LESLIE: Robert in Ohio is looking to do some work in his garage. Hey, Robert, what can we do for you?
ROBERT: Okay. I have a five-year-old condominium, two-car garage – 20×20. When we first moved in, I used a … what they call cement paint or … yeah, garage floors …
LESLIE: Okay.
ROBERT: … a single paint. I did everything right, drove the car in after it set up, and it peeled.
TOM: Uh.
ROBERT: Then I used an acid paint remover, I took all of that off, I acid washed it, I used an epoxy paint. As far as I know, I did everything right; let it sit for about three days, drove the car in, and it peeled.
TOM: Hmm.
ROBERT: Now …
TOM: What kind of epoxy paint did you use, Robert?
ROBERT: I cannot remember the name of it.
TOM: Well, let me ask you this. Was it one that you had to mix together or was it …?
ROBERT: Yes. Yes, it came in two separate containers.
TOM: And you had to mix it …
ROBERT: Hmm.
LESLIE: Yeah, but maybe there’s a moisture situation with the floor. That could be why nothing’s adhering properly.
TOM: Yeah, because I tell you, the epoxy-base garage floor paints really rock. I really love them.
Well, if you’ve had bad experience with paint, maybe you might want to think about a couple of other options and two of them come to mind. Craftsman has an interlocking garage floor system that’s sold as part of their garage cabinet lines, which are like these tiles that are about – I don’t know – maybe 12×12 or 18×18. And they lock together like puzzle pieces and they sit right above the garage floor and give you a good surface to drive on, walk on and…
LESLIE: Mmm.
TOM: And they have different modular components to it so that you could actually have like the lip go down near the edge. And then, also, Gladiator – who makes another garage cabinet system – has like a rubber mat that’s like diamond plated. And I think it comes in 10-foot-wide rolls and it’s really thick stuff. And you roll that down and I think the seams, just because of the weight of the material, don’t even have to be glued together. And those are two other ways to get a garage floor covered, that don’t involve paint.
LESLIE: Yeah. And another interesting flooring product is one by a company called Dino Tile. And that’s also one that sort of raises up your garage flooring by maybe a half of an inch. And it snaps together. It takes a little aggression and a rubber mallet but it gets you into it and it’s a good project. And that comes in a ton of different colors. And you can get all different kinds of edging and it’s suitable and strong enough for a car. So maybe paint isn’t your best solution.
ROBERT: I’ve looked at those. My last question, though, was could you just a rollable household linoleum?
TOM: I wouldn’t recommend that because that’s not designed to stand up to the pressure of the tires and all of the dirt and the grime, from the road, that those tires are going to pull in. I think that you would be very disappointed. I mean, most linoleums today, that I see, they can’t even take the refrigerator being dragged across it. And imagine the weight of a car compared to that.
ROBERT: Okay. That’s … I was looking at that as a cheap way out. But I did see those … that solid matting. It comes in a 10×8, I think, that you mentioned.
TOM: Yeah, those are all good … those are good products and good options and good ways to get your garage floor covered.
Robert, thanks so much for calling us from Columbus, Ohio. 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
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