There are all sorts of garage floor solutions. Some are professional solutions, such as our decorative chip floor coatings. Some are DIY, such as the epoxy paint kits sold at the big box stores or the snap together tiles. But the one we would recommend the least has to be the large, rollout floor mats people use to cover their garage floors.
5 Issues with Rollout Garage Mats
This article is specifically dealing with the large, heavy mats used to cover entirety or nearly all of a garage floor surface. It is not speaking to small catch mats slid under a vehicle or the thin, vehicle size mats.These large rollout garage floor mats suffer from issues detailed below.
Moisture trapped under the rollout mats
Even though site often state it won’t happen, we have repeatedly seen moisture trapped under the non-breathable mats. Many homeowners have shown us the smelly, slimy feel of the mat’s bottom and concrete’s surface when the mats are removed.
In some cases, it has taken over a week for the concrete’s surface to completely dry out, as the concrete has pulled water into the capillaries and other voids in the concrete mass.
Odors from trapped material under the floor mats
We have replaced floor mats with coatings where the homeowners experienced odors emanating from under the mats (near edges or when rolled back). Several homeowners shared that when rolling back the mats to allow moisture to dry, they not only had a wet, slimy floor but that it also smelled bad too.
Floor mats show irregularities in the concrete underneath
Unless the garage floor starts out in good shape (free of surface imperfections), the rollout mats may telegraph the concrete surface imperfections through the mat’s surface. If have the mat going over a depression, ridge or wide crack, the mats either bulge up over the ridge or fall into any lower surface.
Floor mats often curl at the edges
When the edges of the floor mat curl, it created trip hazards and allows liquids and debris to get under those edges. Most common at the garage door edges, it often requires gluing or adhesive tapes to try to keep the mat edges flat to the concrete surface.
Homeowners struggle with rollout floor mat’s weight
Rollout mats are typically 4’ or greater in width and can be 20+ feet in length. Their bulk mays them hard to install and remove. If they shift over time from vehicles tires, readjusting the mats is not a simple matter. Removing and reinstalling the mats is not a quick or easy task.
Wrapping it up (the article – not the floor mat)
While roll out mats may be a good temporary solution for rented/leased properties, a professional garage floor coatings makes a better long-term solution. Given the price per square foot of the large, rollout mats, the spend isn’t worth the issues that come with the product.
A high-quality floor coating alleviates the problems associated with heavy, rollout floor mats. Professional garage floor coatings do not allow anything to get “under” the coatings. Plus, epoxy and polyaspartic coatings are easy to clean and there is nothing to periodically remove.