The 6 Best Garage Floor Coating Options

Why should I upgrade my garage floor coating?

You may be wondering why you should bother upgrading your garage floor at all. For a lot of people, the garage is just a dark room in the house filled with old boxes you’ll probably never open, with its only real function being a place to park your cars at the end of the day. 

Well, we’d argue that a garage can be so much more than that! Giving your garage floor an upgrade can truly transform the space, brightening it up and helping it blend in with the overall aesthetic of your house.

Here are some of the best reasons to consider upgrading your garage floor with a new coating:

• Increase the value of your home
• Enhance the visual status of the room
• Help to protect the floor from damage
• It could allow the space to be multi-functional, and could even be converted into a studio, workshop or granny flat. 

Best garage floor coatings vs garage floor coverings

You may hear the term “coatings” and “coverings” used interchangeably, but the two serve different purposes.

A coating is a thin covering applied directly to the existing concrete slab in your house, like paint or epoxy. 

A covering is applied on top of the concrete slab, like tiles or mats. 

Regardless of what you choose, you’ll want to make sure your concrete covering or coating is durable. It should be able to deal with: 

• The weight of your car/s
• Debris
• Heavy spills including oils and chemicals
• High levels of moisture
• Extreme temperature changes (due to the lack of insulation in most garages)

In the past, these levels of demand would often mean that there weren’t many options for your garage floor beyond bare concrete, stones or compacted earth. These days, however, there are plenty of wonderful options on the market that can handle the elements while also adding a great sense of style to the space.

Before you apply your garage floor coatings

Before you start to apply any sort of coating to your garage floor, you want to make sure that the existing slab is in a good enough condition to cover. If it’s damaged, cracked or is holding onto moisture, then covering it up could cause more problems down the line.

The best way to make sure that your floor is in good shape is to work with a professional who can inspect the floor and prepare it for the next steps. At The Jagan Group, we offer tile removal, floor grinding and preparation services to The Sunshine Coast, so you can be confident that your floor is in the best condition before any further work is done to it. We also offer a comprehensive range of garage floor coating options including concrete grinding, polishing and epoxy coatings.

When you get your floor prepared by a professional, they will ensure that:

• The concrete slab is structurally sound
• There are no major cracks or unevenness
• There is no moisture problems
• The area is clean and free from debris
• You’ve chosen the best garage floor coating option for your home 

1. Polished Concrete

You’re probably most used to seeing polished concrete in popular retail stores such as Bunnings and JB Hi-Fi, and for a good reason – polished concrete is one of the best garage floor coating options out there, being:

• Durable
• Environmentally friendly
• Long-lasting

To get a polished concrete garage floor, the concrete slab is mechanically ground down with diamond segments, then polished with resin pads to a matte, gloss or high-gloss finish.

This is perhaps the most long-lasting option on this list, as the end result is permanent and is resistant to scratches, heat, stains and UV.

If your existing concrete floor is damaged or you would prefer to have a more exciting finish than simple grey concrete, you can also get a purpose laid concrete substrate, allowing you to choose which kind of aggregate is laid into your floor, allowing you to customise the colours and patterns within the concrete. 

2. Sealed Concrete

Sealed concrete is a great low-cost garage floor coating option that’s durable, low-maintenance and has a timeless aesthetic. For these reasons, it’s become a popular choice as one of the best garage floor coating options for homes and businesses across Australia. Although cost-effective, sealed concrete is popular within many luxury homes due to its elegant finish. 

To get a sealed concrete floor, you’ll first need to have the existing slab ground down to your desired level of exposure. From here, the floor is then sealed in either a clear, gloss or matte resin. 

With sealed concrete, you may start to see signs of wear over time, depending on how much traffic passes through and how often it’s cleaned. To help combat this, you can opt for a resin that’s been chemically modified to protect against scratching, light, heat, staining and UV. You can also get resin that has non-slip additives, though this can increase the need for regular maintenance and cleaning. 

3. Epoxy Flooring

Epoxy is a versatile garage floor coating and is often considered one of the best garage floor coating options available. Part of its popularity comes from the fact that it’s available in a wide range of colours, patterns and finishes, meaning it can be customised to suit just about any design choice.

It’s important to not confuse epoxy flooring with epoxy paint. Genuine epoxy flooring is much stronger, thicker, long-lasting and is a better performer in general. It’s a great option for durability, especially in high-traffic areas such as garages.

Our epoxy floor coating is uniquely formulated with chemical, heat, UV, impact & abrasion resistant properties, making it perfect for places such as garages where it’s common to spill chemicals or drop heavy tools. You can also get non-slip additives included in the formula, providing an extra level of safety. Once your epoxy flooring is installed, it’s easy to clean and maintain.

4. Paint

Now we’re getting into discussing coverings, as opposed to coatings. Coverings can provide an appealing finish to your garage floor, but it’s important to acknowledge that they’ll generally not last as long as garage floor coatings and have less benefits overall. Nevertheless, they can be useful options if you’re on a budget or particularly enjoy the design they give to your space.

Floor paint is a good way to give your garage floor a quick refresh if it’s been stained with oil, grease or chemicals. However, you can’t just go in with a cheap craft paint and expect results. It’s best to head to your local hardware store and look for a paint that’s specifically formulated for garage floors. Some of the options on the market are latex, oil-based or epoxy-based paints. Regardless of what you choose, it’s worth noting that paints are more likely to chip away and be damaged faster than a proper garage floor coating.

The main benefit of paint is the huge range of colour choices available. You can get paints with a matte, gloss, and even metallic finish. The crafty DIY homeowners out there may even want to create an artwork on their garage floor, which can be done most easily with paint.

5. Tiles

Floor tiles can be a good garage floor covering option if you have a badly stained concrete slab that you want to cover up with minimal fuss. There are a variety of garage floor tile options available, including laminate, plastic, rubber, wood composite, ceramic or stone tiles.

Laminate tiles can give a faux-wood or faux-stone look, although they’re not very sturdy and will also stain easily. A more popular option is plastic, rubber or wood composite tiles. These are flexible and interlock together like puzzle pieces. They’re very easy to install and come in a wide range of colours. They also have a bit of softness to them so are a good option if you’re going to be working in your garage. Ceramic and stone tiles give the most high-end look of these options, though they’re more likely to crack and chip, and will be more expensive than the others.

6. Mats

The quickest and easiest way to cover up your garage floor is to use roll out mats. These mats can be made up of plastic, rubber or polyvinyl, and are easy and quick to install. With mats, you’ll be a bit more limited in your colour choices, though there are many available that are designed to look like metal, tiles or flake flooring. They also come in a range of textures and patterns.

Mats can be a good option if you want to cover up your stained garage floor quickly and on a budget. It’s also a good option for renters, as you can simply roll the mat out over the existing flooring without making any changes to the house. They’re also easy to clean, making them one of the lowest maintenance options available.