What is the best sealer for my garage floor? This question is probably asked more than any other when it comes to sealing the concrete in a garage. As simple as this question seems to be, the answer needs to be preceded with a few more questions, such as; How much money do you want to spend, are you going to do it yourself or hire a contractor, does the outward appearance matter, how long are you willing to be without your garage, and how do you plan to use it?
As you can see, it’s kind of like asking a shoe salesman what the best shoe is. There are too many variables to consider. With these questions in mind, let’s look at the different options available and see if we can determine what the best garage floor sealer is for you.
In terms of durability, appearance and quality, most people will agree that the best sealers for a garage floor are the multi-coat epoxy and polyurethane systems. These coatings offer maximum performance in terms of protection for your garage floor while delivering amazing looks at the same time. They provide protection against chemicals, oils, gasoline, road salts, water, and staining.
Epoxy floor systems also prevent spalling from freeze thaw damage, they are very difficult to scratch or chip, and can last ten to fifteen years or more depending on the type of application. These sealers are so tough they are used commercially for warehouses, manufacturing, showrooms, restaurants, and many other industrial applications.
So why doesn’t everyone use a multi-coat epoxy sealer for their garage floors? The answer lies in both cost and application. As wonderful as these sealers are, they are more expensive to use and sometimes difficult to install properly for the average homeowner. A contractor will charge between $4 and $5 a square foot to install this type of system. If you are fairly confident in your DIY skills as a homeowner however, you can install a multi-coat epoxy flooring for around $500 to $600 dollars in materials and supplies for a typical two-car garage depending on the product you choose.
Don’t expect to install a multi-coat epoxy garage floor in one day though. Four days is the typical amount of time that is needed before your garage can be returned to service after the sealers are applied. This is due to the curing time needed for 2-part resinous sealers.
If you can’t go that long without your garage, there are very tough polyaspartic garage floor systems that are available with the same looks and similar protection as epoxy. Your garage can be returned to service by the next day, but at a price. These systems are generally installed by a professional floor coating contractor and pricing usually starts at close to $6.00 a square foot.
The next option that still falls in the category of epoxies would be the epoxy paint kits that you can purchase online or at your local home improvement centers such as Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or Lowe’s for example. These kits start as low as $69 for enough epoxy paint to seal a one-car garage with one thin coat and some paint chips to throw on top for looks and some anti-slip properties. These are fairly easy to apply and can be ready for use the next day.
The issue with these kits however is their durability. If installed properly they will last for a few years or so if your garage doesn’t see much use. The biggest problem is they tend to wear due to hot tire pickup or peel from not cleaning the concrete correctly.
When looking into the option of epoxy paint or epoxy coatings, it’s important to understand the difference in materials and terminology. We recommend reading this article about the differences between epoxy and paint.
If you don’t want to spend the time or effort in concrete preparation for an epoxy sealer but you would still like a glossy looking floor, then an acrylic sealer may be what you need. Applied on bare concrete, this type of sealer will highlight your bare concrete with a clear acrylic coating. It’s not the best sealer for a garage floor, but it will give moderate protection against chemicals, stains, oil, water, and creates a dustless surface just as other coatings do.
You can apply it with a pump up sprayer or roller with minimal preparation of the concrete other than cleaning up any oil stains and scrubbing your floor prior to application. Some fairly dense concrete floors may require a mild acid wash. Once applied, you can walk on it by the end of the day and drive on it the next. Most quality acrylic sealers will last 18 to 24 months before you need to reapply it.
A good acrylic sealer will cost $30 – $40 a gallon. Depending on the manufacturer, one gallon will treat between 200 and 400 square feet. So if you don’t want to spend a lot of money or invest a lot of time into your garage floor, then an acrylic sealer may be the best sealer for you.
If you don’t need a glossy coating and don’t mind the look of your bare concrete, then a penetrating garage floor sealer is a popular choice. The cost and installation is similar to that of acrylic sealers, but they will last for years without the need for re-coating. They penetrate into the concrete and create a sealed barrier at the surface. These are considered non film forming since they do not coat the top of the surface like other sealers.
These are one of the best concrete garage floor sealers in terms of value for protecting against road salts, concrete dusting, spalling, and pitting. They also provide for the same slip protection as bare concrete.
Finally there are also concrete densifiers that are starting to become popular as a garage floor sealing option. Though technically not a sealer, densifiers chemically change the surface of the concrete by filling the pores to make it more dense and stronger. This density helps to create a layer that most liquids cannot penetrate. They are the easiest to apply as well. Once the concrete is clean, you just mop or roll it onto the concrete.
There are a lot of variables to determine what the best garage floor sealer would be for you. If it’s in the budget, then a multi-coat professional grade epoxy coating would be your best choice. However, if you need to get the best protection and looks that you can for less money, then the other choices are very good alternatives depending on your needs.
Kim says
Hi Shea,
What type of caulking should I use in the expansion cracks? I don’t want to use something that will not allow the epoxy to stick.
Shea says
Hello Kim. Coatings will not adhere to caulk. Also, are you referring to expansion joints or contraction joints? I suggest you read this article about filling contraction joints first and then let us know if you have anymore questions. We would be glad to help.
Louisa says
I want to coat my garage floor to prevent dusting. I want the result to be non-slip but do not mind what it looks like. Am I better using a penetrating sealer or a desensifier?
Shea says
Hello Louisa. Coatings are film forming. They leave a physical topical coating on top of the slab. Epoxy coatings are an example. Densifiers and penetrating sealers are non film forming. They do not leave a film on the surface and will retain the same grip as the concrete does currently. How bad is your dusting and which type of product do you prefer – a coating or penetrating treatment? We also have an article about dusting concrete here.
Tina Omalie says
My garage is old and has many gaps and cracks around the outside where garage meets dirt, concrete, etc.
Do I seal them up before the floor?
Shea says
Hello Tina. Yes, you want to make any repairs necessary before sealing the concrete.
Mark says
Hi, I have a recently pored garage floor with a power floated finish. I will use it for wood working and socializing.
I’d like the floor to reflect light and was thinking about using a Solvent based high gloss Sealer. Do you think this could potentially make the floor too slippery do you think a matte finish would be better.
-Mark
Shea says
Hello Matt. Just about any type of floor coating will get slippery with sawdust unless an anti-slip additive is used. It doesn’t matter if it’s a gloss or matte finish. What we would suggest is adding a fine anti-slip additive into the final coat. The additive will reduce the gloss slightly, but it still allows for a nice finish. On it’s own (no anti-slip additive) a matte finish will typically be less slippery when wet and provide slightly better dry traction, but dry traction is rarely an issue.
Steve says
I have a heated garage floor that is pitted and chipping in certain areas. Will any of the sealants/coatings help fill this in?
Shea says
Hi Steve. No, coatings will not fill in pits and chipping. What you need for that is an epoxy slurry or polymer-modified concrete patch. We discuss how you can fill in spalling and pitting here. You can grind those repairs flush and use a coating over them if you like.
Michael S says
Hi Shea. My 1140sqft detached garage is almost finished. It will be used to park vehicles, not a work shop. I am interested in protecting the slab, durability and little repeat applications. I live on a long gravel road with a lot of snow in the winter, aka a lot of water and mud dripping off my vehicles. I don’t want something that will be slick. What would you recommend for my newly poured slab? Thanks, Mike
Shea says
Hi Mike. If you are not looking for a decorative look (coating of some type), then we would recommend a penetrating sealer combo my GhostShield. You can read about it here. This type of sealer will protect the concrete from deicing fluids, road salts, and a variety of other chemicals. In addition, it will leave the concrete looking just as it did before application and will retain the same slip resistance it has currently. It’s also one of the most stain resistant of penetrating sealers, but it is not stain proof as the article explains. Only a coating will prevent the concrete from staining.
A quality coating will provide more protection, but they are more expensive and require more work to apply. You would also need to use an anti-slip media additive in the final coat. If you think you may be interested in a coating, let us know and we will make a couple of suggestions.
Chris says
Hi! I have a fresh 1200sg.ft slab in my shop, which I will be using for car repairs, welding, fabricating, grinding etc. I will also eventually have a 4 post hoist with casters. What kinda of sealer would you recommend?
Thank you,
Chris
Shea says
Hello Chris. Are you asking about a penetrating sealer that keeps the bare concrete look?
Chris says
Hi Shea,
The only concern I have with the finished look is that it not be too shiny/reflective because of the welding I’ll will be doing. If it had a matte/dull shine that would be fine with me, or if something can be added to keep the shine duller. My main concern is a sealer that will stand up to the welding slag and rolling equipment I’ll be moving around on the floor.
Thank you
Chris
Shea says
Typically, the type of sealer that most use for the type of work you will be performing is a penetrating sealer. Penetrating sealers are non film forming and don’t change the look of the concrete. They can’t be scratched, chipped, burned (unless you burn the concrete), cosmetically altered, or make the floor more slippery because they work at the sub surface of the floor. One of main drawbacks is that even the best ones can allow the concrete to stain if the offending chemical is not cleaned up in a proper amount of time. There are two types we can recommend. The first is combo system that includes GhostShield 8510. You can read all about it here. The other is product called PS100 by Concrete Sealers USA. You can read about it here.
Though coatings (film forming) provide the easiest cleanup and will not allow your concrete to stain, they are more susceptible to being scratched from metal fabrication and getting burned from welding unless the proper protection is used (welding blankets for example). Rolling equipment is rarely an issue. There is one newer coating that we reviewed a while back though that is a bit different from others. It’s not as shiny and has much more resistance to burning. It’s called HellFire by Legacy Industrial. You can read about it here. It won’t look perfect after put to use for a while, but it does a good job of protecting the floor.
tom schultz says
i am building a garage with a outdoor slab to work on cars, and such.
what would be best for this, my main concern is just trying to keep oil, and fluid stains down
Shea says
Hi Tom. Penetrating sealers are generally the best form of protection since most coatings don’t do well outdoors and get slippery when wet. We would recommend PS100 by Concrete Sealers USA or the GhostShield 8510 and densifier combo.
Chris Cullen says
Hi Shea,
Are you able to ship the PS100 to Canada?
Thanks Chris!
Shea says
Hi Chris. Unfortunately, Concrete Sealers USA only accepts and ships orders in the U.S. at this time.
Mauro says
Hi Shea,
I sealed my garage floor. However, I did not seal the apron, which is 2’ in length. The apron is concrete too and it is sloped towards the back road.
Should Apron’s be sealed to repel rain water or melted snow?
Thank you
Shea says
Hello Mauro. Yes, it’s always a good idea to seal concrete that is exposed to such elements. It will help to protect it from freeze thaw damage and road salts. We recommend using a good penetrating sealer and not a coating.
Michael Garrison says
Hi there,
I seal concrete for a living. But I have a question regarding a customer who wants his concrete floors done.
Right now they have an epoxy system on top that he wants to remove. It is failing due to his super cars low profile hot tire pick up.
He wants to go for a polished concrete look.
Once I grind off the existing epoxy system should I use a clear epoxy system over that or a film forming sealer?
His main concern is not having the hot tire pick up.
Thanks!
Shea says
Hello Michael. The epoxy peeling is most likely due to a low-quality residential epoxy that was applied. Commercial quality coatings will not peel under hot tires. If he wants something that looks somewhat like a polished look, then a glossy clear coating is the way to go. We would recommend a single-part polyurea for a few reasons. The first is that it will not amber (yellow tint) if exposed to direct sunlight or strong indirect sunlight. This can be a problem for epoxy in garages where people keep the door open for periods of time. Second, it has a high gloss, it’s to apply, and it will not peel from hot tires. We discuss single-part polyurea here and list three vendors that we recommend. 3/4 of the way down the article you will see a bare concrete floor that was treated with clear polyurea from Garage Flooring LLC. If you click on the red link it will take you to their sales page. They recommend a coverage rate of 200 square feet per gallon for a single coat of clear on bare concrete. The other vendors are great as well.
Michael Garrison says
Awesome, that was a very informative answer. I really appreciate you getting back to me on that. Thank you!