Garage floors are one of the most high traffic areas of most homes. Not only do they feature the constant foot traffic of those entering and leaving the house, they also need to withstand the weight and abrasion of tires, as well as the chemical spills from oil and other acidic materials. This is not to mention the harm of the freeze/thaw cycle if water gets into the concrete, in addition to the oversaturation of sodium if you track road salts into your garage. In short, they require a significant level of strength and protection, or else they will likely crack and degrade, leading to costly repairs.
There are two main solutions to this problem, and they both involve treating the concrete with a high quality concrete sealer. The first is to use an epoxy sealer. Epoxies are surface level sealers whose large particles of chemical sealant cannot penetrate past the tiny surface pores natural to all concrete. The epoxy will pool of the surface of the concrete to be spread out evenly during the application process. As a result of this process, the epoxy will bond to the surface of the concrete substrate, leading to comprehensive protection from heat, water, chemical spills, abrasions, and so on. Epoxies are an excellent choice, especially if you want to add some visual appeal in the form of paint chips or decorative quartz to your concrete.
Epoxies, however, will change the surface texture of your concrete from that of natural concrete to a smoother surface, similar to what you would find in an airport or large retail store. If you happen to prefer a natural concrete garage floor, you should choose the second main solution, concrete densifiers. Concrete densifiers are also necessary if you want to polish your garage floor – be sure to apply one before the polishing or grinding process begins, as that would be too late, leading to widespread crumbling.
Concrete densifiers work by penetrating past the surface of the concrete to chemically react with the naturally occurring minerals and compounds to create more calcium silicate hydrate, or CSH, which is the compound that gives concrete its noted strength. Concrete densifiers come in two main varieties: sodium-based and lithium-based. For garage floors, we always recommend lithium-based concrete densifiers, as they are better when your car tracks in salt from the roads. Sodium-based concrete densifiers will lead to an oversaturation of sodium in your concrete, while the lithium concrete densifiers will help retain the balance of salts and chemicals necessary to preserve strength and longevity.
