Recently we discussed the importance of making sure your garage floor was up to snuff when you list your house for sale. At that time we discussed how to repair cracks in the concrete and clean away stubborn stains like grease and oil. Today, in the interest of house styling for sale, we’d like to let you know how you can give your garage floor a total makeover.
Increasingly, garages and other outbuildings are more important in the successful sale of your home. People love bonuses. If you have a potting shed, a garage, or even a clever granny flat on your property the space within them qualifies as extra living space. This could significantly raise the price of your house. If your garage has finished walls and a flawlessly clean floor, that’s even better.
Coat It
Even 20 years ago, a trip to the mechanic with your car would land you in a stained, grease smelling garage. These days it’s not unusual to see a sparkling, vinyl-look floor in the service department of car dealerships. (It makes the customer feel impressed with the high-end service they are about to receive.) The use of epoxy resin finishes to floors in heavy-duty usage areas can make a plain, old garage floor dazzle.
Epoxy coatings simply require you to mix the two component parts of the flooring medium and paint it on. You also have the option of adding coloured chips to give you the look of granite.
Stain It
Very popular and growing more so every day is the beautiful effects of concrete stain. Available in a rainbow of colours from rust to the blues of the Barrier Reef, this concrete colour medium gets mixed up in a regular garden sprayer and sprayed on to clean concrete. After applying a second coat and allowing it to dry, you spray the floor down and broom away the excess. The final coat is a sealer that will keep your concrete from soaking up unwanted stains.
Tile It
Depending on how you want to use your garage, you can find tiles in every material from traditional travertine to interlocking plastic peel and stick tiles. Most of these can be installed by a homeowner who has just a bit of experience. If house styling for sale is your aim, and you want to DIY this project, avoid complicated tile patterns that require careful planning. A black and white checkerboard pattern might look sensational, but if you don’t plan carefully, it could end up being a headache. Know your limitations.
Mat It
Full-sized garage floor mats are quite commonly seen these days. These heavy-duty mats help to insulate the floor for noise and thermal exchange and provide enough texture to keep the slip-factor under control. You simply roll them out and “Presto”, you have a beautifully clean and professional-looking garage.
Just Paint It
Of course, painting the floor is also an option. Applying paint is often your least expensive alternative and it can serve to give you the same fresh look as more expensive treatments. You go about it just the same way you would a wall or a patio floor. Make sure the floor is clean and dry, then roll on paint that’s specially formulated to cover concrete or brick. Talk to your paint retailer about the products best suited to your project.
As with every other project we can think of, the key to a good-looking finished product is to do the prep work carefully and thoroughly. Don’t imagine that you can simply gloss over a crack or a rough spot. Particularly if you’re going to use a single-coloured treatment like paint, every flaw will show up brilliantly unless you take pains to make sure the floor is smooth in the first place.
Don’t forget to spruce up your garage floor while you’re house styling for sale. A really well-done garage floor can make your home feel top-notch. It can also help to fetch you a much higher price in the end. If in doubt, ask your home stylist or your selling agent if such a project will help you sell your house for top dollar.
