Why would anyone want to install garage flooring? Won't it get just as dirty, and just as damaged as the concrete itself? It seems kind of futile…until you look at the facts.

A few excellent reasons to install garage flooring come to mind. First off, some people just want a softer step in their garage. It's amazing how much nicer it can be to walk around your garage when your back isn't violently jarred with every single step, especially if you, like me, have lower back issues. A garage floor coating will also look a lot nicer than plain concrete to most eyes. In fact, many people will install something simply to cover old, cracked, and stained concrete, if not protect it from such a fate in the first place. Once you stain concrete with motor oil, transmission fluid, or brake fluid or the like, you'll appreciate just how easy every other type of solution is to clean. In fact, most garage floor covering solutions are nearly, if not completely impossible to stain.

There are many varied options to choose from when you go looking at your floor options, and you will have to factor in lots of personal factors.

The smallest type of garage floor coverings would be containment mats, and they're really only good for catching spills or laying on if you're working in one small spot. Of course, there are also garage floor mats that will cover the entire floor, as well as sticky garage floor tiles that can be laid out.

The easiest to install that would actually cover the entire floor would be the type of garage floor mat that you cut to fit the garage itself. Garage floor tile is about as easy to install, but a lot more time consuming since you'll have to clean and prepare the floor, and then lay down each individual tile. The cheapest solution would, of course, is paint, though if there are cracks and other deformities in the concrete, it won't really help you any. An epoxy garage floor coating would be the most comprehensive but most complicated of the garage floor coatings, and results in a nice, durable garage floor coating if you're willing to spend the time and money. Pretty much all of these are designed to channel liquid and debris out of the garage and are equally easy to clean, with the exception of garage floor paint that, obviously, does not channel liquid.

Regardless of your decision, there are lots of options out there. You could always pay someone to install it for you, though most garage floor solutions are pretty easy to install on your own. It really depends on how much time and money you're willing to invest. Installing your own garage floor can be extremely cost effective, though, and even though it may seem like it's a luxury today, eventually you'll wonder how you ever got by with just a cold, gray concrete garage floor.