What simply does not stain it
This is the whole reason to own a coated floor, and it covers the vast majority of what hits a
garage:
- Motor oil, gear oil, grease, transmission fluid
- Antifreeze and washer fluid
- Mud, leaves, grass clippings, pet messes
- Snowmelt and road salt brine
- Most spilled paint, if you get to it before it skins over
- Soda, beer, food, anything from a party in the garage
These sit on top of a sealed film instead of soaking into porous concrete. Wipe, rinse, done. On
bare concrete every one of those is a permanent dark spot.
What marks it if you leave it
Time on the surface is the variable. These are fine if you deal with them and a problem if they
live there:
- Road salt residue. Does not damage the coating, but builds a dull white haze in the
flake texture over a winter. Rinse the floor on a warm day and it disappears. Let it sit from
December to March and people decide their floor "lost its shine."
- Rubber-backed mats and cardboard left in one spot for months. Some rubber plasticizers
migrate and discolor the coating underneath. Move them occasionally, and use mats made for
coated floors.
- Hot tires parked in the same two spots on a coating that was not fully cured, or on a
cheap system with no polyaspartic top coat. On a proper build this is a non-issue, which is most
of the point of the top coat.
- Leaves and mulch sitting wet. Tannin staining on a light colored outdoor coating.
- Driveway sealer tracked in on tires while it is still fresh.
The short list that can mark it permanently
- Battery acid. Neutralize and rinse immediately. This attacks the coating and the
concrete under it.
- Brake cleaner, carb cleaner, acetone, lacquer thinner, paint stripper. These are
formulated to dissolve coatings and they will do exactly that. Wipe immediately and rinse.
- Hot slag from welding or cutting. Burns a divot. Use a welding blanket.
- Rust pushing up from metal inside the slab. This one is not a surface stain at all. See
our guide on rust bleeding through.
- Anything acidic left standing. Vinegar, citrus cleaners, pool acid. Over time acids dull
the gloss in a patch, and that patch is permanent.
Gloss, color and how much shows
Two choices made at the estimate change how much you will ever notice:
- A satin top coat hides marks far better than high gloss. Gloss shows every scuff, every
dust film and every water spot, in the same way a black car does.
- Mid-tone grey blends with mixed chip hide the most. Very light floors show tire marks
and grime. Very dark floors show dust and salt. More on this in our guide to
colors and flake blends.
What to do about a mark you already have
- Warm water and a soft deck brush first. Most things come up here.
- A pH-neutral cleaner or a degreaser for oil and grease, then rinse so no film is left.
- Never reach for acid, bleach at strength, abrasive pads or steel wool. They cause worse damage
than the mark.
- If it is still there, it is in the film rather than on it. Call us. Localized damage can often
be abraded and spot recoated, and a whole floor can be refreshed with a new top coat without
disturbing the base or the flake.
Day to day care is in our guide on cleaning and
maintaining a polyaspartic floor.
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