Did you know that hobbies people tried during the pandemic have led to cluttered garages that aren’t getting properly used?
The addition of bicycles, kayaks, and other recreational items is overcrowding, which can lead to more messes.
If you want to keep your garage neat and useful, you should start by focusing on the floor.
Keep reading to learn the best tips on how to select garage floor coatings that can handle your lifestyle!
Consider Your Lifestyle
One of the first steps in learning how to select garage floor coatings is to consider your lifestyle.
Take note of how often you use the garage and what you use it for. If you’re hoping to finally park your vehicle inside, you’ll need a coating that is durable enough to handle the tires. When you don’t put your vehicle in the garage, you have more options on floor coatings, since you may not require as much durability.
Think about all the items you’ll store in the garage and it will help determine which coating is most suitable. If you’re planning to turn the garage into a hangout space, you can use more decorative finishes with colored flakes.
Know Your Options
Depending on the condition of the original floor, you will need to select between garage floor coatings and covers.
Coatings offer more protection, they are made with ingredients that saturate concrete pores. If you’re working with a contractor, you can discuss the options they provide.
Polyurea and polished concrete are often the most popular choice among homeowners. You can learn more here about polyurea and glossy concrete options. Aside from these, you can consider paint, stains, and tiles.
Paints and stains are great for garage floors, however, they don’t provide protection and get damaged easily. Be prepared to complete touch-ups on the floor, especially if you’re in a cold climate.
Tiles, wood planks, and floor panels are considered covers since they hide the damaged surface. This is a great option if you want to keep the floors warm, but they can get damaged in some climates. Fortunately, tiles are easy to replace and purchase.
Pick a Color Scheme
It may be tempting to paint your garage floor in your favorite hockey or football team’s colors but use restraint.
Almond, tan, and amber are popular floor-coating colors, along with gray and beige. White and black can look nice when they are clean but they tend to drive homeowners crazy since they can see every piece of debris. The colored flakes added to paint and garage floor coatings help camouflage dirt and make your garage look cleaner.
White and silver flooring can be dangerous if you live in cooler climates. Some people discover the hard way that their floors are too slick and you can’t see ice and snow very well. You should base your color scheme on decorative preferences, but also on practicality.
Compare Prices
Take time to establish a realistic and reasonable floor coating budget for your home.
Applying floor coating isn’t a large enough project to require a loan. If you save up money for a few months, you can pay for the materials and labor, if you need help. Before making any purchases, you should be doing research and compare prices for the same materials at different stores.
Certain home improvement stores offer promotions, these can help you save money, especially if you need to buy everything. Don’t be afraid to get quotes from various installation companies and contractors. If you don’t want to tackle the project alone, you can hire help for a decent price.
Research & Check Reviews
With so many types of garage flooring coatings available, it can be difficult to select the best one.
Once you find a few brands of coating products, you can research what they are made up of and how durable they are. The more time you invest in research, the fewer surprises will come your way. Search for info on search engines and only use reputable sources.
Online reviews are another way to learn more about a product. You can get insight into the quality of the products you’re considering and it won’t be coming from the company. Marketing can be misleading, but reviews are often spot-on.
If you have any concerns about a review, you should check the date it was created. If the reviews are old, you may want to jump online and see if the companies have many any changes to improve their products.
Pay Attention to Your Climate
Not only will your climate affect your floor coating preparation, but it will also influence which coating to invest in.
If you live in a climate with extreme heat and/or cold, you should use polyurea. Epoxy, paint, and stains can crack and chip away from the concrete in extreme temperatures. These options are ideal for mild climates.
Choosing a garage floor coating that isn’t effective in your environment can lead to increased spending on repairs.
Can You Select Garage Floor Coatings That’ll Last?
The worst thing you can do is select garage floor coatings without any thought or consideration.
Depending on where you live and how you live, certain floor coatings are ideal for your environment. Although paint and stains are a cheap solution, they don’t provide the durability and protection that epoxy and polyurea offer. You can turn a dirty garage into a clean space by focusing on the ground.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with color schemes to show your personality and style.
If you want to learn more about the types of flooring coatings and home improvement projects, read our blog for the latest content!