Concrete is a great choice for floor surfaces in a garage, but it can be vulnerable to damage and decay over time. If you’re considering using concrete for your garage floor, make sure you pick an experienced professional in order to avoid any regrets. Inappropriate methods or products, such as retarders, accelerants, and overwatering, can jeopardize the structural stability of concrete. Similarly, if your concrete slabs aren’t built to code, you will run into problems with strength and durability in the long term. Appropriate base and foundation installation are pivotal to ensuring that your concrete garage floor is durable. Proper installation and construction are key to ensuring that your concrete garage floor will be long-lasting and durable.
You can use several methods to strengthen your concrete foundation, such as sealing it to increase its strength. Installing these steps will also increase its longevity, which can help you achieve a longer-lasting flooring option.
There are two significant considerations before you seal your floor:
- What is the level of surface protection you’re looking for
- What is the result you want to achieve?
What are the benefits of sealing your garage floor?
Protect your garage floor from the top five issues by sealing your concrete floor.
- Water
- Chemicals – protect against light chemicals. However, if you’re likely to have any heavy chemicals that aren’t typical to a garage floor, we can discuss options for an appropriate system for your needs.
- Wear and tear
- Abrasions
- Stains
What are the kinds of concrete sealants?
You can choose from the two main kinds of concrete floor sealants that will both achieve the objective of sealing your concrete but with different effects.
- A topical sealer
- A penetrating (densifying) sealer
What are the benefits of a topical sealer?
A topical sealer will create a durable, protective and hard layer over the concrete by adhering to it. This layer provides an option for decorative coatings such as flake finish or colours. In addition, topical sealers are waterproof, making them advantageous to clean and include a higher durability (however, the quality of the protection depends on the quality of the coating).
These are the types of topical sealers regularly used:
- Polyurea
- Polyaspartics
- Acrylic
- Polyurethane
- Epoxy resin
What are the benefits of a penetrating sealer?
Like most sealers, penetrating sealers penetrate the pores in the concrete and provide a chemical reaction that combines with the minerals in the concrete, forming a protective barrier between the pores and the outside.
Floors finished with penetrating sealers provide a performance-resistant and fast-drying floor coating, but the coating is not waterproof. As a rule, if you quickly clean any spilled liquid, the coating is unlikely to stain, but if you leave it for days it will likely stain.
These are the kinds of penetrating sealers regularly used:
- Silanes
- Siliconate
- Silicates
- Siloxanes
Which one should you choose?
When sealing your garage floor, the best epoxy flooring option will be defined by the finish and the result you’re trying to gain. Following are the best advantages:
- Able to include a stylish decorative coloured or flake finish
- Simple to clean and maintain – mainly use a brush and other cleaning products. Commercial flooring may need something more efficient, like an automated scrubbing machine.
- Sturdy and impervious to abrasions should you drop something.
- Longevity – we have revisited many projects that are up to a decade old, and if they are well looked after they last.
- A protective hard coating that prevents liquid and moisture from leaching into your concrete
- UV protection – you can choose to fully UV-proof an area, and certain products can achieve that. Alternatively, you can choose a different product with a lower level of protection.
Why you need an expert for epoxy flooring
Garage floors should be highly durable, low-maintenance, and highly functional. A top quality epoxy coating will ensure a low-slip, no maintenance garage floor.
At Tough Floors, we strive for excellence in the realm of epoxy flooring in Brisbane. We want to provide you with the strongest epoxy coating options at a fair cost, and offer unsurpassed quality so that you can rest assured in our service for years to come. Call us today to discuss your options for protecting your garage’s epoxy floor.
