Do you have a garage floor at home that could be a little more presentable? Or maybe you just got one and want to know some tips on how to keep it in top shape?
Both are good questions and here is a guide on how to keep the garage floors in top shape. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so I ended up with 5 steps to do it.
How to maintain garage floors depends a lot on their use. For that reason, lets define a little how garage floors are used before we get to the maintaining.
Garage floors and their use
The garage floor is something that sees heavy use from washing and maintaining the car to storage items. It may be easily overlooked as you venture from a room in your home to your garage on daily basis, you get blind to it. The truth is that daily traffic will get the floor in your garage pretty ugly and messy.
It would be a tedious task for anyone to maintain a garage floor in its best condition all the time. Most of the time, we disregard our garage flooring until it becomes too apparently dirty filled oil and other car dirt and debris, grease from bikes, or even the grass and leaves that the winds blow in.
There are many choices when it comes to garage floors and how you can maintain them. The simplest way would be to paint your floor with something that looks neutral and clean. To paint it might take some effort but it’s a simple way to make it last for long and easier to clean.
Searching for a few effective tips on how to maintain garage floors? It might be clear that you can gather a lot of information from different sources including the Internet and home improvement magazines.
All you have to do is to consider searching for these tips online and reading articles that talk about improving and maintaining the attractiveness of your garage floors. Among the tips that can definitely help you maintain the appearance of your garage are the following.
Tips for keeping your garage clean
Step 1: Sweep your garage floor regularly. Prevent dirt from accumulating and save the garage floor from unsightly stains that have formed through the years.
Accumulated dirt has the tendency to leave an unattractive mark on your garage floor especially when it combines with water and seeps into the porous concrete surface.
In fact, once the stain sets in it might feel almost impossible to get them off without some heavy use tools. Pressure washing your floor might not be the most ideal thing to do depending on the floor and wall structure even when it can be done most of the time.
Step 2: Use a sponge and heavy-duty cleaner to scrub your garage floor. Just know that there are a lot of things that regular sweeping cannot remove and these include oils and any other fluids from your vehicles that can cause your floor to get stained.
Scrubbing the garage floor may be done occasionally if you are already sweeping it every day or few times a week. You might not have to wash it at all if you don’t work with fluids.
Step 3: Use the right garage floor paint or coating to change its dull and boring look into a brighter one. You have to consider painting your floor with a sealant or paint because this is extremely useful in making it look more attractive.
Aside from that, the paint is also effective in covering small holes, cracks, and patches on your floor. Also, as it fills the pores of concrete you don’t have to worry about them getting too stained from dirt.
Just be sure that you pick up the right color and style sensibly to increase your chances of making your floor look newer and more polished. If you are unfamiliar with the best paints that you can use, then you should consider getting the help of an expert in this field.
Personally, I’m a big fan of epoxy and polyurethane coating. Epoxy is hard and chemical resistant while polyurethane is chemical resistant, but it handles expanding and shrinking better than epoxy. Epoxy might crack with high-temperature changes.
Step 4: Check the amount of moisture present in your concrete garage floor before applying your chosen paint or sealant. This is one of the most effective how to maintain garage floor tips that you should never fail to follow. Among the major signs of moisture are white powders and crystals.
To test the amount of moisture in your garage floor, plastic or a rubber mat should be taped into some parts of your floor and leave it on for at least twenty-four hours. If after removing the plastic or the rubber mat you notice that there is condensation, then your floor has enough moisture that may negatively affect the application of the paint or sealant.
Make sure that you completely dry your floor before painting or sealing it to get the best results. If there is too much moisture, the sealant won’t adhere into it well or might even not do that at all.
Step 5: Make the garage concrete surface even and level. This how-to maintain garage floor tip is effective in ensuring that your floor continues to maintain its attractive appearance even after several years.
You can make the surface even by using a chisel or any other scraping equipment to scrape the rough spots from your floor. Also regularly vacuum the surface to get rid of all dust and use patching cement to patch all cracks.
After that, you could try resurfacing the floor and polishing it so it will be resistant to staining. You might already have a floor grinding machine so why not get a few finer grits and take it a step further.
Conclusion
It would make it easier for you if you choose to paint the floor. Not only will it help with cleaning, but it will also stop most of the fluids from seeping into the porous concrete. Something like epoxy is also resistant to chemicals so it will be good if you like to work with your car or bike.
Some flooring options for your garage are more costly than others. While some might give you a hard time with the installation part like epoxy might. It’s still doable with this guide. You might not want anything that will take too much of your time, but it will end up saving it in the long run.
If you’re painting the floor, remember to get good tools for it. You must use a roller with a long handle as if you will paint floors or walls, it will save your back. Then some brushes and tape for painting the edges. For sealing concrete garage floor, read the link.
You might also want to make the floor level or if you have a drain installed on the floor, make sure the water travels properly towards it before coating. Water control is one of the most important things after all.
In the end, the primary thing you need to do is to clean the floor well. You need to sweep and wash it completely. If you see some engine oil and car dirt, then you need to bring with you some heavy-duty cleaner to be able to clean it to the fullest. Once the garage floor is clean, you must not forget to keep it dry.
