Garage Floor Paint - Brighten Up Your Garage

A complete how to guide for buying and using garage floor paint.

Garage floor paint is an essential tool when you want to smarten up the appearance of your garage. Often garage floors consist of little more than just raw concrete, which can attract a lot of dirt and dust and can be a nightmare to clean, while also looking generally unattractive.

It is important to choose the right paint for the job. There are loads of choices when it comes to purchasing garage floor paint at a DIY store. It helps if you know what you are looking for -- the paints that will suit your needs will generally be described as paint for a garage floor, or paint for concrete interiors. Regular paint will not be much use on your garage floor as it is less robust and likely to peel or crack after some wear and tear. Many brands also have paint which dries very quickly -- some in as little as four hours -- which is obviously useful when it comes to painting your garage. But be aware that the advertised drying time will not always reflect the actual time it takes for the paint to dry.

A good garage floor paint should also be resistant to substances such as oil, water, weak solutions of acid and alkali, and grease stains. They should also be resistant to hot tyre pick up, which occurs when hot tyres affect the surface of the paint. Another consideration to make when you are thinking about purchasing paint, is which colour to choose. Usually paints intended for the garage floor are very basic in colour, with the most common colours being white and grey. You might want to think twice about using dark grey or black paint, which will take light from an already dusky interior. It is usually best to do two coats of paint, leaving the first to dry before starting the second. For that reason you should make sure that you purchase enough paint for the job, or that the DIY store has enough in stock in case you need to purchase more afterwards.

One of the first things you should do before painting is remove everything from your garage and give it a good sweep to remove as much dust and dirt is gone from the floor as possible. If you want the job done properly your garage floor should be completely cleared of cars, tools, boxes, furniture and anything else that you have lying around first, which will leave a mark if left on drying paint. If your garage floor has never been sealed before it you may want to do that first -- it can easily be done by doing your first coat using paint thinned down using a thinner such as turpentine, or by using a general sealer or primer. These will be available in your local DIY store along with your garage floor paint.