We've Got You Covered: The Best Garage Flooring of 2024, Tested

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When was the last time you gazed upon your garage floor with the appreciation it deserves? Garage floors are subject to all kinds of wear and tear. Enduring screeching tires, relentless spills, and winter salt, the garage floor sees it all and asks for nothing in return. It supports your mechanical projects and protects your vehicles from the elements.

However, before you gift your garage a new flooring option, you should consider which one is best for you. Join us as we test and assess various garage flooring for all your automotive and household needs.

Things to Consider When Shopping for a Garage Floor

Many people just throw a piece of carpet or rug on their garage floor for comfort and protection—but that old piece of cloth isn't ideal. There are a number of garage flooring options on the market today that can provide comfort and protection, are easier to keep clean, provide a more secure grip, and are better suited for whatever goes on in your garage.

Climate

Extreme temperatures or high levels of moisture can affect your garage floor's performance. Keeping your flooring out of direct sunlight is advisable to protect it from UV damage, which can cause it to warp or break. Similarly, some floorings, most notably vinyl flooring, will not perform as well in extreme humidity.

Ease of Installation

For most products, you can complete your flooring with a straight edge, a measuring tape, and a utility knife.

Durability

Protecting your investment is important, so durability is a major consideration. While all garage flooring is designed to be driven on and withstand various spills (to a certain point), they do have their limitations. We did our best to test durability over two weeks of exposure to fluids, but only time can tell.

Maintenance

Just like any other surface in the house, your garage floor will require some maintenance. Regular upkeep such as sweeping, vacuuming, and occasional mopping will make your flooring last as long as possible.

Price

Depending on the size of your garage, covering your entire floor can get expensive. Budget is a major consideration, especially if you've got a large space.

How We Evaluated Garage Flooring

When preparing for our garage floor test, we tried to gather a variety of different floorings on the market. The evaluation process began with the big question: Why do people get new garage flooring, and what are they looking to solve?

Most people are looking for an easy-to-install, easy-to-clean, durable way to protect the cement beneath from contaminants such as oil spills and salt. To test these aspects, we ran the following tests and parameters:

• Vacuum Test: How easy is it to vacuum up kitty litter?

• Particulate Test: Does kitty litter get between the seams and beneath the mat?

• Mechanics Creeper Test: Does the mat affect the mobility of a creeper?

• Long-Term Fluid Exposure: How does the mat react with automotive fluids after two weeks?

Coin Nitro Roll Garage Floor Mat

Installing fancy garage flooring is a fantastic way to keep your garage a bit cleaner. Some products do this duty more elegantly than others, but a Coin Nitro Roll from IncStores is by far the easiest to clean.

The flexible vinyl construction has no absorbent properties, which, depending on your preference, can be a plus or a minus. However, during our long-term test, fluid did get underneath the mat via the seams and left some discoloration on the concrete underneath. There is a concern that fluid can get trapped under there if the seams aren't protected.

But when it comes to dry messes, we found a simple vacuum sweep does the job. Dust does reduce the grippiness but is easy enough to wipe away with a damp cloth or a mop. We also had no issues using a creeper on the mat.

Coin nitro rolls are available in multiple colors, texture patterns, and a plethora of sizes. Get a size close to what you need (or order direct from Flooring Inc. to get custom sizes starting at $1.98/sq. ft.), and cut out the fine adjustments with a razor. For ease of keeping your garage clean, this is the flooring to get.

Oil Spill Mat

If you've got a vehicle or other toy that tends to leave pesky oil drips, consider one of these oil spill mats from AiBOB. They're highly absorbent and budget friendly—meaning it doesn't hurt that much to replace them.

However, they are only available in two sizes, which we found only really work under a vehicle or something with a larger footprint, like a riding lawnmower. It's not a bad idea to get the larger option and just cut to size. Leftover chunks can come in handy too.

In our long-term test, it easily absorbed various liquids without leaving any residue or discoloration behind. We were also able to use a creeper on the mat without any issues.

The mat is vacuumable, but we found it struggled with finer particles as they got stuck in the fibers, much like other types of carpet. But if you're trying to keep your garage tidy on a budget, these are the garage flooring mats to get.

Original Garage Floor Mat

We really love the wide range of size selections available for Armor All's garage floor mats. Paired with the ability to cut to size easily, it's a really versatile option to protect your garage floors from messes.

It's also highly absorbent and didn't leave much residue or discoloration, but we feel bigger spills would be more noticeable. Installation is quite easy, as it adheres to your garage's floor with double-sided tape.