Best Garage Floor Coating To Protect From Oil Stains

Nothing is more disconcerting than cleaning oil off of your garage floor only to watch it seep into the pores of the concrete, leaving behind a large dark stain. Even worse is that once oil seeps into porous concrete, the stains are nearly impossible to remove and become more or less permanent. Unfortunately, this is all too common as most garage floors are just concrete slabs that are not sealed to protect against moisture, dirt, and fluids. If you are someone who works on your car often, these stains are something you will see constantly when underneath your car and if you are like us, they will eventually start to irritate you if you don’t prevent them in the first place.

If you are lucky enough to have the foresight to place an oil catch pan or a garage floor mat down, you can avoid staining your floor and make the mess from oil and coolant leaks much easier to clean up. The downside to garage floor mats and oil catch pans is that they stick up to create tripping hazards and sometimes slide around when you drive your car on and off of them repeatedly. They can also be expensive.

The good news is that if you are willing to put in a little bit of work, there is another option that not only makes your garage floor fluid-proof, but it also looks great and really adds a new element cosmetically to your garage. Garage floor coatings do just that, and are a fantastic option when you are looking to protect your garage and give it a makeover at the same time. Nicely applied garage floor coatings will turn your garage from looking like a dingy workshop to looking like a sparkling show room.

So what are garage floor coatings? Garage floor coatings are typically sold as an epoxy based paint that you apply to your garage floor after prep work that most often includes cleaning and etching. They are applied just like a paint, and come in a variety of color options. They can be had in flat colors and are also available with reflective colored flecks that give the floor a sparkling shine.

The Best Garage Floor Coating

When it comes to choosing the best garage floor coating, we have had the best luck buying an entire kit that includes the concrete etchant as well as the epoxy coating. Our favorite is the Rust-oleum EpoxyShield garage floor coating because it offers everything you need. Furthermore, we have found the product to be robust, especially compared to others which is nice because it means less likelihood of every having to reapply in the future.

The EpoxyShield kit contains both the etchant and the epoxy paint, and the 2 gallon kit is good for covering a 500 square foot garage (about 23 feet wide by 23 feet long). The epoxy paint is water based, which means low odor. It is also chemical and moisture resistant, so when your car is leaking caustic brake fluid, coolant, or synthetic motor oil, you have nothing to worry about. The epoxy is heat resistant so you don’t have to worry about your tires damaging your floor after a spirited canyon run or after a day at the track. The paint is also peel resistant, which is nice as lower quality garage floor coatings can sometimes peel when moving heavy equipment or using a floor jack on them. The kit also comes with comprehensive instructions to guide you.

Overall, the system is easy to use and so if you possess basic handyman (or handywoman!) skills and a little patience you should have no problems at all applying this coating. There are two colors to choose from including gray and tan, although we personally favor the gray as it looks more modern (but it comes at a small price premium and the tan looks great too).

As far as where to buy, we find that Amazon seems to have the most competitive price which makes them a no brainer. All in all, we think that the Rust-oleum EpoxyShield is the best garage floor coating kit around right now and give it our highest recommendation. We think you’ll be quite happy with it once you apply it. Happy wrenching!

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