An attractive and expertly finished garage floor can greatly improve the aesthetics of your home's interior and add to the overall appeal. It not only increases the functionality of your property but also maximizes the resale value when you decide to sell your home someday down the road.
Does an epoxy garage floor increase my home's value? An epoxy garage floor can increase a home's value by up to $8 per square foot. That's a lot of money considering that an epoxy floor is a relatively fast and inexpensive upgrade.
Garages Are Not Just for Cars
Whether you're interested in protecting the garage floor against staining, pitting, crumbling, cracking, dusting, wicking water, or searching for a solution to high humidity levels and mold growth, the most important thing you can do is to seal it with the best penetrating concrete sealer.
Sealing your concrete floors prevents damage – no matter how regularly your floors are used. So, if you want to ensure your concrete floors look and stay great for longer, sealing them is definitely a wise choice.
Epoxy floors are much more resistant to wear and tear than other types of flooring, so they can withstand heavy foot traffic and even vehicle traffic without showing signs of wear. This makes them an ideal choice for anyone who wants a floor that will last for many years.
Epoxy is prone to yellowing, chipping, and hot-tire pickup which can ruin the look of your garage floor. Concrete is a much better and more durable choice for high-traffic areas like your garage.
While the advantages outweigh the negatives, there are some disadvantages that you should keep in mind before sealing your concrete driveway. Sealant can make the surface slippery. Sealants tend to dry down with a glossy or semi-glossy sheen that can be quite slick, especially when wet.
Epoxy and urethane coatings tend to be more expensive than a simple concrete sealer, but they offer better protection.
Solvent base sealers tend to over darken concrete stain, looking as it does when saturated wet with water. Water base sealers such as Clear Shield, makes the concrete look as it does when damp with water, not saturated wet but not dry either.
Acrylic Concrete Sealers: Acrylic sealers last 1-3 years before they need to be re-coated. Epoxy Coatings: Epoxy coatings last 5-10 years before they need to be re-coated. Urethane Coatings: Urethane coatings last 5-10 years before they need to be re-coated.
Topcoat & Sealer Maintenance
Acrylic sealers should be resealed every one to three years depending on the solids content. Acrylic urethane sealers should be reapplied every four to seven years. Once the sealer thickness is below two dry mils, a resealing is recommended in order to protect your garage floor coating.
Yes, sealing a garage floor can mask surface imperfections, but coating the concrete is good for other reasons as well. For instance, you don't have to rush to clean up spills and messes — the floor is protected against future stains.
An epoxy based concrete coating for a 2-car garage floor will cost between $1,320 and $3,080 with most homeowners spending about $1,711 when professionally applied. The price to coat an existing concrete floor ranges from $3 to $7 per square foot including labor and materials.
Other than concrete dust, it also helps to keep the surface itself clean. Liquid spills from a vehicle that can stain concrete will be much easier to clean off from a coated surface. A coated garage floor is significantly easier to clean, helping maintenance be a much simpler process.
Floor Paint for Garage Floor Coating
Floor paint is available in a variety of colors, so you can choose one that matches your garage's decor. It is also easy to apply; simply brush it on the floor and wait for it to dry. Floor paint is probably the least expensive garage floor coating.
An unsealed concrete floor is going to be more reactive and sensitive to changes in temperature. It will freeze in cold climates and expand in warm ones. This can cause crumbling, chipping, and cracking.
Paint provides temporary, surface-level protection. Unlike paint, sealers and coatings penetrate concrete and bond with the flooring. This deep bonding means, unlike paint, sealers and coatings don't chip, they don't look cheap or tacky, and they increase the long-term strength of the floor.
Concrete should be sealed to protect from mold and mildew.
You'll know you have mold growing on your concrete by the greenish color that appears. When you seal your concrete, you inhibit moisture from penetrating the surface and therefore prevent the development of mold and mildew.
In order to effectively protect your garage floor from stains, oil or otherwise, you need to seal your floor with a good concrete sealer. Concrete sealers help protect your concrete from natural elements, such as water damage.
Can Sealing Prevent Cracks on Concrete Surfaces? Concrete sealing can stop most types of concrete fractures. This fact is especially true if the crack is a result of poor-quality work in the concrete mix or site preparation. However, sealing can prevent future damage that may start from the top layer of the concrete.
The longevity of an epoxy floor system will vary based on thickness, use and maintenance. Typically, epoxy floors last between 10 and 20 years; much longer than a painted concrete floor, which will chip and wear quickly in high-traffic areas.
How long does garage floor epoxy last? Depending on the additives present in a coating and the levels of foot traffic, drop impact, wear from vehicles in a space and other factors, an epoxy garage floor coating can last between two and ten years with proper maintenance.