Garage floors are having a hard life because you move heavy vehicles over the floor. The oil drips, extreme temperatures, and the substance that come with tires affect the life of the garage floor. As result, the garage floor might crack up, caving in, shifting, and crumbling. When the garage suffers from the factors mentioned, with time, it needs repairing or installing a new floor.
The garage floors are supposed to provide a durable and level surface that can bear the frequent load and use. The leveled garage floor means that your garage would be sealed all the way when the garage door is closed. If the garage floor is not leveled, the air, rain, or snow would easily come inside making more damages.
How To Install New Flooring in Your Garage?
Why Garage Floors Crack?
The cracking of the garage floor is inevitable. The material used in the garage floors such as concrete is not able to bend or stretch without cracking or breaking. Depending on the temperature and weather, the concrete expands and contracts. As a result, the garage floor gets cracks. Most garage floors are built with contraction joins that permit cracking.
The contraction joints are cut joints from the saw or deep grooves. In a two-door garage, you will see four separate slabs. These are contraction joints. The grooves create a line of weakness in the concrete. Hence, the cracks follow the groove rather than through the surface. Even though with contraction joints, you still will be having cracks in other parts of the garage. It happens when the soil settles under the slab or due to uncontrollable variables.
The cracks in the concrete floor can be repaired because they are caused to environmental changes rather than structural.
When to Replace or Install New Garage Floor?
To repair the concrete of your garage floor, you can DIY fix it by using epoxy, concrete sealer, etc. If the damage is severe than expected, you will have to install new flooring in your garage. Before we move to the DIY repair and installation, we must know the reasons behind the garage floor damage. It will help you to avoid them in the future and save the garage floor for a longer time.
- Incomplete preparation work required before the original installation of the floor such as insufficient reinforcement and inadequate soil can cause cracks and damages in the concrete floor.
- The poor-quality aggregate used for concrete mixes such as iron pyrite can corrode over time.
- Due to poor soil drainage, the water that floats on the floor forms moisture. As a result, the foundation of the floor gets cracked.
- The freeze-thaw cycle. It is because the garages are poorly heated or sometimes not at all.
- As the soil shifts, the concrete gradually settles in the place.
- Salt-based deicer brought with the car tires in the winter erodes the concrete floor.
To avoid serious problems in the future, you should be replacing the previous flooring with a new one.
DIY Garage Floor Replacement Process
Once you have decided to replace the garage floor with new options, you must follow the replacement process:
- Find an alternative parking lot for your vehicles. Move the appliances and other belongings of the garage to the storeroom.
- Now remove and demolish the current flooring.
- To reach the soil ground for leveling, you will have to dig deeper.
- Reinforce and repair the foundation of the floor, if necessary.
- For separation, protection, and reinforcement, install a geotextile membrane.
- For moisture and water draining in the garage, set up the drain.
- Now fill in the gravel (3/4”) and compact it.
- Put a vapor barrier in the place.
- For reinforcement, you can install fiber mesh or wire mesh.
- For the new floor, pour the concrete.
- Before you move your cars, bicycles, and garage belongings back to the garage, make sure that the concrete floor is cured properly.
DIY Garage Floor Installation Tools
You can DIY repair your concrete garage. If you are having a concrete garage, you can do the floor paint to make it look good or you can epoxy or concrete sealer to repair the garage flooring. The tools you will be needing to repair or install a new garage floor will be:
- Workshop Vacuum
- Scraper
- Broom
- Dustpan
- Knee Pads
- Gloves
- Chisel
- Safety Goggles
- Ball-Peen Hammer
- Trowels
- Soft-Bristled Brush
Floor Option | Installation |
Painted Concrete | To cover the damage and stains |
Sealed Concrete | Protects the floor from tear and wear |
Stained Concrete | Decorative coloring with a marbled finish |
Epoxy Coating | Gives a chemical, hard, and solvent resistant finish to the floor |
Rollout Mats | Hassle-free option to protect the garage floor |
Rigid Snap-Together Tiles | Easy to install for heavy loads with perforates tiles for water draining |
Installing New Flooring in Garage – Safety Measures
There are certain indications through which you can get to know that your garage floor needs repairing or replacing. If you plan to install new flooring in your garage such as interlocking tiles, epoxy floor coating, rolling mats, etc. you will be needing tools to complete the task. Each flooring style requires different steps and techniques for installation.
Some are easy to install, like interlocking tiles, you will have to set the tiles like puzzle pieces. Make sure that you opt for the best and easy option according to your garage needs.
