As a homeowner, what are you doing to protect the longevity and appearance of your garage floor? If you’re considering a floor coating, there’s a few things you need to know.
A floor coating can extend the life of your flooring and improve the aesthetic of an usually fairly lacklustre room. Garage floors in particular need to be able to withstand a substantial amount of wear and tear, with the frequent traffic in and out from cars and bikes, which can cause stains and marks on unprotected floors. So how to paint your garage floor and what are the best products to protect your floors?
Garage floor coatings: what are they and what do they do?
As the name suggests, garage floor coatings are applied to a floor in order to protect it from stains and tyre marks.
There are several choices when it comes to floor coatings. Two of the most widely-trusted options are garage floor paint and epoxy floor paint. Both come with their pros, cons, costs and applications.
What is garage floor paint?
And why is it different to the stuff that goes on your walls? Garage floor paint is a latex acrylic paint, a slightly tougher paint to what you would put on your walls, but just like wall paint, it is available in myriad colours.
Some manufacturers offer paint products that contain a certain amount of epoxy, and will refer to this as 1-Part epoxy paint. Floor paint that contains some epoxy offers more consistent adhesion and will be more durable than paint without the epoxy.
In terms of cost, floor paint can be the cheaper option. However, it will likely require more frequent touch-ups.
What is epoxy floor paint?
Epoxy floor coating or epoxy floor paint is made up of two-components: epoxy resin and polyamine hardener. Epoxy can be coloured or clear. If you have a coloured epoxy, it’s the epoxy resin that the colour is applied to.
The nature of the two components means the final product is a hard, very durable surface coating that provides a protective seal to the concrete floor as well as a stain-resistant barrier (perfect for grease, oil and rubber from the cars).
While you can purchase epoxy floor coating at hardware stores, there is value in having a professional supply and apply the epoxy coating for you. One key reason for this is because the higher the epoxy content, the higher the viscosity (read: thicker and stickier). So while DIY epoxy paint kits may sound very appealing and easy to use, if you want a high-quality result, it’s best to leave it to an expert epoxy flooring specialist, such as Kleenit.
In terms of cost, epoxy requires a higher up-front investment but will usually last at least 3 to 5 years before needing to be touched up.
What are the advantages of epoxy paint over normal garage floor paint ?
All in all, when comparing epoxy coating to normal floor paint, it’s clear from our experience that the epoxy floor coating provides a superior and longer-lasting finish for your garage floors. The key benefit of using an epoxy floor coating over floor paint is durability.
For a garage floor coating that looks better for longer, professionally applied epoxy floor coatings help avoid the trap of ‘buy cheap, buy twice.’
Choosing a professional epoxy floor coating service.
Want advice from an expert in epoxy floor coatings in your area? Call Kleenit for the know-how and experience to “get the job done!”
Let’s give your garage floor some well-deserved upgrade and maybe a new purpose!
Oh, and you can get a free quote for epoxy flooring in Australia by getting in touch.
