Choosing Between Types Of Garage Floors
There are a lot of different garage floors that you can choose from, and many different reasons to choose one or another type. Let’s look at the more popular choices, and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each one. After all, there’s only one person that is truly qualified to decide between the various garage floors, and that would be the person who owns the garage!
Epoxy Paint For Garage Floors
This is one of the most often used options for a few reasons. For one, it’s permanent. Once the garage floor paint is down, it would have to be stripped to get rid of it. It’s durable, and provides a nice, shiny, professional looking finish. If you have the mans to get down on the floor and apply the epoxy garage floor yourself, it’s also the cheapest option. Unfortunately, epoxy garage floor paint can go from the cheapest to the most expensive option very quickly if you have to pay someone else to install it, as it is quite time consuming, especially compared to some of the other options.
Garage Floor Tile
Paint and garage floor tiles are somewhat similar when it comes to the end product, but otherwise they are very different. You do have to get down on the ground to install either one, but with garage floor tiles, you can take a break whenever you like, be it for a few hours or a few weeks. With the possible exception of some light fading, the end result should be the same. To many, this single advantage makes it worth choosing tiles over paint. You can also easily swap a tile or two if they become damaged without being forced to redo all of your garage flooring, as long as you can find the same color and design tiles. Tiles also have more color and design options to choose from. They do, however, tend to be a bit pricier than paint.
Total Garage Floor Coverings
Since installing garage floor mats generally just requires cutting and placing, this is the fastest and easiest way to cover your whole floor. If your garage floor mat ends up badly damaged, just pull it out and recycle or throw it away. The only drama is moving any shelving or tables that you have sitting on the mat. If all you plan to do is park cars in your garage, though, this is probably not your best option since many mats bend and bunch under automobile tires. Garage floor mats are also usually more expensive than either paint or tiles.
Single Compartment Mats For Garage Floors
A compartment mat is a type of mat that is intended to be used only in one spot, and generally temporarily. Not that they don’t stand up to more permanent use, but they would be the least cost effective solution in that case since you would be buying many mats, one at a time. These are great for temporary solutions when you need to work only in a particular part of the garage, and they can be pulled outside of the garage for cleaning if necessary. They are, by far, the fastest of any garage floor covering to install, and most can either be stacked or snapped together to create a seal, should you want to use them throughout your garage. If this is the goal from the beginning, however, just about any of the other options would be preferable.
Check out Goddard’s garage floor website for more information on garage floor coverings.