How do I paint my garage floor?

I am buying a new house and want to seal the floor but not sure which product to use or what special prep I need, etc.How do I paint my garage floor?
I am assuming that this is a concrete floor. If it is new you can paint it with a specialty paint just for garages. If you use regular paint it will bubble up and peel from the weight of the cars and the heat from the tires when you park on it. This paint is specially made for this application.





If it is older concrete you must first clean the floor with muric acid to get rid of any oil residue that may prevent the paint from sticking.How do I paint my garage floor?
Home Depot sells a 2 part epoxy, that will give you about 5-7 years of good service.





There are companies that will come out and apply better coatings but be prepared to pay big dollars!





Neat thing about the first choice, is that if and when it starts to chip, you can just hit it with a floor sander and re-coat.
with paint.
Sealing a Garage Floor


Most garage floors are concrete and, although concrete is a strong substance, it is porous and will absorb moisture and stains. If the garage is unheated, the repeated thawing and freezing of the moisture could cause cracks in the concrete. To help preserve a concrete garage floor and keep it looking cleaner, apply a clear concrete sealer. Besides improving the appearance of the floor a sealer will also help it to shed water and other liquids. Concrete sealers are available in many proprietary formulations and are easy to apply. Read and follow package directions for specific information on application, cleanup, and disposal and whether or not the surface has to be pretreated with anything else.





Applying a concrete sealer is easy to do and does not require any special skills or equipment (see below). Use a paintbrush to apply the sealer around the edges of the room and for the rest of the floor, use either a paint roller and pan or a hand-held sprayer. To protect the walls from the spray, first cover them with drop cloths or sheets of plastic. For your own protection, make sure the area is ventilated and wear safety goggles and a dust mask or respirator.


Estimated Project Time: Varies with size of floor and drying time of products used


Start Tips: Clear out the garage to give yourself room and store everything in a safe place until the floor is dry


Safety Tips: Work in a well-ventilated area


Recommendation: Do-it-Yourself





Porch Flooring





A few years ago, I painted the cement floor on my enclosed porch. The paint almost immediately started to peel in places. Now I am trying to figure out what to do. Should I strip the old paint and paint again with cement primer? If so, how do I strip the paint and with what? Should I cover it? The porch gets a lot of traffic from three adults, two kids and a dog. It is also frequently damp, so safety is an issue.


Rob





Consider Concrete Stain





Look at some concrete stains. You'll have to strip off the old paint and clean it, but I've had concrete stain for years and it lasts, even with two kids and bikes. It is fairly inexpensive if amortized, and it adds value to the home.


pb





Epoxy Paint May Work





We used epoxy paint on our cement floor and it has held up to high traffic. It's a kit of two parts that you mix together. We got ours from Menards for under $40. The only prep we had to do was to clean the floor with an acid wash that was very cheap also.


Sue





Advice from a Professional





On the painted porch floor that is coming up, my husband (who does this kind of thing for a living) suggests:








Use paint and varnish remover to remove the old paint, making sure you have plenty of ventilation.








High pressure wash it after you get done to remove all the old paint and stripper that is left.








Use a high quality deck and porch paint to repaint the porch.





Likely the paint peeled because there was moisture or some other foreign matter on the concrete when the paint was originally applied. Next time, make sure it is absolutely dry before applying the paint.


Faye





A Voice of Experience





When my husband and I moved into our new house, we couldn't afford to put floors in it yet! So I decided to seal and paint the concrete, which was great for a short-term solution.





When we were finally able to afford the tile to put down, we discovered that my art work made it impossible for the tile adhesive to work. So, we rented a machine from Home Depot that got the top layer of concrete and all the paint and sealer off in just a few hours (on a 15 x 16 space). It was messy but the machine did a beautiful job in a short time.





The moral of this story is don't paint or seal concrete you may want to put alternative flooring on. Use a concrete stain. It comes in just about any color. Rent the Home Depot concrete sanding machine. It ends up being cheaper and faster than all that stripping material and man-hours.


Samantha in Florida





Do the Project Right





The first step is a complete stripping. I recommend Klean Strip KS-2 Heavy Duty. Porch paint is high gloss and made to take the most abuse of any surface. Even with an abrasive mixed in for a non-slip walking surface, old floor paint won't accept a new coat without pealing.





Use metal scrapers such as a 1.5'; putty knife for small spots and corners and a 4'; to 6'; or larger spackling blade for broader areas. Plastic scrapers work well for wood, but won't stand up to concrete. If you can get a 6'; blade on a pole, do that. It makes the work easier.





Wear gloves and protective clothing including long pants and sleeves, and keep plenty of clean rags around. Stripper burns like heck.





Do a small area at a time, maybe one or two feet by two feet wide. It's easier to work in small segments and trying to do a large area at one time allows the stripper to dry completely out before you get around to stripping it. If a different size area works for you, do that, but start with a 1' x 2' area. Follow container instructions carefully. For instance, don't ';paint'; the stripper on, but try to apply it in a thick coat one time (actually, that's how pro painters regularly paint).





After the last application of stripper, finish up with a wire brush and whatever cleanup solvent is recommended on the stripper can. Again, for a larger floor, get a wire brush tapped for a pole. If a motorized wire brush is used (not recommended), use old clothes, long sleeves, rubber gloves, and eye goggles. Then quickly and thoroughly wash off all splatter from other surfaces, as stripper is strong stuff.





When finished stripping, wash surface thoroughly with a little laundry detergent in a lot of water. Buy a scrub brush that has a threaded hole for a broom type handle. Don't overdo the detergent. It will take forever to rinse out, and paint doesn't stick well to detergent, either.





If the floor had been used as a garage or workshop, thoroughly clean all spilled oil, grease, etc. If the laundry detergent doesn't do it, check out Amway's commercial garage floor cleaner or ask at Lowe's or Home Depot. (If the floors at your fave mechanic or lube place look clean, you might take a gallon jug and buy some of their commercial product from them. It used to come in 55-gallon drums.)





When thoroughly rinsed and dry, let dry some more. Any moisture sealed into the concrete by the paint can cause peeling. Then apply two coats (three is better) of a high quality high gloss latex porch paint with a good quality 9'; roller with 3/8'; nap. Before rolling each coat, cut-in all edges with a 2'; trim brush. Roll in parallel strokes over the short length, using roller head on a pole of proper length (3' to 5' - 'depending').





Plan ahead and don't paint yourself into the proverbial corner. Each coat should be reasonably thin but not ';weak,'; completely covering the surface. Follow drying instructions on paint, but if it says something like ';Paint second coat within 2 hours or after 24 hours,'; wait for the full time but no more. People will be walking on this, so you want it hard and set well. (Confirm this information at the paint store.)





There usually isn't much choice of color in good cement porch paint, usually only gray, brick/barn red, and forest green. BLP used to make a very good latex concrete floor paint. Check the Yellow Pages for a paint store that handles BLP paints. Spend more money on the paint, do a professional job, and don't have to do it again for several years. It's worth the time and money to do it right.





If the surface gets wet frequently, you may want to add some kind of grit for a non-slip surface. Ask at the paint store for what kind and how much to use. Don't overdo this or you'll feel like you鈥檙e walking on a sandy beach. And, the more grit you use, the faster your painted surface will wear out, and the harder to clean.


Jack





It鈥檚 More than Just a Paint





Unfortunately, you will have to strip the paint, but a good replacement that I've found is DuraCoat from ProtectYourSurface.com.





I've coated our 40-year-old garage floor that was covered with rust spots and all manner of stains, and now it has a nice, cleanable surface. You do have to get any oily substance up from the floor or it will not adhere. This stuff is what they use in commercial settings. It's more than just a paint.
Heavy duty paint, and a big roller.