If you live in any kind of earthquake-prone part of the country, then you know from merely seeing it that cracks do develop in the foundation and floor of your home. Just take one quick look at the concrete floor in your garage, and the cracks there will map out a miniature map of the Earth’s shaking and rolling as tectonic plates shift around and then resettle through the years. So what to do if you want to patch up the unsightly cracks and seams in the garage floor?

Given the wealth of large hardware stores, finding basic do it yourself garage floor surface treatments is not difficult at all. You also don’t have to be too confident to get the job done, and to complete it quickly and without making any errors.

Purchase the garage floor resurfacing material that you want, some kind of rubber squeegee and extension pole (you can probably “borrow” the one from a push broom already around the house), a roller, sandpaper, scraper, utility knife, duct tape and maybe a hard-bristle hand brush too.

Again, as we saw with painting a room, prepping the space for your project is everything. Spend as much time as possible scraping up and sanding or scrubbing away the grease, oil stains, dirt clots or whatever else is marring the current garage floor surface. If the surface is coated already, in many cases you will need to remove that previous coating, for instance, paint. Check the instructions thoroughly on the label of the resurfacing material just in case this is not necessary. Save yourself the trouble of extra work if you can. If you do have to remove the paint, using the knife to cut an initial seam or two, and then pulling the painted surface up with duct tape can be a great trick.

Rinse the floor with water and let it dry, using the squeegee first to expedite. After a complete drying session, mix the resurfacing material according to instructions. Coat the floor with the roller completely, and let dry as per the instructions. Apply a second coat if needed or recommended, and don’t place any objects, especially a car, on the new floor until it’s absolutely dry!

(Image Via: Garage Floors)