Hello! My name is Shea Walker. With over 30 years of combined experience within the garage flooring industry, my associates and I have created All Garage Floors.
Our goal is to provide you with the expertise and helpful information often needed regarding the many garage flooring options and products available today.
We specialize in the knowledge and application of garage floor coatings and sealers. In addition, we have years of experience with garage tiles, mats, concrete color stains, concrete garage floor repair, and more.
The information and helpful tips provided on our website have been featured in The Garage Journal, This Old House, WikiHow, Family Handyman, Reddit, numerous newspapers, car forums, and garage floor coating companies. In addition, we have been selected by Redfin as a top garage floor expert.
What We Do
Most consumers are only aware of the budget-quality and big-brand DIY garage flooring products seen at local home improvement centers and hardware stores. We work hard to expose you to better quality, higher-performing materials, and products that are typically available from professional vendors and other sources. We encourage you to visit our Shop Page to purchase quality garage flooring products at competitive pricing.
What we do is review, evaluate, and sometimes test the numerous coatings, sealers, tiles, and various garage flooring options available. We even include garage accessories. This enables us to make unbiased recommendations on which products perform well and where to purchase them. We list these products on our Shop pages and the many reviews and articles on our website.
Furthermore, you can find an abundance of questions and answers in our comments section below the articles.
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hi
I have a twenty year old garage floor with one, worn coat of Thompsons water seal on it. I want to use the P104 densifier product and would like to know if I need to to acid etch the floor first or just clean it with TSP. Would the densifier soak into the floor even if not all the Thompsons is removed? thanks A
Before you can apply anything to the concrete, the first thing you need to do is remove the old sealer. The Thompson’s will effectively block a densifier, or any other penetrating sealer for that matter, from penetrating into the concrete. The only way to do this is to grind the surface. You can’t remove a sealer by acid etching because the sealer blocks the acid from reacting with the free lime in the concrete.
Can you recommend a good vendor/ company to buy
polyurea /polyaspartic floor coatings. I would like to start
installing garage and commercial floor coatings, we have been
a painting and remodeling contractor since 2003.
Thank you
Hello Allen. HP Spartacote is a very reputable manufacture that you can purchase polyurea polyaspartic coatings from. Many concrete coating companies and contractors buy from them.
I have had garage tiles in my garage now for over 10 years and will never go back to paint or epoxy. I bought Racedeck diamond plate and really have not had to do anything but clean it. So, anyone looking for a great option, go with garage tiles.
Hello Sam and thanks for the report on your tiles. A member of our family has a combination of RaceDeck Diamond and Free-Flow tiles in their garage and absolutely loves it. It’s only been a couple of years now, but they work on cars in their garage and it still looks like new.
I’m moving into a new home and want to put a durable DIY friendly floor coating on. I want something that looks good and will last for 10-15 years (is that possible?). I’m intrigued by ArmorPoxy and Roll on Rock as options. What should I be considering between the two and do you recommend one over the other?
Hello Chris. It all depends on what ArmorPoxy kit you are looking at. They have a variety of options to choose from. The base Roll On Rock kit is a two coating system that consists of a high solids epoxy base coat, full flake coverage, and a clear top coat with the option to choose the higher performance 5073 polyurea clear coat. They also have the option an intermediate clear build coat. This creates a smoother floor and adds to the durability. Compared to the ArmorPoxy 2 coating system, Roll On Rock has the edge since it includes full flake coverage. There is no worry about the coating ambering since the epoxy is fully covered. Both should take you to your minimum 10 year requirement. However, the ArmorPoxy Armor Clad kit is a 3 coat system that includes an epoxy primer and 100% solids epoxy plus the clear coat. This is more durable than the previous two and is typical of a professionally installed commercial quality system that will go 15 years or more. However, it is a little more difficult to install since the 100% solids epoxy has a shorter pot life. When comparing kits from different vendors it’s important to look at everything these kits include. You want to compare coverage rates, how many coats, the type of materials, the amount of color flakes, and any other supplies that may come with the kits.
This website is a fantastic resource. Really appreciate what you’ve done here.
Thank you, Carlos.
My husband has been updating our garage and contracted with a company to paint the walls, garage doors and floor of the garage . Once complete, with assistance he installed new and large steel garage storage and tool containers with sliding doors as well as a large wood top work bench along with other miscellaneous furniture and accoutriments. However before we even had a chance to park a car on the floor, it chipped in several places and showed marks with just the most minor use. The contractor seemed to have no explanation as to why this was happening saying they never had a problem with the product they used on the floor even on driveways. when asked why they had not clear coated the floor after painting it with the HC Exterior color top, they said they never had found it necessary. My husband and
I have insisted it was necessary and that the job was incomplete without it.
However in light of their apparent lack of knowledge of a clear coats efficacy, I am hesitant to rely on their supposed expertise as to what to use now.
From what I had read on your site, it appears that a variant of polyurethane would be best.
Do u think we can get a bond from polyurethane over the floor coating already installed which is from HC Concrete & is called HC Exterior/ color top ? If so, exactly what should we use and who should our company purchase it from AND should we use this company to instal it? Their work is neat but wasn’t it incomplete?
Hello Gail. Sorry for the long reply, but the issue you are experiencing is a result of the product used. H&C Exterior Colortop is a solvent-based acrylic coating that has been tinted for a solid color. It is not paint (not that paint should be used). These type of thin coatings are sometimes marketed as concrete stains as well. They don’t come close to what a true garage floor coating system provides in terms of durability and protection. In addition, you cannot apply a polyurethane or a similar resinous clear coat to an acrylic coating. They are not compatible. The only clear you can use is an acrylic. It does not surprise us that you are already having issues. Unfortunately, this type of coating is not suited for a semi-busy garage floor environment and should not have been used. They are best for foot traffic only. They work OK if all you did was park a car on it, but they will wear out and have issues.
General contractors, renovation companies, handymen and painters typically are not knowledgeable about garage floor coatings. Neither are home improvement centers. From our experience and the many reports we get from our readers, these type of companies tend to use inferior DIY products that are easy to apply. In addition, we get numerous emails from our readers looking to solve a problem where a painter or general contractor was involved. In most cases the wrong product was used or the directions were not followed because they incorrectly assumed that applying a coating to concrete is the same as painting a wall – it’s not. Concrete garage floor coating is a specialized profession and these companies only coat concrete. It requires knowledge of concrete preparation and how resinous coating work together to form a coating system. The one exception are those that specialize in garage renovations only that involve storage, cabinets, and flooring.
I suggest you read our article about epoxy floor coatings. This will give you an idea of what a true garage floor coating should consist of if you want something durable. Polyurea and polyaspartic coatings are another example. Our suggestion if it’s in the budget is to find a garage floor coating company to remove the current coating and apply a proper one if you want something durable that will last for years. The other option is to live with what you have for now and budget for a better coating in the future. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Put down Rustoleum Epoxy Shield in my Kitchen. We purchased flakes from a concrete supply company as we didn’t like the limited colors from Rustoleum. We did a medium to medium/heavy random broadcast of flakes. Can still see tinted epoxy underneath. I saw where a full broadcast on Epoxy shield isn’t good due to the thinness of the epoxy to accept the flakes. Feeling in retrospect like a thicker random broadcast isn’t so great either. We did put down the epoxy and flakes within the recommended pot life time.
After Epoxy dried, I scraped floor North South and East West, swept and vacuumed floor but didn’t sand it. I feel like I should have sanded. Put down 1st coat of Rustoleum Clear Finish and it seemed to soak in and around flakes. Waited a day and put down second coat of Clear. This made an improvement but I waited another day and put down a 3rd coat of clear.
Floor is smoother with the 3rd coat but still has areas that seem too rough. Socks catch on the flakes in some areas when walking around in the kitchen, which is the most annoying part, and there are one or two spots where a flake sticks up slightly and sharp to the touch.
It has been about a week since the 3rd coat. I’m contemplating adding another coat of Rustoleum Clear but I don’t know if that will make a difference. Part of me just thinks my expectation of the floor being smoother is not the reality of having this type of floor. Should I sand the floor and focus on smoothing out any of the rougher spots and apply another coat of Rustoleum Clear Finish? Or should I maybe sand the floor a bit and then apply a thicker polyurethane coating that I can purchase from a concrete supplier? Any recommendations on brands if I go that route? I don’t mind some texture in the floor, I just feel like it needs to be a tad smoother and I don’t want random sharp spots, but I want the next step to be the last one if possible. thanks for any advice!!!
Hello Jaime. Yes, you are correct in your summation that medium/heavy broadcast of color flakes does not work well. There is a reason that Rust-Oleum only supplies a limited amount of flakes in their kits. EpoxyShield is an old formula/technology epoxy of residential quality that cures to a thin coat. Unfortunately, you could have applied a very thick commercial quality system for what you have spent in applying the additional coats. The good news is that you can easily fix your issue. Sand the entire surface with 100 grit sandpaper using a pole sander or rotary sander. This should smooth out any areas where the color flakes were poking out. The entire surface will now be deglossed and have a scratched-up hazy look. This goes away when the new coat is applied. Sweep/vacuum the surface and then wipe it down with denatured alcohol applied liberally to a microfiber mop pad. The floor will be ready in a couple of minutes after that for a new clear coat. With exception to the texture created by all the flakes, any proper clear coat should feel much smoother and not snag socks.
Polyurethane does not go down thick. When applied correctly, it’s actually a bit thinner than the EpoxyShield (approximately 2.5 mils). It’s a long-wearing and highly stain resistant topcoat and not a build coat. DO NOT purchase polyurethane from your local home improvement center. They are for wood floors only. The problem with a proper concrete polyurethane indoors is that the majority are solvent-based and have VOCs that will stink up the house. If you want something that will wear better than EpoxyShield, then we recommend RockSolid by Rust-Oleum. It’s a higher gloss coating with good abrasion ratings (compared to epoxy) for wear. EpoxyShield does not publish its ratings.
Hello. I think I talked to you on eBay. I’m looking for help. I want a heavy broadcast system for a 600sqft garage. Black, white and gray flake.
Hello Curt. No, it wasn’t us. We are an informational website only and do not sell products. We provide accurate and helpful information for our readers about various garage flooring options, especially coatings. We do not recommend shopping for deals on eBay unless they are from a reputable concrete coating vendor. Here is an example of a vendor we would recommend for what you are looking for.
Hello, I had a company remove and repair areas of concrete along 6″ from the outside walls, a couple areas are larger 3×3′ sections. They used a cheap concrete/sand mix with no aggregate and it was mixed too wet and it resulted in dusting of the surface of the concrete. You can rub the top layer of concrete off with y our finger, though I have only rubbed it about 1/16″ down, I am not sure how much further is it weakened.
Can anything be done to make this a suitable base for ceramic tile? I am hoping to avoid another tear-out & repour. So curious how stable a base this could be for ceramic tile to be installed directly over the weaken concrete or perhaps with a membrane in-between to hopefully prevent future crack through.
Hello John. At issue with the concrete is the severe dusting. You should not be able to rub it off with your finger. If thinset is applied in its current condition, it will delaminate and cause loose tiles at a later date as the concrete the thinset is attached to crumbles away. The compressive strength should be OK, but not ideal. We would recommend grinding the upper layer until you find a harder surface. If it goes deeper than 1/4″ before you reach solid concrete that does not dust heavily, you will need to fill those areas with a self-leveling underlayment to level it out. You can tile directly to that. If it gets more than 3/4″ deep or so and it’s still soft, then we would recommend tearing it out and replacing it. When it gets that deep, it rarely improves. You can’t use Ditra or some other membrane between the tile and the dusting concrete. The reason is that the membrane is adhered to the concrete in the same manner as the tile. In other words, it will just delaminate.
Shea – this is great! I have been looking to find someone to help us eliminate cat urine smell from our basement. Anyone you would recommend we use in the Milwaukee, WI area?
Thanks
Hello Ben. We don’t have a database of contractors from each state in order to make a recommendation. However, we do have an article here on How to Eliminate Pet Urine Odor in Concrete. It is highly effective if followed correctly. We’ve had many readers comment that it worked better than the professional odor remediation companies they have hired.
Hi there. Thanks so much for the great article on how to eliminate pet urine in concrete. Would that process work on mouse urine? I cleaned the area with a 1 part bleach to 10 part water solution prior to seeing your article. Do I still need to do the tsp part before using the enzyme cleaner? Thanks very much!
Hi Amy. We don’t see why not, but we can’t state that 100% for sure. We’ve never encountered an issue with mice. We do not recommend using bleach to clean urine though. The reason is that most urine contains ammonia. If bleach is used to clean a heavy concentration of urine, toxic chloramine gasses can be created. In addition, it will not help at eliminating the odor and can actually make it worse. We would recommend cleaning the area again with TSP before using an enzymatic cleaner.
Thanks so much for your speedy reply! Many articles online recommended cleaning with bleach because mouse droppings/urine can contain hantavirus, which the bleach kills. I will start over with the tsp and then the enzyme cleaner. Will be looking into coatings once I know I have the smell completely resolved. Thank you very much!
Hi Amy. We were not aware of the hantaviris issue. Starting with bleach may have been OK in your case since mice seem unlikely to create the amount of urine (with ammonia) that pets and dogs do 🙂
Hi, I need 250 square meters of this prodcut. Where can i Get it?
Hello Eduardo. What product are you referring to? We can only help with locating product if you are in the U.S.
I enjoyed reading about additives in epoxy floors. Now i have a question as big box stores have zero clue. I currently have an old floor has been done numerous times with the old battleship gray paint. About 5 years ago i applied another coat with shark grip and worked great for 5 years. I am looking to re do it again. So i razor scraped loose paint, cleaner degreaser, going to apply rust oleum garage floor primer this time as there is no way for me to get it back to virgin concrete on my own.
Heres where i used to just add shark grip directly into the gallon of epoxy and do 2 coats. Plain gray with texture. This time i want to add flakes.
Can shark grip mixed into gallon and 2 coats, flakes applied on second coat work? Or will the shark grip stop the flakes for soaking in and vice versa. I dont want to add into top clear coat in fact dont want to do the top coat at all if possible.
Goal is non slippery floor as so afraid someone will slip and not just plain gray boring floor.
Again cleaned, primed, shark grip mixed directly into gallon, 2 coats (second coat toss some flakes), no clear seal top coat. ANY help on this would be thankful for
Hello Jason. Are you referring to the Rust-Oleum Garage Floor Recoat Primer? If so, pay attention to the requirements. It’s not recommended for bare concrete. Just older paints, coatings, and previously sealed bare concrete.
SharkGrip and other anti-slip media are always added to the final coat. You do not want to apply any coats over one with anti-slip or it will get covered and be ineffective. You can toss color flakes into a final coat that has SharkGrip. However, there are two things to consider. The first is that depending on the amount of color flakes used, you can reduce the effectiveness of the anti-slip media since the flakes are covering it up. Second, we don’t recommend using color flakes without adding a clear coat to lock them in. Since they are exposed, they tend to loose grip and lift in high traffic areas. In addition, it makes it harder to keep the floor clean. Dirt and debris like collect around all the edges.
Hello! Thank you for the information on garage flooring on your website. It is very inciteful!
I am looking for a garage flooring option that a vehicle can park on and that provides some thermal protection from the concrete. What would be your recommendations?
I love the look of epoxy flakes, but I am not sure if it will help keep my garage/woodshop warm in the winters (lows of 0 f outside temp).
Hi Larry. A floor coating system will not provide any thermal insulation from the cold concrete. If you want something that will provide that, then you would need to use an interlocking floor tile.
I’m very glad to have discovered this site. Thank you! Which of the floorings would you recommend for basements?
We are buying a 1940’s house with an unfinished concrete basement. We’re not planning to finish it, but we’re planning to install good lighting and upgrade the floor for the laundry corner, storage, and a couple of exercise machines. A furnace is located in the middle, so we’ll have to work around that.
Hi Charlie. Basements can be notorious for moisture vapor issues in the concrete. As a result, we don’t recommend coatings or paint unless proper moisture testing is done during the wet months. What we recommend is a floor covering that breathes. One of the best options is interlocking floor tile. It’s available in hard plastic and flexible PVC materials. It has channels on the underside structure that allows for air circulation and evaporation of any moisture vapor that may collect. There are many different types of surface designs to choose from as well. I suggest reading this article that explains the differences and then narrow it down from there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
I have epoxy shield in my garage floor do I have to strip it out if I want to use rock solid now? Thanks
Hi Edward. It all depends. If the EpoxyShield coating is adhered well and not peeling up anywhere, then you can apply RockSolid over it. It will require prepping the surface by degreasing and then roughing it up with 120-150 grit sandpaper. Sweep/vac and then wipe it down with denatured alcohol or equivalent. This provides the best bond. Another option is to use the Rust-Oleum Recoat Primer. If the EpoxyShield is peeling up in areas, then it does not have a good bond. It will require removing it via grinding and then applying RockSolid.
Great video on the Rustoleum products. VERY informative. We recently moved into a new house. The garage floor is 2.5 months old, but the builder painted it with a grey paint which looks OK, but is showing the dirt more than we would like. What would you recommend? And we live in Florida so the hot tire thing is real. We used Epoxy Shield before and it did pull up just like in your video.
1. Can I just go with a clear coat over the paint? If I can can I still use the flakes?
2. If number 1 is out, is there another product better for Florida and the hot tire issue?
Thanks.
John
Hello John. We have a video here about applying clear coats to concrete paint and 1-part epoxy paint (not coatings). If you want to add color flakes, it will require two clear coats. The first coat you would toss the color flakes into and the second locks them in and protects them. Our recommendation is to leave it as is and not waste your money on it. It’s still going to peel from hot tires at some point, typically sooner than later. Once it gets to a point that you don’t like the way it looks or performs, you can remove it and apply something better.
The other option would be to remove the paint down to the bare concrete via grinding and then apply a quality coating that will last 10-15 years or more and not peel from hot tires. Our recommendation would be a single-part polyurea coating. You can read about them here. Legacy Industrial, one of the vendors we recommend in the article, is based out of Florida as well.
We are considering the Swisstrax. I watched your YouTube but you did not mention one thing; that I would like to know. We are deciding between the Swisstrax pro and Swisstrax smooth pro. I like the feel of the smooth pro for myself and our 6 pound Yorker for walking on. Will tire tread marks show worse on smooth pro times? Have you had that issue on either the Swisstrax pro or smooth pro? Does water stand on the smooth more? Does the slate grey smooth darken the garage? Not sure about the pearl silver in smooth.i guess I could mix?
Thanks
Hi Wanda.
Tires rarely leave dirty footprints on the Ribtrax Pro, but they can appear on the Smooth Pro simply because they are flat. However, tires rarely stain the tiles, and the dirt they track in is easily cleaned up. Water can collect on the Smooth Pro, but it’s not a lot since the narrow flat ribs won’t hold much.
Our tiles are holding up great and the floor still looks new. We do automotive work and other projects on the floor. I only clean it about once every 3 or 4 months. The Smooth Pro will not stay clean-looking as long as the Ribtrax Pro does. This is why we have it in areas where there is foot traffic only.
Slate Gray will not darken the garage, but it won’t reflect much light either if the space is not well lit to begin with. It’s also the color that stays clean-looking the longest. Mixing colors is the fun part of designing your own floor since you make it exactly how you want it to look.
Just an FYI, Swisstrax is having a Father’s Day sale on the Ribtrax Pro Series tile right now. You can get 10% off with code DAD10 at checkout. It ends midnight 6/17. You can find the sale here.
Hello,
I recently read and reread the many articles on your website and I want to congratulate you on the advice you provide. That said, I’m still in a quandary because I’m not sure which option to choose for finishing my garage floors. I have a house built in 2017 with an attached double garage and another detached garage. I haven’t put anything on my floors since the house was built, but I’d like to change that. Initially, I was thinking about epoxy or polyurea. Now I’m looking more at a sealant. I have two options. The first option is Lithi-Tek 4500 combined with Siloxa-Tek 8510. The second option would be HD40.
I have a few questions. Are these options good choices for my house? First, I live in Quebec, so we have a harsh winter. Second, my concrete is in pretty good condition, apart from a few small cracks and the area around the floor drains that needs work. I’m attaching a photo of the condition of my concrete. Regarding the Lithi-Tek 4500, I saw somewhere that its penetration was 1 millimeter. I find that very little. Is that realistic or not? Also, with my option 1, is it possible to burnish the floor as seen in the following link: https://allgaragefloors.com/densifier-sealer-garage-build-project/ ? If so, what type of polisher and pads should I use? The same question also applies to my option number 2. Finally, which of the two options would be best for me. Thank you in advance for your follow-up. Kind regards
Hello. The best option for you based on your location and weather would be the GhostShield combo. HD-40 by Legacy Industrial will not protect the concrete and hold up as well from your winter weather. Road salts, decing fluids, etc. will tarnish the surface and require reapplication and buffing. I would recommend that you make your concrete repairs first.
I’m not sure where you read that Lithi-Tek 4500 penetrates 1 millimeter. The GhostShield data sheets only list “deep penetration” and do not assign a measurement. Concrete will absorb penetrating sealers and densifiers at different depths depending on the density and porosity of the concrete. Densifiers do not penetrate the entire depth of the slab if that is what you are thinking. They only penetrate the upper depth of the slab to make the surface more dense and hard. They don’t make the entire slab harder. It would require gallons and gallons of product to do that.
Hello Shea,
First of all, thank you for your response. You confirm what I was thinking of doing as a choice. As for the notion of 1mm, I didn’t find it. It might be that I misunderstood what I read, since my first spoken language is French. That said, can you tell me more about the type of polisher required to do a job like the one in the article below, such as the rotation speed, the heat produced, etc., as well as the type of pads needed to achieve such a finish. https://allgaragefloors.com/densifier-sealer-garage-build-project/
What you need is a floor buffer/polisher machine. Most equipment rentals will have them. They turn at 1500-3000 RPMs. What you don’t want to use is a floor maintainer. They turn much slower at 175 RPMs for cleaning floors, removing wax, etc. You will need hogs hair or white buffing pads. The fast speed combined with moving the machine slowly builds up the required heat to create a shine when using HD40. You will get figure out fairly quickly how fast you should go when you begin to operate it.
Is it possible to achieve such a finish with Siloxa-Tek 8510 or only with HD40 ? Your initial recommendation is to go with the Lithi-Tek 4500 combined with the Siloxa-Tek 8510. Thanks
The HD40 is what will give you the shine when buffed that you were initially interested in. If your concrete is machine troweled real smooth, you may be able to create a little bit of a matte finish with buffing, but it won’t shine up like HD40 can.
I understand. One last question… If I use the HD60, do I still use the Lithi-Tek 4500 combined with Siloxa-Tek 8510 or not? I assume I only use the HD60.
You can’t apply the 8510 if you want to use the HD40. It will effectively block the HD40 from adhering to the concrete. However, you can still apply the 4500 to densify the concrete. This will harden the surface and help HD40 to provide a good shine when you buff it.
Perfect! Thank you very much! For filling small cracks and making some repairs around my floor drains, what do you recommend? Around the floor drains, I have some peeling parts and I would like to fill them and buff them later to create a nice edge.
Cracks should always be filled with a 100% solids epoxy or polyurea crack repair filler. Concrete does not peel, so what is it that is peeling around the drains?
When they poured the concrete for my garages, there is a thin layer of concrete around the edge of the drain pit. Over the years, this layer has chipped away and I need to redo the finish around the pit. In some places I will need to apply filler and in others I will need to buffer.
You will need to use a polymer-modified cement repair designed for overlays or resurfacing if you want to try and buff it to a sheen. Pay attention to how thick they can be applied (you may need two applications if the repair area is thick) and the cure rates based on how thick the repair is. You won’t be able to get much of a sheen if it’s not fully cured all of the way.