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The garage is where we stash everything from our cars and Christmas decorations to tools and sporting gear but, with a little effort, it can be a place to linger rather than a cluttered catch-all. Investing in new garage flooring can not only protect your foundation from spills, grease, and other mishaps, but it can also add a little style to an oft-neglected space. Garage floor ideas like these can make a world of difference in how finished the space looks, and what you’re willing to do (or store) out there.
1. Interlocking Tiles
Made from heavy-duty vinyl or rubber, these colorful squares snap together to provide stability rather than sticking directly to the garage floor. They’re great for hiding cracks in a concrete floor, although you’ll get best results when the floor is level. Use garage floor tiles, such as Big Floors GarageTrac interlocking tiles, to combine several different colors to create custom patterns and borders.
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2. Roll-Out Vinyl Flooring
Roll-out flooring is easy to install, and hides a multitude of sins. It works just as the name suggests: You simply unroll it on your garage floor, trim any excess to fit the space, and it’s ready to go. Though it’s easy to install, its downsides are that it isn’t as easy to repair as interlocking tile flooring, and you can’t easily create custom patterns with it. If a monochromatic garage floor is more your thing, the G-Floor vinyl garage floor protector mat is worth considering.
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3. Peel-and-Stick Tiles
If you have a level garage floor without severe cracks, you can cover the surface with peel-and-stick tiles. Typically made from heavy-duty vinyl (though LifeTiles makes a version in high-performance polyester), these tiles are easy to cut and quick to install. Because they’re individual tiles rather than long rolls of adhesive, it’s also pretty easy to combine different colored tiles and make custom patterns on the floor. Be sure to clean the floor thoroughly and let it dry before laying down the tiles.
4. Paint
While most garage flooring ideas require purchasing new materials, this chore is simple enough to execute using supplies you may already have on hand. Painting a garage floor is an inexpensive way to improve its appearance, although it is more labor intensive than some of these other options. Before getting started, be sure to repair any cracks with concrete filler and clean the floor thoroughly. For best results, prime and paint using materials designed specifically for covering floors. Paint is the least durable of these garage flooring options, however— you may need to repeat the process every 3 years or so.
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5. Carpet
Carpeting your garage floor might sound like an unusual idea, but there’s a product called Garage Grip that’s designed to hold up to the rigors of life in this multipurpose room. It’s waterproof, and resists stains and damage from ice melt. Made in the U.S.A. of 100 percent recycled polyester, it is laid like carpeting but doesn’t require adhesives or nails to stay in place.
6. Epoxy
Just like painting with latex, applying epoxy—a type of paint containing a built-in hardener—requires that you patch, clean, and etch the floor if necessary. Then you blend your epoxy paint and hardener, and apply it to the garage floor. Epoxy has to be installed quickly, because the mix is viable for only 2 hours. Scatter color chips across the floor’s surface and seal with a clear coat to create a durable, long-lasting floor that resists oil stains and wipes clean easily.
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7. Concrete Sealer
If your budget is tight, your garage flooring options are limited. For those with concrete garage floors, sealing your floor might be enough to improve its appearance and durability. The sealer will ward off stains, ensuring that the floor keeps looking fresh. Opt for a solvent-based sealer, which can create a wet look and offer exceptional floor protection. Water-based sealers are other good options: They might not last as long, but contain fewer potentially harmful volatile organic compounds.
8.Concrete Stain
Unlike epoxy and paint, concrete stain is a thin coating that lets the old floor show through. This is one of the cheapest and easiest garage flooring options if your concrete flooring is in good shape, and yields an attractive watercolor or natural stone look. Stain is not a good option if your floor is spotted and splattered, because those imperfections will show through. Concrete stain tends to last longer than paint, because it seeps into the concrete and doesn’t chip off as easily.
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9. Stone Flooring
Typically made by mixing small rocks and pebbles with epoxy, stone garage flooring can be a sleek finish for your garage. But while its natural aesthetic makes it an appealing option initially, this type of flooring may break down over time and will more than likely need to be resealed every couple of years. Additionally, natural stone flooring can be a lot more expensive to install in your garage than other flooring options.
