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DIY Home Decor and DIY Project Tutorials

DIY Garage Paint: Rustoleum Rock Solid

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DIY garage floor paint tutorial

Inside: How we used Rustoleum garage floor paint to create a beautiful garage floor coating without hiring anyone!

Before we get into how to paint your garage floor I’d like to start off with  a little back story, cause I know you’ll be able to relate. (And if you can’t, well, I want to be like you someday.)

Leading up to this garage makeover…

When we first bought our home I had big dreams.

It was going to be wonderful, and organized, and have a beautiful garage where we would do all of our home projects so efficiently. You know a garage with a beautiful coating on the floor, amazing organization, and a place for everything.

So we put a lot of time into finding the right home, and planning out how we would make it beautiful and functional.

We found “the one”, then found out I was pregnant, and then, because it was a short sale we didn’t actually take ownership until the day after my daughter was born.

And even though we gave ourselves 3 weeks to do flooring and paint before moving in, the dream of adding the garage floor coating before all of our stuff arrived got left behind.

We were busy enough with just getting the inside ready to move in, not to mention taking care of a brand new baby.

So our stuff arrived, years went by, we accumulated more stuff, and the garage slowly became a dumping ground. How were we ever going to do the floor now?

Well, you all know I’m a huge fan of pretty much anything Rust-Oleum so when they reached out and asked me to use their garage floor paint and try their DIY garage floor coating kit, Rock Solid ®, we pretty much rearranged our entire month and made it happen!

DIY garage floor paint tutorial

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here for my full disclosure.

Before our Garage Makeover:

Garage before organization

This isn’t the first time I’ve dared to show you just how embarrassing some of the areas in my home are. Look at all of that crap!

garage before organization

At some point we tried to get organized and got as far as getting some overhead storage and peg board up, but clearly it wasn’t enough.

garage organization

In order to get the garage floor paint down, we had to clear EVERYTHING out, so we had a storage container delivered and out everything went.

With everything in the storage container in our driveway we finally had the clean slate we needed to paint the garage floor!

How To Apply Garage Floor Paint

What do you need to paint your garage floor?

  • garage floor paint: Rust-Oleum Rock Solid Kit 
  • large bucket
  • broom
  • vacuum
  • squeegee with long handle
  • deck scrub brush
  • roller holder attached to long handle

Here’s a little video to give you an overview of the process, the details with photos are below!

Preparing the garage floor

The first step was to clean the floor really well.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

We started by sweeping and vacuuming to remove all of the dust and dirt.

Then we scrubbed the floor with water and a little bit of dish soap to remove anything else.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Remember we had never parked a car in here so there were no actual oil stains, if there are you’ll probably want to use something a bit stronger to lift out the oil stains so the coating sticks to your floor properly.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Once the scrubbing was complete, we rinsed the floor with the hose and used a squeegee to remove the excess water. You don’t want any puddles of water.

The Rustoleum garage floor paint comes with an etching solution that you mix with water and pour on to open up the pores in your concrete.

We poured the etching solution onto the entire floor, starting at the back wall and working our way out.

You will want to wear a mask and shoes for this part. The etching solution should not touch your skin.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

We left it on for about 20 minutes and then rinsed with the hose and squeegeed out the excess water.

Once the garage floor is etched and dry it will be a lot lighter and almost look powdery, but it shouldn’t actually be powdery. If it is, you will need to rinse again.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Now for the fun part! We prepared the area with some paper and painter’s tape.

Applying the garage floor paint

Mixing the garage floorpaint was a lot easier than we thought it would be and the kit comes with the roller.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Each kit covers about a 10 x 10 area, so for a standard 2 car garage like mine you would need 4 kits. It is pretty thick stuff, so we found that we needed one extra kit to get the coverage we wanted.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Again we started at the back wall and worked in one 10 x 10 area at a time by pouring about 3 inch ribbons of paint about 5 feet across.

Then move around the paint with your roller in a W pattern over and over again until you have even distribution. I found that it was easier to pull the paint than it was to push it, so when you pour your garage floor paint, pour it pretty close to where you left off.

Once it’s evenly distributed you go back to the area you just painted and with your roller you lightly rub in a small circular pattern so that when the floor paint dries it has a really cool marble effect.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

Don’t worry too much about getting it to look perfect. Even the spots I thought would dry weird didn’t and it looks really cool when there isn’t a perfect pattern of circles going on.

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

We left it alone for 24 hours and it looks so good!

I think the part that surprised me the most was how shiny it is, but it doesn’t feel very slippery.

So excited about this clean slate we now have to get organized once and for all! Looks like my dream of parking a car in the garage before the end of the year might just come true after all!!!

RELATED: Our Organized Garage Reveal

diy garage floor coating rustoleum rock solid

We have a ways to go because we promised ourselves that nothing is coming back in here that we don’t need and we have a lot of stuff to go through, but we’re thrilled with how the floor looks (and feels) and it’s got us really motivated to get our garage organized once and for all!

UPDATE: We did it! We finished our garage makeover! See the final result and all of the DIY organization systems that saved us a ton of money.

how to paint your garage floor

A big THANK YOU to Rust-Oleum for sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% my own and I’m happy to recommend a great product like this one.

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Comments

  1. Keith Behrens says

    April 16, 2022 at 9:50 am

    Looks great! I’m closing on my new house Wednesday and going to do the Rust-O-Leum Silver Bullet before moving in. Floor is newly pored concrete so l will be following your post closely. Hope mine comes uot as good as yours.

    Reply
    • Corey Willis says

      April 18, 2022 at 10:44 am

      That’s great Keith! I’d love to see a pic when you’re done, just send it to hello@heytherehome.com

  2. dEBRA ANDERSON says

    May 28, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    slippery when wet?

    Reply
    • Corey Willis says

      May 29, 2018 at 3:37 pm

      It does get a little slippery. It’s even a little slippery if you’re just wearing socks. If you live in a wet climate, I’d pick a floor coating that has some texture to it to avoid the slippage. 🙂

  3. Patti @ HouseofIngrams.com says

    February 15, 2018 at 6:10 am

    This is BEAUTIFUL! Your garage floor looks like a car showroom. Thanks for posting.

    Reply
  4. House basement says

    November 17, 2017 at 3:51 am

    Superb post,It’s incredible.

    Reply
  5. Angie says

    November 13, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Could this be used on a basement floor that occasionally gets damp?

    Reply
    • Corey Willis says

      November 16, 2017 at 11:12 am

      Hey Angie, Rustoleum doesn’t recommend using this product where moisture is a problem, although it can be used on a basement floor. See their website for more details.

  6. AARON says

    August 4, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    How does the floor maintain grip when wet, for example when it is raining outside and you drive your wet car in and try to stop or go to get out of the car is the floor slippery?

    Reply
    • Corey Willis says

      August 15, 2017 at 11:38 am

      Great question Aaron. It does get a little slippery. It’s even a little slippery if you’re just wearing socks. If you live in a wet climate, I’d pick a floor coating that has some texture to it to avoid the slippage. 🙂

    • Monica Barrus says

      July 13, 2020 at 3:56 pm

      WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR GARAGE ISN’T LEVEL WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST TO MAKE IT LEVEL

    • Corey Willis says

      July 16, 2020 at 11:22 am

      Hey Monica, this question is outside the scope of my post. I suggest you research the topic (Here’s an article to get you started) and talk to local concrete experts. Best wishes! 🙂

  7. Viv says

    April 29, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    We are going to do the whole house, We have concrete floors now. I can’t wait.

    Reply
    • Corey Willis says

      May 1, 2017 at 11:00 am

      How exciting, Viv! I bet yours will turn out awesome!

  8. Deby says

    November 13, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    Looks great, wish my garage was that clean.

    Reply
  9. Kari Bundy says

    November 12, 2016 at 8:10 am

    This would be amazing to put on our garage floor! We are in the process of making it into an art/scrapbook studio! Thanks so much for the chance. 😊

    Reply
  10. DarleneMAM says

    November 11, 2016 at 10:58 am

    We just moved and the garage floor is super dusty. I’d love a shiny floor like yours!

    Reply
  11. Shannon says

    November 10, 2016 at 2:30 am

    Love your garage floor. I want mine to look like yours!

    Reply
  12. Erik says

    November 8, 2016 at 9:41 am

    Omg i want this

    Reply
  13. Elizabeth says

    November 6, 2016 at 5:23 am

    We had similar ambitions for our garage and it’s facing a similar fate to yours. This would be a nice kick in the pants to get us moving!

    Reply
    • James says

      November 7, 2016 at 9:12 am

      This looks awesome!

  14. Meg Karetny says

    November 6, 2016 at 4:32 am

    I’d love this to complete our garage! It needs to be a better extension of kitchen storage & better organization of everything in there anyway! We are painting it & getting rid of baby junk soon too. Thanks for this giveaway! 🙂

    Reply
  15. Heather says

    November 5, 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Your floor looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing! I’m sooo dreaming of doing this in our garage someday!

    Reply
  16. Jessica Ritter says

    November 5, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    I have been wanting to do this for a while but like you, thought I had too much junk in there. Thanks for the post, it makes me think it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

    Reply
  17. Cindy says

    November 3, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    We have debated on using a garage paint. It’s such a big project that we seem to keep putting it off. We have three bays in our garage and it would take several kits. I know it would look great. After seeing your results, we’ve decided to just go for it!
    Thanks for the inspiration!!
    Cindy

    Reply
  18. A Mentes says

    November 1, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    Thank you for this post! I enjoy a good DIY blog that is realistic (I could ACTUALLY do this! ), honest (having a messy garage), and intelligent writing (yet easy to read). And the result of the project is SHINY! Thank you for the chance to win a very cool prize, too.

    Reply
  19. Donna F Doyle says

    November 1, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    My cave would look so much better than with the concrete paint that is on now.

    Reply
  20. Madeline says

    November 1, 2016 at 11:56 am

    Love how clean this makes the garage look! We are moving into our very first home in about a month and I would love to do this to our garage floor!

    Reply
  21. Lisa. says

    October 30, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    That is gorgeous! I bet I could convince my family to her rid of all their junk in the garage if ours looked this good!

    Reply
  22. Melissa Johnson says

    October 30, 2016 at 2:00 pm

    I would re-do the floors & create the perfect game room! Complete with pool, air hockey, Foosball, ping pong & darts!!

    Reply
  23. Michelle Storar says

    October 28, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    That looks awesome! I have always wanted to do something like that with our garage floor, it looks horrible. Here we are 14 years later and it still looks the same.

    Reply
  24. Rana Durham says

    October 28, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    it would look alot better andgive my area a facelift.

    Reply
  25. Thomas says

    October 27, 2016 at 12:21 am

    Looks great! How does it hold up to car tire marks and chipping? Is it durable like expoxy? Thanks for the write up!

    Reply
  26. Penelope Ann says

    October 26, 2016 at 8:08 am

    Would make my garage and storage area so much nicer. I had no idea this stuff existed. We have been considering just painting our concrete in the garage to give it a fresh look but I now that will just get worn out so quick and need o be redone this looks like a much cleaner, manageable thing to use. Doesn’t just improve the look it is also improving the condition. Also seems fairly easy to do! Very excited to show my fiance! Thanks for the idea!

    Reply
    • Zeena says

      February 23, 2018 at 11:49 pm

      Can I do it on red cement floor.

    • Corey Willis says

      February 25, 2018 at 5:38 pm

      Hi Zeena, I recommend you check with Rustoleum directly. Here is the link to their FAQs.

  27. Shawn Gainey says

    October 24, 2016 at 1:05 am

    This is magical! Not only does it make the garage floors look amazing it also prevents staining from our leaky vehicle.

    Reply
  28. Susan S.,TN says

    October 23, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    I would love to win for a family members garage. It has been put thru the ringer over the years & this would give it a new lease on life & look brand new again. It would really be exciting if I could win for them. Thx for the chance to win!!

    Reply
  29. Sara Miller says

    October 23, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    That would make my old yuck garage floor so very nice! Definately the first step to my husband and sons shop area refurbish

    Reply
  30. Kelly Wach says

    October 23, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    I would use this on my parents garage floor to make it look beautiful. Their house is over 40 years old, and could really use a makeover

    Reply
  31. Brenda Haines says

    October 23, 2016 at 10:08 am

    This would be amazing to use on the cement floor downstairs! Thank you so much for this chance! I think it would make the floor look like a dark marble. Very cool!

    Reply
  32. Jill McHale says

    October 22, 2016 at 10:35 am

    My garage looks like a dungeon! It definitely needs a pick-me-up! Thanks for the opportunity!

    Reply
  33. Elisa H says

    October 21, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    It looks so shiny! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!

    Reply
  34. Amy says

    October 21, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    Your garage looks so great with the floor coating! My husband has been wanting ours done for years too.

    Reply
  35. David says

    October 21, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    Our garage has a large crack that runs the entire length. We have the crack patched with concrete, but the colors don’t match. This would be the perfect solution to that.

    Reply
  36. B says

    October 21, 2016 at 11:57 am

    This product is so cool!

    Reply
  37. Holly says

    October 20, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    We bought an older home with a small garage. This would be a good first step in getting it in working order!! Yours looks great!

    Reply
  38. Jennifer V. says

    October 20, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    Great transformation, Corey! Our garage is a huge disaster. I think it’s the next thing on the list when we finish our kitchen!

    Reply
  39. Ann says

    October 19, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    Oh, my goodness. It would change the entire look of the garage, which has some weird something on it from before we owned the house. I have a feeling that, like you, it would inspire some significant organization! I’ve wanted to do something like that since we bought the house. One day!

    Reply
  40. Smfsprout says

    October 19, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    Wow. This would be our incentive to purge the junk.

    Reply
  41. Cynthia Gaarder says

    October 19, 2016 at 6:44 pm

    I would love to make the garage a nicer place for my hubby

    Reply
  42. Lisa says

    October 19, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    Awesome transformation! My garage looks exactly the same! I can’t wait to see how you organize it!

    Reply
  43. Jennifer Rote says

    October 19, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    That is amazing! My cave would be kind of a motorcycle theme with lots of chrome.

    Reply
  44. Glena Buchanan says

    October 19, 2016 at 9:39 am

    This garage is awesome. Funny how unwanted items end up in the garage. We too have a storage unit outside. Thanks! This is a great idea.

    Reply
  45. Joan Rhodes says

    October 19, 2016 at 8:03 am

    Wow! We actually have a beautiful garage, but it’s hidden under the piles of stuff, and the floor looks awful. This would be the perfect product to bring the beauty back! To my way of thinking, you get double the benefit – your garage gets a new floor, and you have to get rid of all the clutter (who wants to just throw everything back in once you’ve got a clean and pretty garage?!)

    Reply
  46. Gina Garza says

    October 19, 2016 at 7:33 am

    Gorgeous

    Reply
  47. April Kastner says

    October 19, 2016 at 7:06 am

    We’re buying a house now and this project is definitely on our to-do list. I just hope we actually get it done!

    Reply
  48. Jen says

    October 19, 2016 at 6:36 am

    That’s so funny I was just talking to my husband last night about making this our next project! I’ve seen it in several other garages and it’s pretty amazing how it makes the floor look brand new and so clean!

    Reply
  49. Kim Locke says

    October 19, 2016 at 5:49 am

    We are on the middle of remodeling an 70’s home. The garage is in desperate need of a new floor. Would love to use this

    Reply
  50. Tammara says

    October 19, 2016 at 5:42 am

    The floor looks awesome!

    Reply
  51. JeanneS says

    October 19, 2016 at 5:21 am

    That’s such a great idea, and so nice looking.

    Reply
  52. Trang says

    October 19, 2016 at 4:25 am

    I’m so jealous of how awesome that looks!!

    Reply
  53. Lexie Loveless says

    October 19, 2016 at 2:13 am

    We not only have a garage but also 2 basement room floors thatcould use this! Hoping it can be used below grade! If not, I’m sure they have something that can! Rustoleum is my go to for my spray paint addiction already! Lol! *invisioning $500 worth of spray paint on shelves above our new “blinged” floor* lol

    Reply
  54. Susan the Farm Quilter says

    October 18, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    It would look amazing!!! Looks too pretty to drive a car on!!

    Reply
  55. Karen says

    October 18, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    How would my garage look with Rock Solid- beautiful !

    Reply
  56. Katie says

    October 18, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    We just bought a foreclosure this summer and coating the garage floor is on the (very long) list of projects to do! We do a lot of projects ourselves and I want to make our garage more comfortable and easier to clean,

    Reply
  57. Chelle Chapman says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    Honey, this stuff would ROCK my already ROCKIN’ car-age!!! Yours looks stunning & NOW I want some too!!

    Reply
  58. Michelle Marie Welle-Countiss says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    I am dreaming of this look for my basement. After my divorce, I saved to buy a home. And my 1930 Craftsman bungalow is perfect. But the basement could use a little love.

    Reply
  59. Jill Butler says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    What a great looking floor! This would be a great incentive to clean out my garage and actually put a car inside. Great job!

    Reply
  60. Sandra S. says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    Perfect timing — we need to seal our garage floor before winter.

    Reply
  61. Amy says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    I dream of emptying my garage and having such a beautiful floor!

    Reply
  62. Cindy Magee says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    Our garage would look sooo much cleaner!!! (Cind)

    Reply
  63. Gina Gearhart says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    It is so wild the difference that “Rocksolid” made on your floor! Would love to be able to afford to do this to mine.

    Reply
  64. Sue says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:41 pm

    lol we have a garage that looks like yours used to and same thing the floor never got done – this post has made me enthused to get cracking and “DO IT”.
    what a great product and a fabulous job when it’s all finished

    Reply
  65. Hilary says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    This gives me some major motivation to get my garage in shape! Now if I could just get hubby to get rid of stuff!

    Reply
  66. Susan says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    WOW! Will it look the same after parking a car on it? What an incentive to organize your garage, Love it!

    Reply
  67. Helen Murphy says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    In the process of downsizing and looking for a smaller one level place closer to our grandchildren. It would be great to have a shiny new garage to drive into every day. Welcome home!

    Reply
  68. Jody says

    October 18, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    I would so love to have a beautiful floor.

    Reply
  69. Shannah Schriever says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    Rocksolid would give my ‘cave’ a whole new outlook! We’ve had the same cement for over 20 years & it’s def takin a beating over the years!

    Reply
  70. Leah says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    Wow! I want to yank up what I have in my house and just go with the concrete slab. I wish someone would come and put this down in my house – that would be so AWESOME and better than what I’ve got on the floors now!

    Reply
  71. Mary Kaiser says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    How awesome. Would love for my garage floor to look like that. I really hope I win!!

    Reply
  72. Norma Fisher says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    It’s a beautiful garage floor. Love to ship at Home Depot.

    Reply
  73. Denise Barkel says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    Those floors look amazing!! Oh so would love to do mine.

    Reply
  74. Marlene Fast says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    My garage is not too messy, but is definitely needing a pick-me-up and if would look half as great as your does, I would be thrilled!

    Reply
  75. Robin Rodgers says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    WOW! LOVE THE GARAGE FLOOR! I’ve seen other products and so happy to hear about this one. We’re in the process of looking for a home in our new town of Astoria, OR. We must have a garage and I absolutely want to have it look like yours. We de-cluttered and downsized so much before moving that a new clean space will be exciting. I too want space for crafting. Nice work and way to go making it a priority! Beautiful floor.

    Reply
  76. Jess Breen says

    October 18, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    Awesome product!!! Thanks for the giveaway. I love home depot!!!

    Reply
  77. Tammy Shaw says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    My garage could use this for sure!

    Reply
  78. Vicki Kubiak says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    We did this at my daughter’s house–now it’s time for my garage!

    Reply
  79. Robyn says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    Would look awesome! Sure wouldn’t need a rug. Your garage floor looks great!😁

    Reply
  80. Dawn Renee says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    It would look like a new garage!!

    Reply
  81. donna wilson says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    It would look RockSolidAwesome!!

    Reply
  82. Jan says

    October 18, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    My cave would look a lot cleaner.

    Reply
  83. Kara says

    October 18, 2016 at 2:56 pm

    The floor looks amazing!

    Reply

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