Guide to Garage Flooring: Motofloor, Painting floor

Unfinished garage floors are predominate not only throughout new home construction but with older homes as well. Most people don't really look to finishing their garage floors for one reason or another. But if you're a person looking to either better the overall outlook of your home or you just simply spend a lot of time in the garage, you might want to think about getting a good garage floor covering. Not only will the finished product look totally awesome, but it should be able to protect your concrete garage floor from all that it comes in contact with including dirt and oil.

But for most, over time living in your home, the garage becomes a dreaded place simply because it gets dirty and you stockpile everything that doesn't or won't go in the house anymore out in the garage. Well people, I'm telling you that's simply wrong and you shouldn't do that. The garage can actually be a very nice addition to your home and there's no need to let it go to waste. Plus, this is not a job that's above a do-it-yourself type and can typically be done in a weekend.

Painting your garage floor with an epoxy paint is great little home improvement project. Not only will it make your garage look great, but it'll keep your floors from deteriorating and also protect it from staining. Depending on just how fancy you get with this little alternative, you could end up with a far superior sheen that looks like it's straight from a dealerships showroom. Protecting your garage floors with an epoxy paint could also turn out to be financially beneficially as it might also reduce any repair work that may need to be done to the floor later after years of use and abuse. In fact, next time you go to an automotive dealership or repair shop, take a look around, I bet you'll be surprised to see that their floors are also covered in this same manner.

Garage floor epoxy paint is a strong protective finish that you just paint on top of a concrete garage floor. It is intended to defend against all those harsh oil and grease chemicals that would typically ruin standard paint. It is relatively simple to maintain and is offered in many diverse colors. Most homeowners are extremely satisfied with the appearance of their garage floor once it has been applied and given the appropriate amount of time to dry. The finished floor will remain beautiful for many years to follow.

It is important to note that not all garage floors will accept a coat of epoxy garage floor paint. An easy way to see if your garage floor is a likely candidate is to test it for moisture. This is fairly uncomplicated, just set a mat down overnight (or for at least 24 hours) and then check to see if there is any condensation that has formed underneath. If there is, you will not be able to apply epoxy paint on your garage floor. If you don't have any moisture issues then continue reading on, else you might want to skip ahead a little bit.

Prepping your garage floor for an epoxy is fairly straight-forward, but will require a little elbow grease. The first thing you have to ensure is that the floor is absolutely clean of any debris or oil spots. Sometimes you'll even need to use some mild acid to get rid of all the oil. Just make sure you scrub it thoroughly and really rinse it good. Once it's clean and dry, just fill in any remaining cracks you may have and give it time to dry. After that, your off to the painting. A double coating may be required but you can be the judge of that.

The only other thing that you'll need to keep an eye on is the weather. Just like any other outside painting job you're going to want to pick days that are nice and not too cool and definitely no rain in the forecast. That type of moisture can wreak havoc on a paint job.

Garage floor tiles are excellent alternative to painting or using epoxy on your garage floor. The maintenance of having to repaint a garage floor every couple of years is really something that nobody looks forward to. There is an absolute plethora of different garage floor tiles on the market today each with their own unique set of circumstances. Most of them are interlocking tiles that make a smooth floating floor across your garage. That's right, they don't have to be fixed or glued down to the floor. Some of them are even made from 100% recycled materials. Even still, most of these tiles are made from an impervious vinyl allowing them to effectively defend against gasoline, oil, ammonia, acetone, and whatever other kinds of destructive elements that may end up on your garage floor.

They are fairly straight-forward and easy to install with simple tools like a utility knife and rubber mallet. All you really do is start at the garage door opening and work your way across the front connecting the pieces like a puzzle and using the mallet to set them in place. Once you've covered the opening you start working your way to the back of the garage. This way, all your cut pieces, that's what the utility knife is for, is along the sides and the back of the garage making the installation look that much cleaner and nicer. You will want to leave a little spacer gap along the sides like you would any other type of floating floor installation to allow for expansion adn contraction.

As far as maintenance goes, cleanups a breeze. Because they are made out of some heavy-duty and thick vinyl, all you need is a simple water based solution mixed with a tad bit of ammonia. That should be all the cleaner you'll ever need. You should never, never use any waxes or sealants on garage floor tiles. You could use a power washer to really blow those stubborn little spots right off the floor. Other than that, that's all there is to it really. They come in a whole host of colors from beiges to yellows to reds and blues, heck you can even get them in a checkered flag pattern if you'd like.

Don't get confused by the big words they'll try to throw at you like "interlocking garage floor tiles". All you have to do is think of it like a big jigsaw puzzle. That's all that means.  As far as options go there are literally hundreds for you to choose from. The MotoFloor garage floor tiles and Race Deck tiles are some pretty sweet ones to look at if your looking for that finish line appeal. Just like standing in the winner's circle.