I painted my concrete garage floor and it's crap!
Initially it was bare concrete so I sealed it with PVA before using Leyland heavy duty floor paint. I was hoping for a nice smooth finish though you can see in the photo that's not what I've got - You can still see the concreate texture through the paint.
Not only this but when I clean it with a standard home floor cleaner it seems to chemically react somehow. I'll get a sort of brown residue leaching out which causes more pitting and makes it look worse than before I mopped!
Does anyone have a suggestions / experience with what I should use to repaint it with? Some sort of epoxy based paint maybe?
Cheers all
Epoxy will give you the smooth finish and be mega hard wearing but is mega money vs just buying a tin of paint. Best thing I did was cover the floor in those foam tiles. Dead easy to fit and keep clean and feels loads warmer and quieter. Bought a few packs off Amazon for not a lot of money.
You'll never get that 'smooth' with paint - itll need a grinder/polisher to acheive that.
However a proper high build epoxy type paint will be much better and closer to what you want - You need proper two pack stuff. You've probably made your life more difficult by already trying something - I'd speak to these guys and see what they reccomend in terms of prep over the old stuff. Bear in mind its a full weekends work pictured, not just a quick roller out from a bucket.
https://regalpaint.co.uk/single-garage-two-pack-garage-floor-paint-bundle/
This stuff worked great for me, and this is a proper 'garage' too - hot tyres, axle stands, jacks, nasty chemical spills etc.
Cornflower Blue, in case you wondered!
You can see its textured but its relatively smooth, and every few months I empty it out and mop it all and it comes up lovely and shiny.
@snotrag - how easy is the epoxy stuff to apply?
Do you pour it, or brush/roller it on? Does it need a min working temp to cure (can I do it in the current cold weather?)?
We are close to the end of having an extension put on our house and still have the 'garage' but it no longer has a front up-&-over door, but a steel security door out the back. It will soon be emptied of all the building rubbish & other bits ready to move all my stuff in.
I am debating whether to just paint the floor, try the epoxy paint or go down the garage tiles route. If I go for the garage tiles route, I will potentially paint it first to seal the surface. The epoxy option would be quite a bit cheaper than the garage tiles.
Put carpet down, warmer, cheaper and screws don't bounce when you drop them.
I used Leyland floor paint which was alright but it's now covered in a combination of Halfords foam mats and a big absorbent rug from Aldi or Lidl. Concrete is too cold for standing around on.
If I was doing it again (which I'm not because it would be impossible to empty my garage now) I might try that U-Pol Raptor liner that everyone uses on cars and trucks. Cheap, easy to mix and tint with any colour you want.
If epoxy, you're going to need to strip off all that other finish and sealer.
You're grinding and peeping if you want a decent liquid applied finish otherwise whatever you apply is only as good as the bond of whatever's below it
The cost of epoxy is in the cost of the process, not just the materials.
Is painting a concrete garage floor actually worth it compared to just sealing it?
I used that Leyland floor paint in the summer and it worked a treat. I am sure it said on the tin to apply in warmer weather? I think that is so that it can cure properly.
If you're in the UK OP and applying it now, it's probably too cold. Might be worth waiting until the spring and some warmer weather and having another go.
Is painting a concrete garage floor actually worth it compared to just sealing it?
It is if you want a pretty colour rather then concrete grey.
Are you going to be spending any extended periods in there, working on bikes, suspension, other stuff? You might end up wanting to put tiles or a length of carpet down anyway.
I figured that's what I'd end up doing if I screeded, sealed, prepped, painted with epoxy. So I didn't bother with that and just brushed, blowed and put high density plastic tiles with a layer of insulation underneath.
Crucially for me, I was done in a day from start to having everything back in again on top I had nowhere else to put everything in the meantime.
Happy to work in there barefoot for an hour or more, and it's unheated apart from being connected to the house.
I really like the cornflour blue!
Yeah, tiles for me too. Epoxy looked a) time-consuming, b) easy-ish to cock up, and c) potentially needing re-doing in less than 10 years.
I spent the same on tiles as I would have on epoxy but it took about 3 hours, looks smart and comes up lovely with a sweep and a mop. And I have spare tiles if ever anything gets ruined. That's in a semi-working garage/workshop/general dumping ground.
I used the Leyland paint last summer. Looks fine to me, but the finish is pretty much what you have on your pic.
We took the carpet out of a room and the old carpet+ underlay is now on top in the garage. The Henry hoover my wife hates lives in the garage so occasionally the garage gets hoovered.
It's made it warmer and nicer to be in when it's cold out. The carpet was free+ I didn't have to make a trip to the tip.
I managed to spill 300ml of paraffin on it this winter. It smelled a bit for a couple of weeks.
I looked at the epoxy- too time consuming for me.
If I was doing it again, I'd go for floor tiles.
I used Duramat floor tiles, really easy and good quality. I looked at paint options, but by the time you add paint, labour, preparation you are probably not too far off. The tiling can easily be done in a day.
Is painting a concrete garage floor actually worth it compared to just sealing it?
It is if you want a pretty colour rather then concrete grey.
I suppose then it depends on how long the pretty colour lasts? It's something I might want to do but have to weigh up cost, time, emptying garage, longevity etc. vs just sealing it and putting plastic tiles or old carpet down
If you're going to seal it, you're going to need to empty the garage and spend time doing it anyway, surely?
Separately, I don't know if you really want a very smooth finish on a garage floor, do you? Wouldn't it be quite slippery...? I just don't have the time to be obsessively levelling a decent concrete floor to be polished and smooth.
Had an old carpet down in the large garage at my old place, it was brilliant.
If you’re going to seal it, you’re going to need to empty the garage and spend time doing it anyway, surely?
Sealing is a lot quicker to dry and can be done in sections without looking rubbish, apparently
