Which Garage Flooring and Paint Should You Choose?
Why protect your garage floor?
A garage is more than a place to store your vehicle; it is a valuable asset that adds value to your property. So, just like any other room in your home, it's wise to take care of the floor to preserve its commercial appeal when you come to sell your home.
However, high-quality garage flooring or paint offers more than simply financial value. A protected floor improves:
- Safety — keeping feet away from wet, slippery floors
- The longevity of the concrete — protecting it from impacts that can damage the integrity of your garage floors
- Aesthetic appeal — painting your floor, in particular, can elevate the welcoming feel of your garage or workspace
Adding garage flooring is a great way to protect your floors, especially in home and commercial garages where oil spills are likely. Garage flooring tiles are the most convenient option, as they can be installed quickly using nothing more than a rubber mallet. Garage floor tiles can be made from rubber, foam, and vinyl. But the most durable material is PVC.
How Does Garage Flooring and Paint Help Protect Your Floor?
Your garage floor is more likely to get wet from rain seepage than your internal floors, and wet floors become icy and slippery in cold weather.
So, if your garage floor is simply bare concrete, a rubber mat will help insulate the floor while preventing cold, tired feet while you work. Rubber matting also protects the floor's surface from dropped tools and equipment.
Alternatively, premium garage floor paint offers excellent waterproofing, high-scratch resistance, and super durability, keeping your floors pristine and attractive.
Why would you paint your garage floor?
Most garage floors are bare concrete, which ages poorly. Over time, stains from car oil, spillages, and muddy shoes affect the appearance, and as the concrete ages, the surface often cracks, becoming uneven and hazardous to walk on.
Premium-quality garage floor paint instantly renovates your ugly floor regardless of its condition. Transform a dirty, grey floor with vibrant white; consider a sunny yellow flooring that brightens your mood, or try an impactful red that promotes cosiness and mental focus.
Painted floors are easier to sweep and keep clean, offering a better surface for your brush head and a more washable/wipeable coating than bare concrete.
What is the best paint for concrete garage floors?
We only recommend using paint designed expressly for garage floors. Standard gloss or wall paint will taint very quickly, while we manufacture premium-quality garage floor paint to endure the knocks, scratches, spills, and drops of everyday use.
Proline factory floor paint is super-durable and suitable for high-traffic areas. Designed for factories and showrooms, our factory floor paint instantly transforms ugly garage floors with a single-component synthetic resin. Apply directly to concrete, asphalt, paving, screed, and porous-tiled floors.
While factory floor paint is designed for heavy traffic areas, it's the best protection you can get for your garage floor.
Alternatively, consider our workshop floor paint, offering an anti-slip, super durable surface for high-traffic areas, or our Proline exterior floor paint — ideal for patios, paths, and garage floors.
How to Apply Garage Floor Paint
Eliminate oil, grease, rust, paint, and ground-in mud stains in an instant with premium-quality concrete floor paint. However, for best results prepare the surface before you paint your garage floor.
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Prepare your floor before using garage floor paint
Preparing the painting surface before applying your garage floor paint is essential.
- Clean up oil/grease spills — use a degreaser and stiff brush to remove as much surface residue as possible. This will help the garage floor paint adhere to the surface.
- Sweep and vacuum the floor — your floor is likely dusty and dirty, so sweep it thoroughly with a broom before using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to remove as much dust and moisture as possible.
- Use a pressure washer to remove stubborn or heavy stains.
1 - Roughen the concrete surface
This step isn't always required but could help the garage floor paint adhere if your existing concrete surface is very smooth. Roughen the surface so that it has a sandpaper-type feel.
You can do this by washing the floor with muriatic acid, rinsing the surface thoroughly, and leaving it to dry. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions, as these chemicals can be hazardous.
If you’d rather avoid using chemicals, you can rough up the surface with a grinder or hand-held sander.
Either way, ensure the floor is thoroughly mopped and vacuumed before painting.
2 - Prime your Garage Floor for Painting
Like all paint jobs on naked surfaces, start with a priming coat.
Add a 50/50 mix of water and paint, and give it a thorough stir. The mix will feel thin and watery, but a good priming layer will help make subsequent layers stick to the concrete.
Apply the priming layer with a paintbrush — it's easier than a roller. You don't need to worry about being particularly neat at this stage — just make sure you get good floor coverage.
Wait for the priming coat to dry out completely. This could take several hours, so it’s a good idea to leave it overnight.
3 - Apply your First Coat of Garage Flooring Paint
Wait for the primer to dry, then apply your first proper coat with a paintbrush, which helps work the garage floor paint more evenly into the concrete than a roller.
Brush a thin coat over the entire primed floor. Then, allow it to completely dry out — again, leaving it overnight will help.
4 - Apply your Second Coat of Garage Floor Paint
Now we're ready for a full, thick coat of garage floor paint using a brush or roller. Take your time, and aim for evenness across the surface. A roller helps spread the paint more quickly, but you might prefer a paintbrush.
Remember, work towards the door — that way, you'll be able to leave the garage without walking over your wet paint! It sounds like an obvious tip, but we know many people who have effectively trapped themselves in their garages!
Once the second coat has dried, you might want to add a third coat. It's not always necessary but will offer extra durability, especially if your concrete floor has a particularly rough texture.
What Colour Garage Floor Paints are Available?
We offer an impressive range of garage floor paint colours, including:
- White
- Yellow
- Red
- Blue
- Grey
- Stone Grey
We recommend a light shade of paint for darker garages and workshops — lighter floors help reflect the available light.
Should I Use Rubber or Vinyl Garage Flooring?
It depends on how you intend to use your garage.
Rubber flooring for a garage gym
If you’re considering converting your garage into a home gym, you’ll find that rubber flooring offers better impact protection, helping prevent damage to your weights and equipment.
Rubber flooring supports heavy equipment, such as treadmills, powerlifting racks, and exercise machines, while the naturally bouncy properties of rubber help minimise joint impact during training.
You'll also find that training shoes grip rubber floors better than vinyl, making rubber matting the ideal surface for your garage or home gym.
What are the benefits of vinyl flooring?
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matting is ideal for garage flooring because it can be installed directly onto your existing floor without additional preparations.
However, ensure the floor is clean, dry, and level before installing your vinyl covering.
PVC matting is more durable than most rubber matting or floor coverings and is available in a range of stylish designs, with treadplate or dotted moulded surfaces for extra grip. Interlocking floor tiles are straightforward to install and cut to shape, offering years of protection for your floors, feet, and equipment.
Are Tiles or Rolls Better for Garage Floors?
Rolls of rubber or PVC matting are super-convenient and quick to install. However, you’ll need to do a fair amount of cutting to fit perfectly into your garage’s corners and edges.
However, you may find rubber or PVC tiling more versatile because they tend to be thicker than rolls, offering better resistance and protection for your garage equipment. Additionally, you can replace individual tiles rather than the entire floor if the rubber or PVC gets damaged.
First Mats Choice
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Rubber Workshop Swarf Catch Mat
["Swarf Trapping Surface","13mm Thickness","For Universal Usage"]
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Prem-Lock Workshop Floor Tiles
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Self-Adhesive Dotted Garage Floor Tiles (Pack of 16)