How to Treat Your Garage For a Decorative Coating

If your home's garage floor looks a bit rundown and drab, or if it has oil stains and other discoloration that you cannot get up with a power washer, you might add a decorative floor coating over it. This is a type of paint or sealant that can cover those stains and also add texture and style. With the right coating, your garage floor can look like a natural stone and much more attractive than concrete. If you're thinking of adding your own decorative coating, note a few important tips.

Grinding the surface

Concrete may be a bit bumpy, but typically it's too smooth to hold a paint or other type of coating; like trying to paint smooth glass, you may see that your coating simply peels away if you don't first grind the the floor. You can rent a cement grinder from many hardware stores; these come on a stand and you walk behind it as it grinds the top surface of the floor. This grinding can also even out small cracks and chips in the floor so it looks more level and even.

Repairing damaged areas

For cracks that are not fixed by grinding, you want to use a cement filler before adding the paint or coating. That paint is not going to seep into those cracks and make them look good, and it certainly won't stop the crack from spreading. For very large cracks or sunken areas of the garage floor, you might want to work with a contractor to slab jack the concrete; this refers to pouring another material under the floor to push it up so it's level and even and to give it added support. It's typically good to repair cracks and chips after you grind the surface, as the grinding may damage that filler you use for the work.

Applying the coating

Be sure you apply the coating as directed by the manufacturer and with the proper tools; a roller with a brush that's too thick and soft might absorb some of the coating so it goes on unevenly, and a paint sprayer may have a nozzle that's too narrow for the aggregate that's often mixed in with the coating. It's also good to ensure you wait a sufficient time for the first coat to dry before you decide to add a second coat; again, check the manufacturer's recommendations. Concrete coatings may darken or lighten as they dry, so you may not need to improve the colour with a second coat. Applying too many coats can mean a paint that is too thick and which might chip under the weight of your vehicle.