Garage Floor Options - Which is Best for You?

By Lifetime Epoxy Floors Expert Guest Author: Anthony Michael Lea

Plain concrete garage floors can get damaged by a number of things: a variety of chemicals, oil drips, moisture-you name it. Fortunately, much like homes, there are also plenty of flooring options available for garages. Concrete garage floors can be covered or coated to make the floors easy to clean and prevent a great deal of damage. The choices can vary greatly from epoxy coatings to concrete stains and concrete sealers.

Below are some of the pros and cons of common options to help you decide which one works best for you:

Epoxy coatings

Coating your garage floor with epoxy may be a long and slightly complicated process but the outcome makes it all worthwhile. Resulting in a resilient and smooth floor, applying epoxy to your concrete garage floor typically involves a preparatory stage which is essential to make the most of the coating. This type of coating can also be tricky since it must be applied before the epoxy has hardened.

A major drawback of using epoxy coatings is the time taken by the entire process. It can take up to a week for the epoxy to completely set on the ground. Naturally, you won't be able to drive on the garage floor during this time. Epoxy coatings, however, typically last long and may need to reapply a new coat about five years later.

Concrete Sealers

Concrete sealers are one of the cheapest options available and can be applied very easily. With water and solvent based variations, concrete sealers can cost anywhere between 20 cents and 50 cents per square foot. Sealers are tougher than paint but not more than epoxy coatings. Some sealers are also not immune to the damage caused by chemicals which makes it important to research about the damage on your garage floor before you choose sealers as a flooring option.

Diamond Grinding and Polishing

The diamond grinding process involves using diamond abrasives with a resin matrix to grind the concrete garage floor. Depending on the luster needed on the floor, the polishing disks being used are changed. Then, a sealer is used which sinks into the concrete and toughens it. This addition to this, it also makes the concrete denser and protects it from damage.

Diamond grinding and polishing leaves you with a very smooth and shiny surface. Even though the final product lasts long, a few drawbacks of this method are the amount of time required to complete the process correctly and the high costs involved.

With this information, you will now be able to decide which option is best for your garage without compromising on the quality.
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