Garage Flooring and Epoxy, is it worth the Investment?

It was full commitment from here on out. We peeled each tile and began sticking them down. You’re not going to see any major gaps with these tiles. They’re well made and accurately cut.

And just like that… More like after 3 hours of being on our hands and knees our peel and stick tile installation was complete. As I mentioned there’s not much to the installation, measure everything twice and be very precise with your application, pay attention to the details and you’ll have great results.

Applying the top coat is pretty much like painting walls, except way easier since you don’t have to worry about runs or drips. I’m no expert when it comes to applying this stuff but I applied it thick and then let it sit overnight before applying another thick coat. I’m sure there are methods to apply it with light coats but the thought of doing this job five times over and waiting for the epoxy to dry after every coat pretty much meant I was putting down two coats and no more.

The floor may look a bit scaly when you apply the first coat but the epoxy will settle and flow out. To get a perfect mirror like finish, you’ll need to buff the floor and think about adding yet another coat to ensure you don’t burn through it completely in low spots. Truth be told, I don’t care about the minor orange peel texture, it provides a bit of traction when the floor is slippery so I’ve convinced myself it’s functional.

Here’s the really agonizing part. Even when you think the floor is dry and it will be to the touch, it still needs days to harden! We found out the hard way after waiting a day and a half, the floor seemed hard so we moved everything back in and the morning afterwards noticed indentations where the heavy equipment resided. It’s really not a big deal but if you have the time, I suggest giving it 3-5 days of hardening time before you put anything on the floor. I’m sure most people don’t have that luxury and having a few permanent marks from metal legs on the floor isn’t going to do any harm.

With everything back in place, the garage looks a million times better than it did previously. Not only does it add some value to the home but parking a car in here has never felt better.

And so what about longevity? This floor is now onto its second year of use with zero signs of cracking, fading or peeling.  Speaking of, a squeegee and mop are now essential tools in the garage. They’re the fastest methods of remove water or oil off the floor. If only I could coat my entire house floor with this stuff, I’d never struggle cleaning up stains anymore.

What about drawbacks or negatives? I can’t really think of any. The cost of investment is the biggest hump you’ll have to get over but once you’re committed there will be no regret. I guess, being epoxy it scratches easily so if you push a box along the surface it’ll leave marks. However, a quick buff of the area gets rid of any signs of wear so I wouldn’t call it a drawback.

There you have it! A comprehensive review on tiling your garage and epoxying it. Any gearhead that calls his garage a second home needs to think about investing into this. I sadly, don’t use this garage much anymore but my brother is still loving every minute of it. Now, I work out of a chicken coop turned into a shop that houses most of Speed Academy’s project cars. It’s way too large to think about tiling and expoying. Plus, we rent it. However, when I’m laying on the dirty, cold cement floor, turning a wrench, oil and dirt hitting me in the face, I have flashbacks of how good good life was wrenching on the G-Floor.