Best garage floor paint[UK]: Top heavy duty concrete floor paints compared

Specification: Finish: Semi-Gloss, Touch Dry: 8-10 hours, Overcoat: 24-48 hours, Size: 20 L

Super Strong Durable Oil Based Floor Paint is my top pick for best garage floor paint in the UK. It is also one of the best value as well. The big thing that makes a quality floor paint as we discussed already is polyurethane which this is, and as expected solvent based. So don’t be surprised by the strong odour as it dries out! Their paint is semi sheen, its a semi gloss that isn’t too shiny. It looks lovely actually and once you follow the link you’ll notice this manufacturer has loads of different colours to choose from.

And what’s not to like about the price – it’s a steal at the moment. 20 Litres is huge and given you don’t get as much coverage as you would expect, no harm at all to buy a nice big tin. I used nearly ten litres of Polar when I did mine and it’s only 25m2. Granted I laid it on quite thick but still, two Polar 5 litre tins cost more than this paint when compared so this really is a bargain and justifies why I have chosen this as the best value for money garage floor paint in the UK.

In terms of application you know the score from reading my top tip – absolutely bone dry, and completely dust free. If it’s not dust free the paint adheres to the dust rather than the floor – pretty obvious but so important to get right. It’s recommended by most to roll on a concrete sealer first. Personally I never did this, I used PVA watered down, because its the exact same thing, but not following the manufacturer guidelines is always Russian roulette 😀

As you lay on your first coat of paint you’ll do so with a brush or roller. Roller is definitely favourable on large areas and don’t get too impatient. A full fay between coats is going to really help with the overall curing process. Looking back now, I would have definitely allowed 48 hours and tried to pick a run of warm dry weather and still used a heater fan!

The finish looks lovely though and a big thanks to Patricia for sending in some before and afters of using this paint with a grey pigment which looks fantastic:

As you can see this did a super job on pressed concrete and why I am kind of jealous this wasn’t available when I did my pressed concrete floor because when you compare this to the Polar I used, I feel this has my paint beaten hands down on price point. Once this has been on Amazon for another year I am willing to bet you never see this price again!

Pros:

• Super pricing
• Best quality and value floor paint in the UK at the moment
• Doesn’t flake, bonds superb
• Pretty easy to apply
• Can be thinned down for application

Cons:

• Hard to pick fault at this price and quality but needs plenty of drying time between coats.

Specification: Finish: Semi-Gloss, Touch Dry: 2-4 hours, Minimum Overcoating: 16-24 hours, Size: 5 L

First up is Polar Heavy Duty Garage Floor Paint. Given most of the paint in my review is polyurethane based they are nearly on a level playing field when you compare the chemical breakdown, but I quite like the semi gloss look of this paint with a decent range of colours (though only this light grey). When I first reviewed this a couple of years ago, when I used it, the price was much lower – it looks like all floor paints are way up on the last couple of years!

If it has one drawback it’s the coverage, there’s no way you’re getting 60m2 out of one tin. My garage is 25.5m2 and I didn’t even get close to two coats. I need to buy ten litres in the end which is fine but still don’t do your maths off their overly optimistic numbers. You’ll come up short and disappointed. I have to say though this is the general theme with all floor paints or so it seems. Whether it’s me or not I don’t know? It could well be that because the first coat used far more than the second…I also used a roller with a cut in brush, not sure if that changes the coverage, but anyway, that was my experience on pressed concrete that’s about fifteen years old.

As far as painting goes the key is preparation. Don’t sweep up, instead, hoover up. Make sure there is no overhanging cobwebs or anything that could fall into your paint for that matter. Have a really deep clean and vent the area well. Make sure it’s completely dry – polyurethane paint doesn’t like water at all during the curing process. So if it’s been raining outside the cure time between coats goes up dramatically.

If you had a heater it wouldn’t hurt either. It’ll help put a skin on the paint faster and should ensure you can lay another coat on the next day. Don’t rush that bit though, if the first layer isn’t cured you can trap in wet paint that’ll not cure until you smudge it with the wheels of your car 😀 Have you ever laid gloss too thick on a window or door frame? Well it never quite hardens fully and you can put your nail in it. That’s exactly what can happen to this paint too – so you don’t want to layer it too thick or too quickly. Talking of curing times, being solvent based, once this has a nights cure I’d have no hesitation getting as much air flow as possible. I didn’t stand on my floor for nearly a week. The fact I didn’t used thinners on my first coat and it takes a whole 24 hours to re-coat says it all. Yu’ve got to be patient and factor the correct time.

I wish I had used a bit of thinners on the first coat now, it would have definitely helped the cure time and had I checked the instructions carefully, that is actually recommended so I’ll say my fault on that one!

Pros:

• High quality paint
• Can drive on it
• Doesn’t scuff or scratch easily
• The mid-sheen grey finish is also gives a great look to the garage.

Cons:

• No where near the coverage stated
• Not the cheapest

Specification: Finish: Semi-Gloss, Touch Dry: 2-4 hours, Overcoat: 24-48 hours, Size: 20 L

When you compare this paint to my best pick for garage floor paint theres not much in these. They are both 20 litres, both quality polyurethane and solvent based. You look at the tin, then the price, and the similar semi gloss finish, and you start wondering if the paint is coming out the same manufacturers warehouse 😀 And jokes aside, that wouldn’t be a bad thing as if the top pick went out of stock here we have a backup plan at really great value for money too.

This paint is the real deal by the way, I hope my jokes didn’t put you off and send you to the top pick. This paint will dry rock hard and you’ll drive cars and forklifts over this with no problem at all. It’s so good I make this my top pick for industrial floor paint. The quality and price justify the pick, no question on that.

They suggest you’ll get as much as 200m2 our of a 20 litre tin. Like all guesstimates from manufacturers this is optimistic but theres no problem at all buying 20 litres of this and keep half when it’s cheaper than two branded 5 litre tins anyway. You can use this as fence paint, decking, any wood, and metal really so you’ll find a use – always better to have too much when taking on a project like this than too little!

Like all floor paint you want to PVA first, sorry use a specified concrete sealer that’s way more expensive than watered down PVA 😉 A little bit of research on substituting PVA for concrete sealer will have ones eyes firmly opened. Thank me later 🙂

You’ll love how deep the pigment is on this paint. You must put down two coats but you’ll notice just how great the floor is looking after one. Give it a good day or so between laying on a second so he paint has a decent bit of time to harden off and you’ll be good to go – if it’s warm and dry you can go the lower end of the recommended times but mine I left for a week after the second coat!. Application is a doddle too, just mix it up and away you go, no hardeners etc just be aware that solvent will hang about and it’ll need a good bit of venting for some weeks to come and you can’t go wrong!

Dry conditions as with any polyurethane paint is an absolute must, do a little research beyond my top tip is worth the ten minutes it’ll cost you.

Overall this is a definite buy and the best garage floor paint for commercial use at sensible money and pretty much like for like with my top pick, so I’d go with whichever is better priced at the time.

Pros:

• This slip resistant paint dries and comes out as a beautiful light to medium grey colour
• Super value
• Hard wearing
• Can drive on it
• Long lasting

Cons:

• Less feedback when compare to the top pick

Specification: Finish: Satin, Touch Dry: 2-4 hours, Overcoat: 16-24 hours, Size: 5 L

I tell you straight up the truth, I used the Leyland water based primer undercoat to seal in wood as it’s really really thin and blast it on with a paint sprayer with ease. The lack of quality on the first coat is a strange blessing, I don’t need to water it down or do anything – just blast and being so thin it doesn’t clog either :D. However, the Leyland Trade 264619 Heavy Duty Floor Paint is nothing like that watery stuff. It is super quality and made solvent based with polyurethane. So then, one of the top quality garage floor paints and how it made it to my list.

I reviewed this paint a coupe of years ago when I first made this review. It had been around a while but not on Amazon long. I already knew it was top draw so had no problem including it. Unsurprisingly as time has passed more and more positive feedback has piled up and its turned into one of the best selling and respected garage floor paints online in the UK. It literally is the highest rate garage floor paint in the UK at 4.6 Average over hundreds of reviews and ten of thousands of purchases. The good news is the value is still there for the quality when you compare it to a directly similar paint like the Polar with exception this can be used outside as well. All the same I couldn’t buy it because a slightly less quality paint (my top pick) is three times the value and not all that far behind in terms quality that it is a deal breaker!

Make sure your surfaces are literally sparkling. As with this range you’ll want to PVA to seal in your concrete first. Then give that some time to cure. Lay on your coats with a roller and a cutting in brush unless you’re a gluten for punishment 😀 and want to go at it with a four inch brush. Just so you know, if you decide that route you want get quite as nice finish – at least that’s what I found when I use some remainder I had on a garden gate with smooth timber. The hard foam roller came out much nicer! Oh and the other thing, I decided I’dd chill out and have a nice glass of wine while I did this. Massive mistake, the smell put me right off my wine, it even felt like I was drinking it (yuck). So yeah, it’s smelly, get the job out the way breathing in as little as possible and then shower, then relax with glass of wine or three 😀

Don’t panic if you notice the smell lingering for a few weeks, when you compare this to the other paints in the review it is totally normal, you should be pretty much smell free after about a month or so.

Overall it leaves a lovely finish, it is probably the actual best garage floor paint money can buy and also longest lasting, but at the value I just can’t rate it top overall.

Pros:

• The best quality in the UK and longest lasting
• Application is easy like normal paint
• Looks superb in Slate grey
• Lovely satin finish
• Ideal for heavy loads

Cons:

• Too expensive to ignore the top picks in this article.

Specification: Finish: Gloss, Touch Dry: 2-4 hours, Overcoat: 12-24 hours, Size: 20 L

TA Paints Floor Paint for Concrete Garage Workshops is a lovely quality paint. My biggest gripe though is the cost. When you compare it to the first pick ‘Super Strong Durable Oil Based Floor Paint’ you quickly realise there’s no way you can buy this paint without at least giving the top pick a go first. The cost difference is just too great and inline with Leyland and Polar.

Now don’t get me wrong, you often get what you pay for. But in this rare rare case I still think better value comes from the product that I believe is equal to the job: used as a garage floor paint no less! So let’s look at other differences. The list of applications for this paint is practically endless but to name a few that will be useful in the garage: Concrete, Stone, Brick, and Breeze Block – you could coat the entire garage if you like!

You’ll note this needs thinning for easier application. That’s a bit of a giveaway there’s more pigment per litre so it’s clearly going to be a bit better quality. But since the thinning is to just 10%, it’s pretty realistic to assume there isn’t a whole 300% difference 😀 from 10% thinning down…

If you do decide to go this route make sure you give ample time before heavy traffic, a week is probably the best but under the right conditions you can really reduce this considerably.

Pros:

• Excellent quality in line with Leyland maybe even better when compare for hard wearing finish
• Easy to lay on
• Leaves a really lovely look

Cons:

• Too costly for my money