Refinishing your garage floor with a fresh coat of paint is something anyone can do to freshen up and prolong the life of your garage floor surface for years to come. But to make it last, you should consider an epoxy floor finish from your local independent home improvement retailer. Not only will it last longer than a traditional finish, it will make a lasting impression on anyone who sees it.

In the first episode, we’re going to show you how to properly prepare the concrete surface of your garage. Then, in the second part, we’ll demonstrate the proper application techniques to ensure your new finish lasts for years to come. So let’s get started.

As with most painting projects, surface preparation is key to getting a good finish, especially for an older garage floor like the one you see here. For the epoxy paint to adhere properly, it must be clean. First, we’ll completely remove everything from the garage. Then we’ll scrape off any debris, like this drywall compound and dried on glue.

Then we’ll sweep the floor completely to remove dirt, dust and any other debris, such as sawdust.

Once the floor has been swept, now it’s time to hose the entire surface off. After hosing off the surface, we’ll check for beading water, which indicates that the surface has been sealed. The manufacturer of this product states that any sealer present must first be removed for the product to work correctly. With no beading water present, it looks like we’re in good shape and can proceed. But first we have to let the area dry completely. These floor fans should help speed the drying.

Now that our floor is dry, it’s time to check for any cracks or spalling in the concrete that we need to repair. Looks like we have some work to do. For the cracks, we have some liquid filler we simply pour into the crack. However, before we do that we have to clean the crack out completely with a putty knife or an old 5-in-1 painters’ tool like this one. Now we’ll vacuum out the remaining dust from the crack, and fill it with the crack filler using a putty knife to level off the beads.

Areas like this hole and this cracked area that is spalling will require some additional attention. To fill this type of hole, we first need to back chisel the bottom of the hole to give the filler something to hold onto. We can do this with a hammer and a small cold chisel. Notice how I’m back chiseling the bottom of the hole to create a notch for the patch to grab.

After we’re done, we’ll vacuum out the hole and it’s ready for the patching material. Use a putty knife to install patch material and let it dry according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

While we’re waiting for our patches to cure, we can do some additional investigative work to check for moisture problems in the concrete. According to the manufacturer, if your concrete is new poured, you have to wait 60 days for the concrete to cure before you can apply this product. To check for moisture problems in our floor, we’ll tape down this 2’x2’ piece of plastic wrap and let it sit for 24 hours, which is how long it will take our concrete patches to completely cure.

If any water droplets appear on the patch after 24 hours, it indicates that the concrete has moisture problems that need to be addressed first before proceeding. Looks like we’re good to proceed.

The next step is to scrub the floor using this product to etch the surface of the concrete. This will make it so the epoxy paint will adhere better. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, we’ll apply this product to the floor and use this stiff bristle brush to completely scrub the floor, concentrating on heavily stained areas.

The last bit of preparation is to completely rinse the floor with the garden hose. Let it dry and check for any remaining residue by wiping your finger over the floor to check for dust. If any remains rinse again.

There you have it. Now we’ll let our floor dry overnight and be ready to apply our coating tomorrow.

If you have questions about this or any other home improvement project, be sure to read our list of Frequently Asked Questions for this video. And be sure to print out our Project Instructions, which includes a Tools and Materials checklist, before visiting your local independent home improvement retailer. That’s where you’ll find all the products and helpful advice to complete your project. If you’re not sure where to find your local store, check out our Store Locator.

Good luck with your project and thanks for watching.

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