It's time to pay some attention to the most neglected space in the home GO WITH THE FLOOR
Chipped, cracked, abused, stained, filthy, dusty, boring . . . the garage floor. But after decades of being the grey sheep of the flooring world in nearly every home and many businesses, this stale concrete slab is enjoying a renaissance of affordable improvement options to finally show its true colors, literally.
From vivid tiles and decorative porcelain looks, to the more practical epoxy finishes, the art of the garage floor is gaining momentum by both professional installers and do-it-yourselfers. A few hundred dollars and a little imagination is all you need to transform any dull concrete into an inviting, safe and functional part of the property.
“It’s a usable space that most homeowners don’t pay much attention to,” said John Massie, co-owner of a Garage Experts franchise located in Pheonix, Ariz. “But with more and more flooring options, homeowners are recognizing the benefits and taking more pride in that part of their property.”
Massie’s primary area of expertise is the epoxy surface finishes because he believes this method provides the most durable and practical flooring option available.
Used for both residential and commercial floors, the epoxy treatment provides an immediate showroom shine that is every bit as beautiful as it is functional. From an understated solid stain to a vibrancy of color flakes to be mixed and matched, the decorative options are endless.
And because the garage space in many homes is becoming as a much a “man cave” or gathering space as it is somewhere to park and tinker with the car, epoxy floors are a great option for both the home mechanic and the couch potato.
These modern epoxy floors not only look great and make clean up easy, the hardness and thickness of these coatings protects the concrete against chips, cracks, scratches and harmful chemical spills.
Relatively easy application (after a lot of prep work) and affordability also make epoxy an inviting flooring option for do-it-yourselfers. Generally, the product requires the mixing of several parts and then application with a roller. Lowerend flooring kits for a standard two-car garage can cost less than $100.
Professional installation of an epoxy coating starts at about $4 a square foot, so a typical twocar garage measuring about 400 square feet pushes the total cost to about $1,600.
Like so many projects, the cost savings for the DIYers is obvious, but Massie warns that you get what you pay for.
“I’ve taken off more floors from do-it-yourself homeowners because they weren’t happy with it and it didn’t last as long as they expected it to,” Massie said. “They see a bargain when they go to the store. They decide to do it themselves. They watch a YouTube video of the installation process, and then two years later they call us to fix it.”
But for those dedicated to doing it themselves, Massie said the most important consideration is the percentage of solids content in the epoxy coating, or the measure of how much epoxy will be lost through “evaporation” during the curing process.
Massie explains that the typical epoxy sold at homeimprovement stores provides a solid content of about 60-80 percent, meaning anywhere from 20-40 per cent of the applied product will be lost during the drying process.
Professional-grade products cost about four times more than the standard store-bought epoxy coverings, but with a solid content of between 98 and 100 per cent, minimal product is lost and the homeowner can expect a properly installed floor to last for decades instead of just years. Massie compared epoxy production to brewing beer, where the lower-grade product used in the cheapest DIY kits literally comes from the bottom of the barrel.
“They just basically bottle it up and can it for consumer use,” Massie said, “. . . that’s why it is a fourth of the cost.”
And while epoxy floorings are the favourite choice for doit-yourselfers, the popularity of interlocking tile floors is also growing because of the variety of styles and colors they provide, along with easy installation. There is basically no surface preparation required. At all.
Available in either stiff polypropylene or the more flexible PVC rubbery materials, tile garage floors offer a personalized design for the doit-yourselfer while also providing a non-slip flooring option that is resistant to stains, oils and chemicals.
Pricing for the least expensive polypropylene tile floors can start at about $1.90 a square foot while the more durable PVC tiles can cost $3 or more per square foot. Peel and stick tile floors are another option for DIYers that are easy to install and cost about $2.50 a square foot.
Massie is somewhat skeptical of the interlocking tile floors compared to epoxy because he said dirt and grime could get trapped in the gaps between the tiles and become next to impossible to clean without removing the entire floor.
“The biggest concern with the interlocking systems is there is nothing sealing off the concrete floor underneath,” said Massie, stressing that warranty is also an important factor to consider when choosing the best flooring option. “But interlocking tiles are easy for the homeowner to install and they look very nice.”
Whether professional or DIY, turning a cold grey slab of concrete into an inviting place to play and work can not only improve the look of a garage but also add some value and appeal to a home or business.