and latex are considerably cheaper than epoxy based paints as they need little in the way of preparing and mixing. Nonetheless, they are still prone to be eaten away by oil, gasoline, brake fluid, and other chemicals. Because of this, it is recommended to refresh this type of paint every two to three years.

Epoxy paints, on the other hand, are much tougher and come with a two part formula that needs to be mixed beforehand. When both parts of the paint mix it creates a chemical process and needs quick application. This process provides the ability to seal the garage floor in a way that latex and oil-based paints can’t.

Epoxy does require considerable floor prep, even up and above normal floor paints, along with taking up to a week to completely dry. Epoxy type paints are considerably more expensive than other normal paints – but its price can fluctuate depending on the different amount of solids found within it.

A high percentage of solids within the epoxy kit translates to increased toughness and a higher price compared to lower percentage models.
While epoxy type paints are highly recommended, you can increase the overall hardiness of other types of paint by putting some sort of urethane sealer as a top coat.

Regardless of what you pick, you can also add anti-skid material to your paint to make the floor rougher, reducing the potential of slipping in snowy or wet climates.

How to Prep and Paint your Garage Floor

Before you start you need to make sure you have everything necessary. Safety comes first, and since you’re going to be dealing with harsh chemicals you should have some protective gear like rubber gloves, face masks, and safety goggles.

Along with this your going to need all the cleaning implements like scrub brushes, concrete cleaners, a hose with nozzle or pressure washer, and any other necessary chemicals. From here you, of course, need everything for painting like the rollers, brushes, and spare rollers – don’t forget the paint either!

Your first step should be to get everything as clean as possible. Start by removing everything in your garage that isn’t anchored down – this can include vehicles, boxes, movable cabinets, shelving, work benches, and so forth.

Next, you need to sweep as thoroughly as possible – a large broom can do wonders, but you might need to bust out the smaller kitchen broom for those hard to reach corners.

Using degreaser, a deck brush, and a high-pressure nozzle you’re going to strip as much dirt, grime, and oil from the floor as you can.  Make sure to avoid the walls and electrical outlets as much as possible when scrubbing and spraying. If you don’t have a good degreaser, laundry detergent or trisodium phosphate (TSP) can also work great in cleaning a garage floor.

Laundry detergent should be mixed ⅓ of a cup per gallon of water, while you should follow the manufacturer’s directions for concrete cleaner and TSP.  You might need to cycle through the process of applying the soapy water, then scrubbing, and blasting everything away a few times for any given spot.

Pressure washers can work the best at cutting through years of built on grime and dirt, with many allowing soaps and degreasers to be added to the machine itself.
If you have concrete, you might want to add some sort of etcher like muriatic acid.

Make sure you dilute it to a ratio that is recommended on the manufacturer’s instructions. If you are going to use an oil based paint you should then apply a primer to the floor.

When applying the paint make sure to take time around the perimeter so you don’t make a mess on the walls. Think about investing in a long-handled roller to save your back. Make sure you have at least two coats down, and to wait at least 24 hours between coats.

Latex and oil-based paints can often dry in 24 to 48 hours, while epoxy based ones should take at least 5 days to completely cure. From here you might want to think about applying some sort of sealer, especially if you have a latex or oil-based paint.

Final Thoughts

Because of its remarkable toughness, chemical bond sealing ability, and general look, epoxy paint is best garage floor paint out there.

That being said, this type of paint can be prohibitively expensive and complicated to put down. While latex and oil paints aren’t up to the caliber of epoxy, they can be viable as long as you follow the proper procedure, and apply some sort of sealer afterward.

Before you apply make sure to stay safe and follow the packaged directions of the chemicals that you are using. Depending on the level of dirtiness, you might want to dedicate an entire day to prepping alone.

A painted concrete floor greatly reduces the creation of concrete dust and gives an extra layer of protection from chipping and cracking. The paint can also repel spilled oil and gasoline – both of which can be greatly embedded into your floor.

Painting your garage floor can bring a whole new look to a drab space while also greatly improving the lifespan – making your garage last longer and be safer.

Your Next Garage With Danley’s

If you’re looking for a whole new custom garage, you can trust Danley’s Garage Builders to get the job done right. With over 100,000 garages built, it’s no surprise that our customers love us! Get a free quote.