Garage floor - paint, or not to paint

[stevie_b]

I've got an integral garage with a standard concrete floor. I was thinking of painting the floor with one of those workshop/garage paints. Before I do, it occurred that sealing the floor with a non-porous layer (e.g. paint) might not be a great idea because if the car's wet when I put it away, it'll just drip onto the floor and the water will sit there.

 

With a concrete floor, the water is absorbed into the floor and gradually evaporates back out. The result being no puddles.

 

My garage is very much a working garage - a place for storing the car and other bits n bobs. So it's got to be practical. I'm not fussed about the aesthetics of it.

 

My reason for doing it was to cut down the dust in the garage. It's not super-dusty, but I think a bare concrete floor is an inherently dusty surface. But maybe a lot of the dust in there didn't come from the floor, but from the air.

 

Any thoughts? Anyone painted their garage floor and recommend / not recommend doing it?

 

I found this thread where Tyson says about concrete being a wick - I'd not thought of that.

https://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?347949-Garage-floor-options-inspiration-needed-please

[auzzam]

Would be interested in the answers to this, especially if any are suitable for outdoor concrete / driveways. Just had mine redone a month ago and wanted to paint it

[rider]

I considered painting my 110m2 garage floor when I had it built

 

The only advantage would be any spills would be easier to mop up. The disadvantages were that painted surfaces require repaint or touch up maintenance and then the cost, good quality floor paint is expensive. Lastly, if I painted the floor I'd then feel compelled to paint the ceiling and walls as well, before painting the floor. Then I'd need to also paint and touch up those areas periodically. So, in the end I didn't bother and even with ATF stains from a leaking C4 auto box I have no regrets. If oil leaks worry you then cardboard has always been a traditional garage floor covering that works well and we all get way too many amazon boxes so second use of those is the green thing to do.

[peter richards]

I used conveyor belts worked a treat and easy to clean

[Ric]

I used some heavy duty rubber matting in my garage. Super easy. Still great 6 years on

 

https://garagestyleltd.com/collections/workshop-flooring

[Big Mark]

I've painted my garage floor mainly because it was ridiculously dusty constantly.

 

I used 2 coats of Screwfix's grey Heavy Duty garage floor paint.

 

Only issue was that my sticky tyres stuck to it when the car was sat for a while and pulled up the paint at the contact patches, so I've stuck down a square of heavy duty rubber matting under tyres location.

[tayr]

I’ve got epoxy coating on mine,

Stops all the dust coming up but slippery when wet

[stevie_b]

Thanks all - I've decided not to paint mine, but to keep with concrete floors and cardboard if needed.

[Kev.O]

Thanks all - I've decided not to paint mine, but to keep with concrete floors and cardboard if needed.

 

I currently have some carpet in mine which stops the dust. Looking to get tiles soon though as the carpet does get a little wet when I walk the water through when cleaning the cars.

[Ark]

Old scraps of carpet here...it's still really dusty though. I'm painting the brick walls at the moment, and planning on doing the floor too. You have to seal it first else the inevitable dusty layer will prevent the paint from bonding properly, so it'll peel away in no time.

 

You don't really want fluids soaking into the concrete - it might be rainwater today, but it could be oil or brake fluid tomorrow and you'll never clean it away; It'll still evaporate away as a surface puddle. Use high-grip textured paint if you're worried it'll be slippery.

 

The best looking result IMO is resin coating, but it's more expensive than paint.

[Frank Bullitt]

I went with this https://www.dynotile.co.uk as you can make pretty patterns

[TuneR]

I used Ronseal garage floor paint to keep the dust down but it lifted in a lot of places now first tyres and then anywhere something contacted it like the casters on the toolbox. I etched, brushed, hoovered and washed it before putting it down so personally i wouldn't bother with paint again after that.

[markssupra]

Used to be painted but lifted after a while from the tyres and trolley jack.

Went for some interlocking tiles like these https://www.garagefloortilecompany.com/collections/frontpage/products/graphite-tile

[Tyson]

I used Ronseal garage floor paint to keep the dust down but it lifted in a lot of places now first tyres and then anywhere something contacted it like the casters on the toolbox. I etched, brushed, hoovered and washed it before putting it down so personally i wouldn't bother with paint again after that.

 

I bought some stuff from Aldi and after 3 years of use it never lifted anywhere. I have done it again in my new garage and not had any trouble in the last 6 months. As above, I did all the prep work and made sure I cleaned the surface with a good drying time between layers.