Your Guide to Oil-Resistant Garage Flooring
If your garage sees vehicles, repairs, maintenance, or storage of machinery, having an oil-resistant floor is critical to durability and safety. Preventing ugly oil stains that lead to car accidents provides incentive enough to investigate options beyond raw concrete. What do you need to know about garage flooring that handles such abuse?
Hazards of Oil Spilled on Bare Concrete
Oil dripped or spilled from cars on an unfinished concrete slab presents several issues:
1) Unsightly Staining – Oil splatter creates dark stains difficult to remove from pores without harsh solvents. Stain molecules permanently alter the concrete surface once penetrated.
2) Slip Hazards – Oily surfaces in garages become dangerously slippery, increasing the chances of falls, accidents, or injury. Lack of friction and low surface profile of smooth concrete exacerbates the issue as contaminants reduce grip drastically which vehicles and pedestrians rely on. Static Coefficient of Friction (SCOF) gets significantly lower.
3) Chemical Degradation – Petroleum-based fluids degrade concrete integrity over time through de-icing salts, gasoline, and repetitive hot tire contact. Cracking, crumbling surfaces requiring resurfacing result.
Clearly, prevention equals the best solution via oil-resistant floor coatings or tiles rather than remediating unsafe concrete later.
Popular Garage Flooring Options Resilient to Oils
Epoxy Floor Coating Systems
Industrial-grade epoxy floors provide excellent protection against oil and grease stains. 100% solids epoxies will not absorb chemicals while delivering resistance to impacts, abrasion, and hot tires. Textured surfaces ensure safety with grip additives like color chips blending durability and aesthetics. DIY application risk however degrades performance, so retaining professional contractors is advised.
Polyaspartic & Polyurea Flooring
For rapid project turnaround, polyaspartic or polyurea floor coating systems offer comparable protection, durability, and chemical resistance to epoxies with quicker turnaround. Unique properties also enable coating decorative concrete, wood, and metal in home garages. Since these systems cure harder initially with better traction, independent contractors specializing in polyfloor application prove a good fit for homeowners wherein vehicle storage resumes quicker.
PVC Interlocking Tiles
For DIY-friendly upgrades, PVC interlocking tiles float atop the existing slab to provide a thicker protection layer. Tiles resist absorption of oils and solvents well. Easy installation and reconfigurability also accommodate access beneath for maintenance. Cost at $3-7/sq. ft. fits lower budgets but ensures compressive strength meets expected vehicle loading demand if oil resistance is truly paramount long term.
By understanding the core hazards introduced by routine oil contamination and the characteristics of various systems compatible with garage/shop environments, owners can protect family safety and concrete integrity through smart preventative planning – especially prudent before finishing space. Invest today in oil resistant systems to avoid persistent issues down the road.
