Garages protect vehicles, serve as makeshift workshops, and store lots of our household clutter. Their floors also collect stains, scratches, and greasy buildup that won’t go away with just a broom and a hose. In this guide, we look at the cost of painting a garage floor and all its related expenses so you can budget better.
The national average cost to paint a garage floor is $810, with the typical price range of $540 to $1,080, or between $1.80 and $3.60 per square foot.
In this cost guide:
- Average Overall Cost
- Cost Estimator by Size
- Other Factors That Affect Cost
- Related Services
- Alternative to Paint
- Benefits of Covering Garage Floor
- Pro Cost vs. DIY Cost
- Cost by Location
- FAQs
Average Cost to Paint a Garage Floor
The total cost of your project will depend on the scope of the job, your location, the extent of repairs needed, and the finish options you pick.
| National average cost | $810 |
| Typical price range | $540 – $1,080 |
| Extreme low-end cost | $300 |
| Extreme high-end cost | $3000 |
Cost per Square Foot
| National average cost | $2.70 |
| Typical price range | $1.80 – $3.60 |
The national average cost to paint a garage is $810, or $2.70 per square foot. This average covers the cost of materials and labor to paint a standard 300-square-foot garage floor.
At the lower end, it may cost as little as $300 for a simple, two-coat paint job. While at the higher end, an extensive project including repair and restoration work may cost as much as $3,000.
The cost of your project also varies with your choice of paint and whether you choose to do it yourself or hire a professional.
Garage Floor Paint Cost Estimator by Garage Size
The size of your garage changes the final price of your painting project. The larger your garage, the more materials and labor it needs, and up goes your price tag. The average cost per square foot to paint a garage floor is $2.70, with a typical range between $1.80 and $3.60.
Typically, garage sizes in the U.S. can range from 240 square feet to 800 square feet to accommodate one or multiple vehicles. Homeowners can easily calculate and estimate what it would cost to paint their garage.
Some common garage sizes and their costs are:
| Garage Size | Average Cost |
| 250 sq. ft. or one-car garage | $450 – $900 |
| 500 sq. ft. or two-car garage | $900 – $1,800 |
| 750 sq. ft. or three-car garage | $1,350 – $2,700 |
Other Factors That Affect Cost
Here are a few other factors that will change the cost of your project:
Paint Type
There is a wide variety of paints and coatings available. Based on what type of paint you choose, the total price of your painting job may escalate.
Here are some paint choices:
- One-Part Epoxy Paint: This is the most inexpensive option, costing $35 per can. These paints have an acrylic or latex base with small amounts of epoxy resins mixed in. They’re more durable and longer lasting than simple acrylic or latex paint but slightly harder to apply since epoxy coating dries up quickly.
- Two-Part, Water-Based Epoxy Paint: This type comes with hardeners mixed in to make the paint last longer. The typical cost of a can is $140, which covers a 500-square-foot floor. Two-part epoxy paint is non-porous and offers the best impact, chemical, and stain resistance of any garage floor paint. Most epoxy paints are self-priming, too.
- Polyurethane Paint: This paint is opaque, heavy, and has excellent properties of adhesion, weathering, and flexibility. It is also oil, grease, and chemical resistant. You can get it in a wide variety of colors. The cost can range from $90 to $220.
- Oil-Based Enamels: Mostly ideal for concrete garages, oil-based enamel paint is easy to apply and seeps through the surface to give a naturally fine finish. It’s another great low-budget option but not very long-lasting. One gallon can cost between $50 and $75.
- Latex Paint: This paint contains a small amount of acrylic resin and is super easy to work with. However, it isn’t quite as durable as other options. A gallon of latex paint costs around $42 a can on average.
- Acrylic Paint: With a high acrylic resin content, this paint type costs twice as much as latex paint. The cost is justified by its durability and weather resistance, although acrylic paint may fade in the sun over time.
Floor Condition
Painting a garage floor isn’t just about dousing the surface with color. The floor needs to be clean enough to allow the paint to adhere to it. If your garage floor has cracks, gaps, potholes, stains, or lots of dust, and you make the mistake of painting it as is, the paint will crack and peel soon.
Similarly, if your house has been struck by flood, fire, hurricane, or another disaster, you’ll have to spend some serious money on restoration too. This could cost from $1,270 to $38,325.
Prep Costs
Before the pros can paint your garage floor, they may need to do some work to get it ready. The floor needs to be clean of dirt, dust, or debris, free from stains, and treated for cracks. Your garage floor might also need to be primed and sanded; that would add to the overall cost.
All the extra work the contractors do to prepare the floor surface adds more time to the job, increasing the cost. However, homeowners can save this cost by doing most of this prep work themselves. This usually includes easy, doable tasks such as power washing, taping or fixing cracks.
Labor
Labor mobilization, setup time, and minimum hourly charges vary depending on different localities. The pros will plan, bring in the required tools and equipment to prep the area, apply paint, and clean up after the work is done.
Garage floor painting typically takes 5 to 8 hours for a 300-square-foot garage. The larger your garage, the higher the cost. On average, expect to pay anywhere between $25 and $100 per hour when you hire someone to paint your garage.
Related Services
A few related services homeowners might want to consider:
Driveway Sealing or Resurfacing
If your garage needs help, your driveway might, too. On average, driveway sealing costs around $176 to $444. If you have an asphalt driveway, resurfacing costs run from $1,100 to $3,000.
House Paint
Ever start a simple repair project that motivates you to renovate the whole space? Some homeowners also get their houses painted when getting the garage floor done. Professional exterior painting costs somewhere between $3,130 and $8,740.
If you’re going for a full inside-out paint job, it would cost around $1,216 to $3,269 to get the interior of your house painted by a pro.
Alternatives to Garage Floor Paint
Painting your garage floor might not always be the best solution. Harsh climates, heavy garage usage, and other factors could wear away paint quickly.
Here are some options besides paint that you might want to look at:
Garage Floor Epoxy
Epoxy floor coating is formulated to protect your floors. It’s a mixture of hardening agents and synthetic resins that form a hard, plastic-like coating on the surface. Epoxy creates a durable, weather, and stain-resistant surface that protects your garage floor against grease, traffic, and chemical spills.
You can choose from water-based, solvent-based, and solid epoxies, depending upon your needs and budget. Between the three, solid epoxy coating is the most durable and most expensive. An epoxy garage floor costs between $1,440 and $3,000, or $4 and $9 per square foot.
Interlocking Floor Tiles
You can also cover your garage floor with durable floor tiles. They’re easy to install and replace. These tiles are usually available in two varieties – rubber and heavy-duty vinyl. You can install them over a concrete surface to hide small imperfections.
Interlocking tiles are quite affordable. You can also find peel-and-stick styles that are easier and quicker to install. However, they’re not as long-lasting as other floor-covering options. Chemicals, spills, and grease might even leak through the intersecting points.
Concrete Stain or Sealer
If your options and budget are limited and you have a concrete garage floor, simply sealing or staining it will offer excellent results. A concrete sealer will repel stains, and level and smooth the surface, making it look like new.
Look for a solvent-based sealer since these offer exceptional floor protection and create a nice “wet” look. Concrete stains are typically see-through, i.e., you can see the floor beneath. It’s cheap and requires only a thin coat to make your floor look attractive. A concrete sealer won’t chip off easily and lasts longer than paint.
Carpet
Carpets in a garage might sound bizarre, but there are mat-like carpets that are specially designed to protect surfaces that get lots of traffic. These carpet mats can resist stains, weather elements, grease, and oil spills. You can power wash them or simply just wipe the surface to treat a spill.
Carpets are easy to install, too. A simple peel-and-stick variety allows you to line carpet as you like or combine different colors and patterns to make the garage look attractive.
Roll-Out Vinyl Flooring
Roll-out flooring, as the name suggests, unrolls on your garage floor, and you can cut off the excess. It will protect your floor against spills, grease, or oil stains, and scratches.
This option might also be the easiest to maintain. You can simply wipe the surface clean or wash it, but it isn’t easy to repair if it gets damaged.
Polyurea Polyaspartic
This quick-setting material is actually more durable than epoxy and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor spaces. To give a decorative effect, it can be applied with paint chips.
But this flooring material needs to be installed with absolute precision because it sets very quickly. It is also more expensive than the other options on our list.
Benefits of Covering Your Garage Floor
If you’re wondering why you even need to coat the garage floor, here are some reasons:
- Protects The Floor: Painting your floor will make it more durable and resistant to chemicals, oil stains, mold, water, and mildew than the bare surface. Some paint types will also protect against impact.
- Boosts Appearance: Garage floor coating instantly enhances the appearance of your garage. Chipped, scuffed, and stained floors are not only unsightly but are potentially hazardous too. So, fixing your garage floor with some paint is a good idea. Paint is light reflective and will also brighten up an otherwise grim area of the house.
- Easy to Clean: A painted garage floor becomes easy to maintain. All it takes is a simple dust mop, or rag cloths to wipe the floor clean. You will automatically be dealing with less dirt after the paint job, but if there’s a spill you can easily mop it away.
- Keeps Your Garage and Vehicles Clean: The majority of the dust deposited on your vehicle, laundry machine, workbench, shelves, and other items stored in the garage comes from a dusty floor, especially in concrete garages. The surface slowly breaks down into small dust particles over time. This airborne dust will settle on everything in the garage with air movements when you open or close the garage door. Painting your garage floor will fix this issue.
- Improves Hygiene: A damaged garage floor harbors dust and dirt in its pores, which sticks to feet and shoes and finds its way inside your home. Not to mention the dangers of carrying a chemical spill inside with your shoes. This can easily be avoided by painting the garage as it prevents dust, dirt, and grime from collecting on the floor.
- Enhances Traction: Bare concrete garage floors can be slippery when wet or when they get worn. Floor paint can help improve floor traction and make your garage much safer.
Pro Cost vs. DIY Cost
Applying paint to your garage floor is a doable job. You can easily save 10% to 30% of the cost in most cases. You will, however, need a range of tools to do the job. All these materials are affordable and readily available at any hardware store. They include:
- Protective gear
- Cleaning supplies – broom, mop, detergent to clean the grease
- Concrete filler to repair cracks
- Spatula to apply and smooth the filler in cracks
- Concrete etcher to prepare the floor
- Primer
- Masking tape
- Nylon brush
- Roller cover
This project can take five to 15 hours to complete, depending on your experience, the number of coats you’re applying, and of course the square footage of your garage. But you can save decent money this way. The only cost you’ll bear is purchasing the paint and supplies, which can range from $35 to $220.
On the other hand, hiring a pro will cost more, but they will get the job done much quicker. The job will also last longer since they have advanced equipment, more experience, and better application techniques. The cost to get your garage floor professionally painted runs from $540 to $1,080.
Cost to Paint a Garage Floor By Location
The cost of garage floor paint will likely be the same in any part of the country, but labor is another story. Hourly labor rates are higher in populated, big cities as compared to smaller towns and cities. Higher labor costs will increase the overall cost of professional painting.
Moreover, the climate of your region may affect the time it takes to finish the job. Climate factors such as high temperatures, humidity, and extreme wind will make painting more challenging than it has to be. This increases the time it takes to finish the job and raises labor costs just as much as higher rates can.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the job is done by professionals, it should last 15 to 20 years. The longevity depends on the number of coats applied, the quality and type of paint used, and how well the surface was prepped before application.
The best color options for garage floors include gray, beige, tan, almond, or amber. These colors aren’t too light, appear clean, and are easy to manage.
Wait for at least 16 hours before you walk on a freshly painted garage floor. However, you should follow the advice of your pros because different types of paint take varying amounts of time to dry.
DIY or Hire a Pro to Paint Your Garage Floor?
Painting a garage floor can be a tough job. There’s a lot of extensive labor involved, from clearing out all your belongings and cleaning the garage floor of the tiniest dust particles to priming the surface. And finally, then can you paint.
If you’re not up for the challenge, Paint Gnome connects you to the best painters in your area. They come prepared with the right equipment, tools, and supplies needed at each step and know what they’re doing.
Note: PaintGnome may get a referral fee for matching you with contractors in your area.
Main Photo by: Decorative Concrete King / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
