Garage mat recs?

Can anyone recommend a good garage mat? We just moved to a new house and I get to park my car in the garage for the first time ever. My wife has always had that luxury.

Anyway, I’m looking to protect the garage floor from melting snow, road salt, etc. I’m looking for something waterproof with 3 or 4 raised edges (ideally, I could have it drain to the outside). There’s a bunch on Amazon, but I’m hoping someone will have tried one and can endorse it.

Thanks!

 

@Tahoe

I would use lots of caution and care with these floor rubber type materials that are only covering the floor but not providing a full blown barrier protection. In garages you will find often moisture and the last thing you want to do is create and environment where mold grows and then you have a big cleanup latter on. If I may suggest, why dont you chemically clean the concrete garage first and then paint it with an epoxy type material and you can always clean it and most importantly "see it" at all times.


Just a thought. Good luck!

 

I have been eye balling the Armor All garage mat.

$73 Armor All Premium Original Small Vehicle Garage Floor Mat, (8'4” x 7'4"), Protects Surfaces, Transforms Garage, Absorbent/Waterproof/Durable (Includes Double Sided Tape) (USA Made) (Charcoal)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQOQCX2

 

That’s great advice. I wish I would’ve posted this before spending the last week filling my garage with detritus from our last house!

 

I personally had those mat floors in my last house. Water and all kinds of crap got under there and molded and ate up the concrete. I second just spending the time and energy for epoxy floor. You'll thank yourself

 

Most hangars where aircraft maintenance is performed have this process accomplished. After the epoxy cures, fuels and oils (water too) will not penetrate to get underneath into the porous concrete. A bit of non slip material can be mixed in the paint for traction as well.

 

Dude. You got a 4r it belongs outside..for all your neighbors to see.

 

Back in the day when I drove in salt and parked in the garage I just used sheets of cardboard to protect the floor. Most of the salty water crap sat on top of the cardboard and I just threw it out in the spring. It’s not fancy or pretty but cheap and saved the salt damage on the floor

 

I had a neighbor who put the epoxy on his garage floor but after a few years of wheel well snow/salt melting it started to disintegrate, was a mess. Maybe there are different types of epoxy’s?

 

I wish I knew what the previous owners used to "paint" my garage floor with. It isn't an epoxy, and has worn a good bit now in the tire track/parked tire spots. But coming in after brined roads, etc. and it basically looks almost as good as when we moved in over 10 years ago.

 

Epoxy floor is only as good as the prepared surface it goes on. All paint, oil and everything else needs to be cleaned. The best i've seen was a complete grind/resurfacing of the concrete before adding the epoxy. Even then, parking pads are needed for tires to avoid direct heat to the finished product.

 

As always, proper preparation of the concrete surface is the hardest part of the job. Personally, I have not seen grinding of the surface, but it does make sense in some cases. I'm reminded of hangar floors that were cleaned and epoxy painted that before and after had 747s parked on them. Imagine the weight of a 747 parked on a surface for a month or more in some cases, and I have never seen the epoxy lift from a properly prepared surface.

 

All a bunch of work and expense and chance of concrete damage from some coverings. The inside of my house is as clean as anyone's. The garage is plain concrete with no covering or epoxy or other crap. I have lived in every type of climate this country has to offer for more decades than I care to count. Any dirt, etc. can be cleaned up. I don't expect a garage floor to gleam like a showroom. If your vehicle is leaking fluids, even that can be cleaned up, but then you have a different problem to solve. No offense to the "my garage is a showroom" guys I once had two classic cars in my garage and showed them off. No one ever commented negatively on my garage floor.