When you’re learning about something new like sealing a garage floor, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

Sealing your garage floor is important because the floor of your garage is constantly exposed to intense corrosion and deterioration due to road salt, oils and other auto fluids. By sealing your garage floor you can reduce the amount of dust and it makes cleaning up and sweeping the garage floor much easier. To protect the concrete from damage and stains a clear acrylic concrete sealer will do a good job. You can also use the same sealers on concrete driveways and / or walks or as a primer under acrylic or polyurethane floor paints. You must always take care where and when you apply the sealer because they cannot be applied over previously painted floors or other types of coatings.

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In order for you to do the garage floor sealing yourself you will need several materials and tools. Things like protective clothing, neoprene rubber gloves, good safety goggles, a stiff brush, at least one bucket, a paintbrush, a cartridge – style respirator with organic – vapor and small – particle filters, a paint roller with an extension handle, a paint tray, a medium nap roller cover, a concrete degreaser, and lastly of course some concrete sealer. In most cases you will need ½ gallon of sealer for approximately every 100 square feet that you wish to cover and protect.

Before you start sealing your garage floor you must clean the floor until it is free of all dirt, grease, grime, and oil. To clean the concrete floor thoroughly you should use a stiff scrub brush to apply the cleaner and concrete degreaser according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Allow the solution to lay & soak into the floor for 15 to 20 minutes more for stubborn stains after scrubbing them does not remove them completely. Once your are through cleaning you should rinse the floor thoroughly with clear water. Clean and rinse the floor as many times as you need to make sure the floor is totally clean and once complete let the garage floor thoroughly dry.

If you base what you do about sealing a garage floor on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Therefore make sure you get the whole sealing a garage floor story from informed sources.

While some concrete sealers contain some hazardous chemicals that may be harmful to the skin, harmful or irritating to your eyes, and have vapors that are not safe to breathe, the vast majority are acrylic. The best way to avoid any damage to your skin, eyes and lungs is to wear the protective equipment mentioned above. Such as the neoprene rubber gloves, the safety goggles, and the respirator with both the organic – vapor and solid – particle filter cartridges. Also while in the process of sealing the garage floor you should thoroughly ventilate the garage by opening all the outside doors and windows and use a large fan to keep the air moving if it’s not a winding day outside.

Once you have completed the cleaning and drying phase the concrete garage floor is ready to have the sealer applied. You should test the sealer in an inconspicuous area before applying it to the entire surface to determine how it will look. Areas of uneven density in the concrete may result in a light / dark appearance that you may find to be objectionable. If that is the case you may want to use a different type of sealer or one that has a darker tint. The easiest way to apply the garage floor sealer is to use a medium – nap paint roller with an extension handle. You should start in a rear corner and continue working your way out of the garage. Once you have finished sealing the garage floor, before you do anything else, you should allow the sealer to completely dry as indicated on by the manufacturer on the sealer bottle. Usually this will only take a few hours or so. To seal a concrete driveway the procedure is basically the same but it would be much quicker to use a garden type sprayer to apply the sealer to a large driveway. However you should spray with caution so you do not over spray onto other material due to the high risk of staining and having undesirable results.

When word gets around about your knowledge and expertise of sealing a garage floor, others who need to know about it will start to actively seek you out for your information.