Painting Your Garage Floor? Reach for the 5 Best Garage Floor Paints

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$213 at Amazon

Best Overall Garage Floor Paint

Rust-Oleum RockSolid Garage Floor Coating Kit

$213 at Amazon

Rust-Oleum’s RockSolid coating is about as durable as it gets, with a proprietary formula made to last. This best garage floor paint has a high-gloss finish that stands up to grease, dirt, drips and just about anything else you can throw (or spill) at it—and looks good doing it. A blend of polyurea, urethane and epoxy, this garage floor paint comes premixed, which makes painting a garage floor easier than some other coating kits. It comes in six colors; black, tan, mocha, gray, dark gray and modern “griege”—with decorative color chips that’ll give your floor a terrazzo feel.

DIYers of all skill levels will find it easy to use Rust-Oleum’s RockSolid coating. After cleaning the concrete, apply it in small sections using a paint roller. You’ll be able to walk on it eight hours later, and in 24, it’ll be safe to pull your car back into the garage. It’s a low-volatile organic compound (VOC) product, too, so you won’t be overcome with chemical fumes when painting your garage floor.

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$38.98 at Home Depot

Best Budget Garage Floor Paint

Behr Premium Wet-Look Sealer

$38.98 at Home Depot

Though it’s not technically paint, this clear sealer from Behr will give your garage floor a brilliant gloss while saving you money. This garage floor sealer is easy to apply and dries to the touch in under 60 minutes, so you won’t have to be ultra vigilant about backtracking when painting your garage floor. The acrylic-based coating won’t alter the color of any existing paint, so if you’re fine with your floor the way it is, Behr Premium Wet-Look Sealer will give it a nice gloss while adding plenty of protection.

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$48.99 at Amazon

Best Acrylic Garage Floor Paint

Insl-X TuffCrete Waterborne Acrylic Concrete Stain Paint

$48.99 at Amazon

If water is a worry, this acrylic garage floor paint from Insl-X will give you peace of mind. Available in four finishes (clear, light gray, pearl gray and desert sand), it repels stains and moisture and creates a surface that’s beyond easy to clean. Your garage floor will look freshly painted for years to come.

Verified purchaser, J&L, says this paint is as good outdoors as it is indoors, making it smart option if you have an open-air garage or carport. “We had an ugly textured pool deck that is subject to high UV damage daily. We consulted with an expert exterior painter, and he said this was the product he uses. It covered the patching I did to the pool deck (chips, cracks, etc.) and they are completely hidden. The product went on thin, so it’s easy to work with. It dried rapidly, so it was easy with our hot weather to do two coats in a day. We did the first coat, and sprinkled sand on the top to give a non-slip texture. Excellent and durable product!”

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$124.15 at Amazon

Best Epoxy Garage Floor Paint

Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating

$124.15 at Amazon

Epoxy can be intimidating to inexperienced DIYers, but this complete garage floor painting kit makes it easy. It’s one-stop shopping, with almost everything you need for painting your garage floor in a single kit. It includes a two-part, water-based epoxy coating, decorative chips and a stir stick, along with detailed instructions on how to prepare and apply the product. (You can also find instructional videos from the brand on YouTube.) There’s also a bottle of concentrated cleaner to prepare your garage floor for painting.

Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield dries with a high-gloss finish that’s easy to clean with just soap and water and protects against drips and spills of fluids like gasoline, motor oil and antifreeze. It also protects the garage floor from abrasive road salt or debris that can be dragged in on your tires. Available in three colorways—gray, tan and tan gloss—one kit covers from 200 to 250 square feet.

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$52.46 at Amazon

Best Non-Slip Garage Floor Paint

Insl-X Sure Step Acrylic Anti-Slip Coating Paint

$52.46 at Amazon

Insl-X Sure Step coating has a gritty texture, giving the soles of your shoes something to grip onto. It’s water resistant and available in seven different colors, including white, tile red, saddle brown, pine green, light gray, gray pearl and desert sand. Each gallon covers from 80 to 120 square feet, so unless you have a small one-car garage, anticipate purchasing multiple cans of this non-slip garage floor paint.

“I purchased 1 gallon of saddle brown to sample on my patio and I LOVE IT!” raves five-star reviewer, Richard. “Super durable, excellent texture and great rich brown color! And that’s just with one coat! I brushed it on in small sections, then went back over it to stipple the surface. I always feared walking across the slippery patio to get to the hot tub. My fear is GONE!”

What to Look for When Buying a Garage Floor Paint

When choosing a garage floor paint color, think about what’s important to you. If you don’t want to see tire marks and want to try and hide any stains, go with a darker color. If you’re looking to lighten up the space, try a lighter gray.

Concrete floor paint is just a tougher version of the paint that goes on walls and is by far the least expensive coating for a garage floor. It comes either latex- or oil-based. You roll it on just like other types of paint, so you won’t be surprised with tricky, unfamiliar steps. It’s also easy to touch up damaged areas or re-coat the floor completely.

Latex floor paint is easier to apply and clean up than oil-based paint. It dries to a low-sheen, flat finish while, oil dries to a high gloss. Oil-based paints must be used with a primer coat and are generally more durable than latex. Overall, floor paint isn’t as tough as other garage floor coatings and is especially vulnerable to road salt and other chemicals. Under typical conditions, you’ll have to touch up areas of the garage floor every year or two.

How We Found the Best Garage Floor Paints

At Family Handyman, we’re pros at dissecting data and using our expertise to extensively research the most widely available garage floor paints on the market. We looked at the materials used, read scores of real-world customer reviews and considered overall reliability and integrity of each brand. After gathering and comparing customer and product data from dozens of options, we were able to single out the best products to use when painting a garage floor.

FAQ

What is the best coating for garage floors?

In addition to garage floor paint, consider these other garage floor coatings:

Concrete Stain

Concrete stain is a translucent, decorative coloring that soaks into the concrete and creates a pigmented, marbled appearance that resembles natural stone. It typically requires two coats and is applied with a roller or sprayer and then immediately worked into the concrete with a nylon scrubbing brush.

The stain itself doesn’t protect the concrete, so after it dries, you rinse the surface and then apply one or two coats of urethane sealer to protect against moisture, chemicals and stains. Depending on the traffic your garage floor gets, you may need to wax the sealer annually, touch up the stain and reseal the floor every two years.

Concrete Sealer

Available in water- and solvent-based formulas, concrete floor sealers come in clear and tinted versions. Sealers are like floor paint but tougher. After paint, they’re the least expensive coating and they’re very easy to apply with a brush or roller. They dry to a clear satin or semi-gloss finish, depending on the product.

Acrylic/Latex Concrete Sealer

Like floor paint, acrylic/latex sealer is vulnerable to chemicals and isn’t as tough as an epoxy product, so it’ll benefit from an annual protective waxing or reapplication every few years. Acrylic/latex sealer will stick to a concrete floor better than urethane sealer, which is why it’s sometimes used as a primer for oil-based floor paint or epoxy.

Urethane Concrete Sealer

Urethane sealer is significantly tougher than acrylic/latex sealer but doesn’t bond well with bare concrete. It provides a clear, high-gloss finish that resists chemicals better than epoxy alone and is less likely to yellow in sunlight, which is why it’s used as a seal coat over epoxy and concrete stain. However, urethane sealer is more expensive than acrylic sealer, and solvent-based versions require the use of a respirator during application.

Can I just paint garage floor?

Yes, you can! Painting a garage floor can be messy and time-consuming, but ultimately, it’s a DIY project most people can tackle, regardless of skill level.

Is it better to paint a garage floor with a roller or brush?

Whether or not you should use a roller or brush when painting a garage floor will be determined by the type of garage floor paint you use. Always consult the manufacturer’s directions before deciding what painting tools you’ll need to purchase for the project.