How to Paint Your Concrete Garage Floor

Sweep or vacuum the floor thoroughly. If you have any oil or grease stains you need to clean them first. In most cases a soapy dishwater solution in a bucket and a stiff bristle brush will remove most petroleum based stains. Allow to dry completely.

Wash the floor carefully with a mixture of 2 parts water and 1 part non-toxic concrete cleaner. Cleaning the concrete with this solution is critical. Be sure to have proper ventilation during the entire project.

Once the floor has been cleaned, allow it to dry thoroughly. It usually dries in about 30 minutes or less. Use some concrete crack seal, available at virtually any hardware store, to fill in the cracks in the floor. Use a small putty knife to remove any excess crack filler so that only the crack itself has the filler.

Allow the crack filler to dry thoroughly. If you have a two-car garage you might want to consider doing one half of the garage at a time. If you do only one half at a time, you will want to get some masking tape and run it down the center of the garage floor so that the half that you paint will end up with a crisp line when you are done.

Prime the floor first with a concrete bonding primer. Use a brush to go around all edges and tight spots. Then use a paint roller to cover the entire floor. The primer dries in about an hour.

Use a two-part epoxy paint for the top coat. The two-part epoxy paint needs to be mixed together, but once applied it is almost indestructible. Be sure to carefully read all of the instructions on the paint in regards to mixing and using.

Once the floor has been carefully prepared you are ready to paint on the top coat. Tape off with masking tape any area where you want to have a crisp edge.

Use a 4-inch or bigger all-purpose paint brush to paint around the perimeter of the area to be painted with the top coat, carefully cutting in the edges so as not to get paint outside of the area you wish to paint. Once the perimeter area has been hand painted you can use a paint roller to apply to the rest of the area.

Pour the 2-part Epoxy paint into a roller tray and roll the paint onto the floor. It will roll on just as if you were painting a wall. For best results, put on two coats.