Types of Garage Flooring

If you have a garage, you probably use it for much more than just parking your car. Garages are highly useful rooms that serve as storage space, workshops, and even play areas if they’re big enough. However, the materials the garage is made out of, especially the flooring, can contribute greatly to the whole experience.

Having a garage floor that cracks and stains easily, for instance, is not going to leave the place looking very nice. While this is a casual area of your home, you still want it looking neat and clean, especially if you’re spending a large portion of your time on a woodworking project there.  You hence need to pick and choose your garage flooring carefully and keeping several factors in mind.

When you decide to install flooring for your garage, there are a number of different types of garage floor coverings from which to choose. Selecting the right type of flooring depends on your preference, budget, and level of maintenance.To help you in choosing the type of garage flooring, we’ll discuss the most common types below:

Types of Garage Flooring

Basic Floor Paint

This choice is what most people go for when changing the look of their garage – they simply paint the floors. The residents can do the work by themselves if they want to save money. Just a fresh coat of paint will help improve the overall look of your garage and might be able to cover up some nasty stains. It’s basically a quick fox that can take care of several problems at once.

A layer of paint will add some much-needed protection to your garage’s basic concrete flooring. Choose a type of paint that is specifically formulated for floor covering. That way, your garage will handle the heavy traffic and still manage to look good for a long time. When the time comes to spruce up the garage floors again, all you need to do is apply another coat of paint to the floor.

However, the unfortunate fact about floor paint is that it doesn’t last very long. There’s a reason why we don’t just paint the floors of our main rooms instead of getting hardwood floors or tiles. Paint can’t take much stress or weight for too long, so it’s liable to crack after some time. Plus, certain paints can be quite slippery after they’ve dried, which could be a hazard if you’re walking around with a sharp tool. Finally, the protection of a paint coast isn’t really much compared to other options.

Interlocking Floor Tiles

Floor tiles are also a popular garage flooring choice for homeowners. They come in a variety of different colors and designs, which add a striking look to your garage. Most of these tiles are self-adhesive, so you don’t need to apply glue to bind the tiles to the basic concrete garage floor. In addition, these tiles will interlock with the concrete floors, making them another integral part of your garage space.

The one main problem with floor tiles, though, is that they are more susceptible to visible dirt, dead insects, mold and spilled liquid in the tiny spaces between each piece. Hence, heavy cleaning and maintenance is necessary when you decide to install floor tiles in your garage. In addition to this, tiles are not good for repainting and are difficult to repair. Plus, they can also tend to crack if your vehicles are of the heavy variety.

Floor Mats

If you need a bit more protection than just basic floor painting, floor mats can also do the job. Aside from giving more pleasing aesthetics to your garage, floor mats are also designed to be spill-resistant.

Polyvinyl mats are the most often recommended type for garage flooring, as they can be set into place without the help of adhesives. When it’s time for you to do some deep cleaning on your garage floor, you can remove the floor mats for your garage.

Yet another plus factor about using floor mats is that they are also designed to add a layer of cushion and insulation to the hard concrete surface of your garage floor.

There are downsides to the floor mat option, as there would be with any other product. Floor mats can run quite expensive, for one, especially if you need to buy enough to cover a huge space. What’s more, you might find it awkward to fit floor mats into narrow and curved spaces. This will require you to cut them, which might not result in an accurate result unless you hire a professional for the job.

Epoxy Floor Covering

An epoxy floor covering can completely remake your garage floor. Epoxies are strong, easy to clean and come in a wide variety of colors plus textures. It’s best to consult with a garage floor professional on the different types of epoxies and their maintenance requirements. This will help you decide when looking at all the options available on the market.

Epoxy is just a name for kind of paint that has a hardening agent inside it. This will help you get a durable and stain-resistant floor for a long time to come. You do have to make sure that the existing floor is patched, etched and thoroughly cleaned before you start applying the epoxy, or you wouldn’t get a clean result.

Once the floor is ready, all you have to do is blend the epoxy paint and include the hardener. Then, quickly apply it to the garage floor. Time is of the essence because the epoxy paint only remains good for about two hours, after which it will be too hard to apply. Most people also get some paint chips to scatter onto the surface after painting, after which you’ll seal the work with some clear coating.

Finding the Perfect Garage Floor

When on the lookout for just the right kind of flooring for your garage, it’s always best to read reviews online as well as ask around for the best options. Your neighbor might have opted for a certain type of garage flooring that seems to suit their needs, so ask them about the factors they took into account. Don’t go for an option just because someone else is using it; make sure you understand their reasons and see if the same logic works for you.

You might at a loss about where to make a start, so why not begin with the Speedway 789453B-50 Diamond Garage Floor?  Check out the details here and read the short review to find out certain important details about this flooring option:

This convenient and durable interlocking floor tile is available in a variety of colors, so you can choose the result according to your preferences. In fact, some garage owners might even want to mark out certain areas for different uses within their garage, and these tiles are the perfect way to accomplish this goal. For instance, you may choose black tiles for the area where you’ll park your car, blue for the area where your kids park their bicycles, and orange for your workshop area. There are several other fun colors to choose from, including red, purple, terracotta, and even silver.

Choosing this type of garage flooring will allow for airflow and water flow, which would actually prevent damage. The grid constructions hence prevent mold growth, especially as they clean up easily and rapidly. The polymer tiles are heavy-duty and interlock with each other, making for a high-impact result. It’s even easy to accomplish this task yourself, as all one as to do is lie the tiles down and make sure they connect.  

Conclusion

After looking at all the different types of flooring options, you may want to speak with a professional. They can help you decide which type of garage flooring is best suited for your home and budget. Having your garage floor looking great and clean can really enhance the enjoyment of your garage as well as increase the value of your home.