There are various types of garage floor coatings that are used to help protect your cement or concrete garage floor. Since they are used to help prevent damage that is exposed to heavy weight and as a result, will go through a lot of wear and tear over time, garage floor coatings have to be durable, tough and long lasting. They are also used to help prevent more trivial damage, such as stains or small cracks on a cement garage floor.
If you are fixing or building a new garage or other cement surface, you should consider looking at various garage floor coatings to help create the best result possible. They are incredibly resistant to water, grease, oil, fungus, chemical exposure, weathering over time and mold, all of which are common issues that can take their toll on a garage floor over time. Most garage floor coatings are comprised of an epoxy compound, which is incredibly resistant to the aforementioned contaminants, and thus prevent them from being absorbed into your garage’s surface.
If you are looking at different garage floor coatings, there are several important steps you should know about, prior to laying down a coating. As a general rule of thumb, garage floor coatings should only be applied after a garage surface is completely smoothed out. This means if there are any cracks on your garage floor, they must be filled prior to laying down the coating. Also before applying a coating, the garage floor should be completely clean. This can be accomplished using a power washer or using a cleaning detergent.
There are various types and colors of garage floor coatings. Based on the color of your garage floor, you should get a similar colored garage floor coating or a clear coating. There are also different garage floor coatings with different amounts of layers. Generally speaking, you are best off getting a three layer or one layer garage floor coating. Expectedly, three layer garage floor coatings are more expensive, as they consist of three steps and therefore, more materials. Epoxy Shield Ultra by Rust-Oleum is an example of a three layer system that has three steps, laying down a primer, then a base coat and finally, a clear coating on top. A one layer coating is a simpler type of coating, usually consisting of just a standard epoxy compound. A three layer coating is more effective, but you can probably get away with a one layer coating.
Another important step to take is measure the square footage of your garage space prior to buying a coating. Garage floor coatings tend to be sold by the square foot, so you will want to be sure of the dimensions the coating is applied to, so you don’t end up getting too much coating.
You can find garage floor coatings at any major hardware store, such as The Home Depot, Loews or Ace Hardware. Depending on where you purchase your coating, it is a good idea to ask for a warranty.