Do it Yourself Garage Floors Save Money

David asks,

I am considering putting down a new floor over the concrete floors in my garage and breezeway. I’m thinking about hiring a company who which uses a “hybrid polymer” as the new floor. The price is about $5.95 a square foot which amounts to $3,100 based on the size of my garage and breezeway. Do you have any experience with this type of flooring? Also, since it would be far less expensive to paint the floors, would you recommend the latter?

Our Answer

Hybrid polymers are blends of paint resins that bind well to cement and have very good UV and abrasion qualities. Applications are known as “overlays” and more commonly referred to “skim coats.” Overlays are useful when the original concrete surface is worn, however, using this on a surface that is in good structural condition is over-kill and very, very expensive.

I definitely think you can do this yourself and save thousands of dollars. I’d recommend using an epoxy coating system. Epoxy system kits typically include a cleaning/etching solution used to wash the old floor down and get it ready for the new finish, a 2-part epoxy mix that ensures quick, thorough, cures and superior adhesion. The kits also include color chips, colorful flakes that are spread over the epoxy floor when wet and which give it an attractive, textured finish when fully dry.

Epoxy delivers a coating twice as strong as concrete for the toughest garage floor in one coat and costs less than 30 cent s a square foot, or about 20 times less than the hybrid polymer you were considering. I’d recommend you do this yourself and save the money for some nice garage cabinets!