Garage Floor Paint

When it comes to choosing the correct garage floor paint, color should really be the last thing you worry about.  The most important concern for garage floor paints is the resin system of the paint itself.
There are two broad categories of paint on the market today.  Those are latex paints, and alkyd paints.  Alkyd paints are also known as “oil-based” paints.  They are generally flammable, contain volatile organics that are harmful to the environment (and to you) and must be cleaned up with solvents such as paint thinner, gasoline or kerosene.  The other broad category of paint, latex paint, is also known as “water-based” paint.  These coatings are not flammable, clean up with soap and water, and release less harmful odors.  They typically dry very quickly.
Latex paint is further classified by the type of resin system used to make the paint.  For example there are vinyl resins, acrylic resins, polyurethanes, epoxies, etc…  These resins are sometimes called “binders” because they are actually responsible for binding the pigments and forming the film of the paint.  Coatings with different resin systems vary widely in price.  A cheap vinyl paint may cost $6 per gallon, while high temperature urethane resin paints may cost several hundred dollars per gallon.  You want to buy a good quality paint for your garage floor, but you don’t want to just throw money away, either.
Garage floor paints need to be hard, resistant to wear and impacts, and they need to adhere well to the concrete floor.  Many builders recommend using epoxy garage floor paint over a polyurethane coating, and here’s why:
1. Generally speaking, epoxy coatings have better adhesion to surfaces, although polyurethanes are also very good.
2. Urethane coatings and epoxy coatings are both highly resistant to abrasion.  Polyurethanes would probably be rated slightly better than epoxies.
3. Epoxies have excellent chemical resistance, while polyurethanes only exhibit average chemical resistance.  You may not spill chemicals in your garage, but you may use them to clean up oil spills, so this is an important consideration.
4. Both epoxies and polyurethanes have good impact resistance, but polyurethanes would be ranked better than epoxy.  This could be important if you do work in the garage where you may drop a heavy tool on the floor.
As you can see, selection of a type of paint for garage floor painting isn’t black and white.  One type is not clearly superior over another.  Contractors generally recommend epoxies because they adhere to the concrete surface better then urethanes.  High end floor coatings are typically a first layer of epoxy, and then a topcoat of polyurethane, in order to get the benefits of both.
Work specifications often call for a non slip paint on garage floors.  These paints, in addition to the usual binders, pigments and surfactants, include a special grit that roughens the surface being coated.  The slight5ly roughened, textured feel remains when the coating has dried, giving the flooring a non slip quality.

When it comes to choosing the correct garage floor paint, color should really be the last thing you worry about.  The most important concern for garage floor paints is the resin system of the paint itself.

There are two broad categories of paint on the market today.  Those are latex paints, and alkyd paints.  Alkyd paints are also known as “oil-based” paints.  They are generally flammable, contain volatile organics that are harmful to the environment (and to you) and must be cleaned up with solvents such as paint thinner, gasoline or kerosene.  The other broad category of paint, latex paint, is also known as “water-based” paint.  These coatings are not flammable, clean up with soap and water, and release less harmful odors.  They typically dry very quickly.

Latex paint is further classified by the type of resin system used to make the paint.  For example there are vinyl resins, acrylic resins, polyurethanes, epoxies, etc…  These resins are sometimes called “binders” because they are actually responsible for binding the pigments and forming the film of the paint.  Coatings with different resin systems vary widely in price.  A cheap vinyl paint may cost $6 per gallon, while high temperature urethane resin paints may cost several hundred dollars per gallon.  You want to buy a good quality paint for your garage floor, but you don’t want to just throw money away, either.

Garage floor paints need to be hard, resistant to wear and impacts, and they need to adhere well to the concrete floor.  Many builders recommend using epoxy garage floor paint over a polyurethane coating, and here’s why:

1. Generally speaking, epoxy coatings have better adhesion to surfaces, although polyurethanes are also very good.

2. Urethane coatings and epoxy coatings are both highly resistant to abrasion.  Polyurethanes would probably be rated slightly better than epoxies.

3. Epoxies have excellent chemical resistance, while polyurethanes only exhibit average chemical resistance.  You may not spill chemicals in your garage, but you may use them to clean up oil spills, so this is an important consideration.

4. Both epoxies and polyurethanes have good impact resistance, but polyurethanes would be ranked better than epoxy.  This could be important if you do work in the garage where you may drop a heavy tool on the floor.

As you can see, selection of a type of paint for garage floor painting isn’t black and white.  One type is not clearly superior over another.  Contractors generally recommend epoxies because they adhere to the concrete surface better then urethanes.  High end floor coatings are typically a first layer of epoxy, and then a topcoat of polyurethane, in order to get the benefits of both.

Work specifications often call for a non slip paint on garage floors.  These paints, in addition to the usual binders, pigments and surfactants, include a special grit that roughens the surface being coated.  The slight5ly roughened, textured feel remains when the coating has dried, giving the flooring a non slip quality.

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