Are you tired of those ugly black spots on your garage floor caused by oil leaks from your car? You know what I mean, you back out of the garage and there’s a black puddle of oil that leaked of your engine the night before. These are not only ugly they are also dangerous as they can be very slick if you accidently step in the oil and there happens to be a little water from rain or snow melt on the floor. But there is an even more dangerous situation: try walking through the house after accidently stepping in some oil and see if you don’t take your life in your wife’s hands.
Of course the first step to solving this problem is to fix the leak in the car. If you are a weekend mechanic then most of the time this is something that can be handled but if not, take it to shop and find out where the leak is coming from.
The second step is to deal with the floor. Degreasing the floor and then applying a good garage floor sealant will help to protect the surface of the concrete and also make any spills you do have less dangerous because the sealant will usually come with an anti-slip additive to spread on over the coating. Getting the floor absolutely clean is the first step to apply the sealant. Use a good quality degreaser first and then wash again with soap and water. You will need to put in some muscle at scrubbing. I have found a 16” or 18” floor broom works very well for this as you can put a lot of pressure down on the floor when you are working the detergent in.
After rinsing all the soap off the floor check to be sure you don’t have any petroleum left. This is very simple to do by checking for water beading. If the surface water seems to seep unto the surface of the concrete then the sealant will bond very well but if the water beads on the surface, this is usually shown by little spots or puddles that sit on top, then the sealant will not be able to bond and you will need to degrease and scrub some more.
After the floor is cleaned let it sit till completely dry and then apply the garage floor sealant. Once it is rolled out you can cast the anti-slip material on top which will give you good footing. Some additives are mixed in with the sealant before application but I like to spread it on top as it seems to give a better result.
You can generally walk on the surface in about 18 hours but don’t drive your car in for about 3 days. Check the label for curing times.