Painting a Garage Floor

Tom Kraeutler asks,

My mother’s home was built in 1991, and the concrete garage floor was evidently etched, primed and painted with concrete paint. By 2001, it was still in good shape, and cleaned and repainted, but now it’s peeling a lot!

The contractor says that all he has to do is power wash it to remove the grease, “feather sand” the peeling areas and apply primer to them, and then apply the concrete paint. Is this the correct method of repair for the double-car garage’s floor? The contractor has quoted us $350 to do the job.

Our Answer

The approach sounds correct for painting a garage floor, but the price seems a little low for the project at hand─that could either mean the contractor is offering you a discounted price to correct an error, or isn’t actually at the professional skill level required for guaranteed results.

If you hadn’t the first time around, check this contractor’s license and insurance status, and follow up on available references to see if similar results and repairs have occurred with other customers. And if you go forward with this contractor, beware of the power-washing aspect of the project: following a wash-down, the garage floor must dry completely before primer and finish are applied, or you’ll have the same problem all over again.

Painting a garage floor is a straightforward home improvement project, but if the surface is the least bit damp, the new paint just won’t stick.