Learn how to paint a garage floor with this simple DIY tutorial. It’s an easy painting project that can completely transform the space!
Garage Makeover
We have been working really hard at getting our garage cleaned and organized for this month’s Household Organization Diet. While most of the big projects are finished up, I still have a few more little things to sort out over the next week or so. We have gotten rid of a ton of stuff, cleaned from top to bottom, and done some fun organization projects to tie it all together. I can’t wait to show it all to you! I will be sharing lots of garage organization posts over the next few weeks, but today we will be starting from the ground up and talking about how to paint a garage floor! {UPDATE: You can see the completed garage makeover HERE.}
Our garage floor was really gross. It had oil spills, about 20 different colors of spray paint overflow {I have since come up with a better spray painting technique!}, and a bunch of miscellaneous stains. Even after we had given it a good cleaning, it still looked really dirty.
Painting your garage floor will instantly make your garage look cleaner and fresher and is a relatively easy and inexpensive transformation. Compared to plain concrete floors, painted floors will provide extra protection against mold and mildew and automobile fluids. They are also water-resistant, easier to clean, and will eliminate the dust that bare concrete floors produce. It’s a win-win! 🙂
There are basically two types of paint that you can use on your garage floors – latex acrylic paint or an epoxy paint. While the latex paint is a bit of a cheaper option in the short term, epoxy paint is more durable and will provide a better bond to the concrete making it more chip resistant. Typically, a latex paint should last you about 2 years while an epoxy paint should give you three to four years. We ended up using the Behr Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer and Behr Premium1-Part Epoxy Concrete and Garage Floor Paint in Slate Gray and the whole process was surprisingly easy.
How to Paint a Garage Floor
Clean and Prep the Floor.
Concrete is very porous and will easily collect dirt and grime, so cleaning with a power washer or floor buffing machine is best. Do not skip this part!!! If your pressure washer will allow it, you can add a degreaser to the water as well to really get things cleaned. Allow to dry well!
For those of you that do not have access to a power washer, you can use a stiff-bristled scrubbing brush {on a broom handle} and a hose with a high pressure nozzle as an alternative. You will just need to use a lot more elbow grease to really get that dirt out of there! Use either a degreaser, TSP, or laundry detergent for added cleaning power and, for extra dirty floors, allow the cleaner to sit for a few minutes before giving it a final scrubbing. Just make sure that you do not allow the cleaning solution to dry on the concrete!
**NOTE: We were starting with a bare concrete floor. If you have any old paints or sealers on your floor you will need to remove this first with a chemical stripper. **
{I’m sad to say this is what it looked like AFTER it had been power washed!}
Fill in any cracks in the concrete.
There are various products on the market to help you fill in the cracks. For smaller cracks, you can use a concrete/mortar repair compound; however, you will need a concrete patch for thicker cracks or holes. If it is a deeper crack, you will need to fill the crack in layers allowing adequate dry time between layers {this can take a while!}. Wipe the access product off the crack with a wet rag or scraper to level it out and create a smooth surface. Be sure to read all of the manufacturer’s instructions on your repair product for recommended cure times before painting. Ours was supposed to be a week while some others recommended up to a month.
Etch the Floors.
Depending on the surface of your concrete floors, you may need to etch the surface. {We didn’t have to do this part.} Etching basically opens up the pores of the concrete to allow the paint to absorb better. To test if your floor needs etching, drop a small amount of water on the floor and see how quickly it is absorbed. If it is absorbed quite quickly, you likely do not need to etch. If it tends to pool on the surface of the floor, using a commercial concrete etcher is recommended. Allow to dry thoroughly.
Apply a Bonding Primer.
The primer is a pre-treatment for porous concrete and is designed to promote the adhesion of the paint. We just used a paint brush to cut in on the edges around the garage and used a roller for the rest. It goes on a little milky so you can see where you are painting, but it dries clear. Let it set for at least 4 hours {and no longer than 30 days} before applying your paint.
Apply the 1-Part Epoxy Paint.
The paint went on really smoothly and covered well. As with the primer, we just cut around the edges using a brush and then rolled on the rest. It actually looked pretty good after just one coat but we did end up doing a second coat just to be safe. It was recommended that the second coat be applied in the opposite direction than the first coat {i.e. if the first coat was applied length wise, the second coat should be applied width wise}. However, due to the layout of our garage it was much easier to apply it lengthwise and we just did it that way for both coats. Although we were walking on the floor after about 24 hours, it’s recommended to wait at least a week before driving on it.
It made SUCH a difference and is definitely one of the easier DIY projects out there!
Obviously there is still a lot to do in the rest of the garage, but just painting it made it look so much cleaner! We were very happy with the end result – and now we can actually see our floor!
Don’t forget to follow along for the rest of the garage reveal and more garage organization and cleaning tips! You can find some of my inspiration here…
This post is part of my DIY Behr Expert Painting series. Look for a new painting project each month!
The Household Organization Diet
Haven’t heard of the Household Organization Diet yet? Start with this post HERE and find all of the past projects over on my Pinterest Board. You can find the past month’s To Do lists here…
January – The 30 Day Detox
February – Kitchen Organization
March – Bathroom Organization
April – Office Organization
May – Outdoor Spaces
June – Laundry Room Organization
July – Garage Organization
We did this a few years ago and it has made clean up super easy but…. our paint kit contained something to sprinkle on it but my husband decided to skip that step and now it is soooo slippery when it gets wet or even if there is condensation on it from temperature fluctuations. I would definitely recommend NOT skipping that step! My kids have fallen and I have come very close more than once from the slick surface.
Oops! I guess it pays to follow the instructions. 😉 That may have been the etcher. We didn’t do that on ours either but it was a little rougher concrete so it’s not slippery at all.
No she’s not talking about etching… she’s talking about the textured sprinkles you put on to give the floor more traction. It makes the floor look speckled.
There weren’t any sprinkles that came with ours. We haven’t had any issues with slipping though.
Stopping by to let you know that this is one of our features from Across the Blvd on Snickerdoodle Sunday. Gloria loves the advice you’ve given here as she’s planning on tackling this project in her garage. Thanks for linking up and I hope we’ll see you for this week’s party that opens at 5:00.
Thank you for sharing this info! Your garage floor looks awesome. Do you park a car in your garage? We’re considering doing this to our floor, but we do park two cars in ours. Found your link at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating’s Flaunt it Friday. Thanks!
While the paint is designed to be able to park your car over it, we actually use our garage more for storage and an extra space for me to work on messy projects! It’s just a single car garage so one of our cars would always be outside anyways! 😉
I just got epoxy flooring done in my store in Mississauga. It was done by Proseal Concrete Floor Care Systems in Mississauga. It looks amazing. I wanted to something like that in my garage. Since I am out of budget, I thought I will do it on my own. Your blog looks interesting and it is something which everyone can try. I will try this out and let you know the results!
I used a one part epoxy on my front patio with good results. Without the primer. But, the interesting part is that after drying, it had a slightly rubbery feel. Also, the texture wasn’t slick, but pretty much flat. No danger of slipping.
I don’t know if I would say ours as a rubbery feel but ours seemed flat too and we have never had any issues with slipping.
How has this floor held up over the last year and a half? Is it durable?
It has held up really well for us but we use our garage for storage, sports equipment and a space for me to do my DIY projects and rarely park our car in there. Things get dragged around all the time though and it has still held up well. So…I can’t really comment on how it would do with cars parking in it, but it has worked great for us!
Can i use any of these products over a concrete floor that has been stained?
While I haven’t tried it myself, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Your project looks so amazing. So clean and crisp. I am wondering how it is holding up!
It’s held up really well over the last couple of years BUT we don’t park our car in there so I can’t really say what it would be like with that. We have all of our sports equipment in there and I like to have empty space to do my projects and spray painting so it has had a lot of abuse. 😉
Nice write up and job well done!
Wanted to ask you, did you ever parked your car over the painted garage floor ? if yes did you noticed tires marks like the ones left behind due to hot tires ?
I was considering to do the same treatment to my garage floor as it’s a pain to clean the concrete floor.
We’ve parked it in there a few times during really bad weather but we just have a single car garage and prefer to use it for other things. While it is supposed to be made for parking you cars on, I can’t say what it would be like if you park in there regularly. Sorry!
I appreciate the prompt response.
BTW in the meanwhile I figured out this stuff has a lot of bad reviews concerning the same subject on home depot.ca.
Have a good one!
If your concern is just with the tire marks, you could put four mats down and just park your car on those. I believe that there are actually mats specifically designed for this. Like I said, I have been happy with the durability overall and it really does make the garage look nicer. Just a thought! 🙂
Thanks for the tip, I sincerely appreciate the effort you are putting in here!
How much did spend on the project?
It was a couple of years ago now but I’m thinking around $80 CDN for the product. We had all of the painting supplies already but that would be extra if needed.
This is the worst product I have ever bought for behr paints I applied the paint as noted above and power washed my Lanai and painted on a dry day and it was dry for two days and then it rained oh boy it blistered and cracked as walked on very disappointed on this Garage and Concrete paint I would not recommend to no one, I have painted for many years with all paints but wow this one is the worst…Beware Garbage…
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. Did you do the etching first? Since it’s outside, I would assume that that would be even more important as it helps the paint adhere. We’ve been really happy with ours and haven’t had any issues at all with blistering. After two years, we gave it a quick one coat touch up this summer but otherwise have done no maintenance on it. I’m assuming that you’re in Hawaii since you mentioned a Lenai? Maybe the climate differences have an impact on it. In addition, ours is inside our enclosed garage and I haven’t used it outside {although it does state that it is suited for that}. I’d reach out to Behr and see if they have suggestions or would offer you a refund.
So it’s been a few years since you did your floor. Is it still holding up. I’m considering doing mine with the same products you used but don’t want to have to do it every few years (would rather stay with plain concrete). Also, I know you don’t normally park cars in there but have you ever parked in there and if so did you notice any issues?
It’s still holding up well but we haven’t ever parked cars in there. Lots of bikes though. 🙂 We have done one refresh coat as well. Depending on use, I would expect that some touch ups would be required, so if you don’t want to do any maintenance, the plain concrete might be better.