Temporary Garage Floor Covering

So we'll be moving into our newly built house soon and the garage floor is spotless. I'd like to keep it that way. Problem is, I can't get in before closing to coat the floor and it is going to be too cold anyway. We will need to park two cars in the garage until it is warm enough to do something with the floor.

So what I was thinking, was lay down some thick plastic sheeting, tape up the seams then lay down cheap OSB on top. Thinking is that it will keep the water and salt off of the new concrete and the wood will be the "wear surface".

Do you think this will work or are there other options?

Thanks!

Plasti-Dip the floor then peel off in the spring? Carpet remnants? Indoor/Outdoor patio carpet?

Grooved floor mats?

With some searching I'm sure there are cheaper versions. Griot's is just easy to search.

Horse stable mats are 4x6 and 3/4 thick rubber (I use them for my gym floor.) At ~$40 each, they're not cheap but not if you have another use for afterward.

In reply to PMRacing:

Look for "Polywall" it's a plastic product, probably ~1/16" thick, used to cover walls & prevent moisture seepage. It's pretty cheap too, I think a 4x8 sheet is under $20.

You'd probably want to use some double-sided tape, or other easily removable adhesive to hold it in place over winter, but it should prevent small fluid drips & tire marks from staining the concrete. You could toss some cardboard or carpet remnants on top of it to help absorb moisture too.

Keep in mind that moisture coming up from the new floor, or anything that gets under the flooring you lay down, will be trapped and might cause issues for the concrete, or mold, or staining. Carpet remnants can trap oils that you can't see and really set them into the floor. I have no good solutions, only caution to consider the impact of each option.

Tyvek sheets doubled up?

Home Depot is your friend.

They offer a diamond plate looking vinyl in the flooring department. I just did my garage in it.

BUT be very careful getting it home and make sure it doesn't sag & stretch. They replaced both pieces of mine because they'd stretched laying across the pick up tail gate. Make sure they put one of the cardboard tubes in it.

I would say cardboard across the whole thing. Triple up underneath the oil pan and transmission drain plug.

I think your plan is fine.

Find a flooring store and get a roll of old carpet from their dumpster.

I've been really happy with race-deck if that's not too cost-prohibitive.

Are you just concerned about keeping the floors clean until you can coat them? I bought a brand new house a year ago and ran into the same dilemma, too cold to coat it, wanted to not destroy it. I ended up not doing anything to the floor and parked my old Tahoe in there, it leaks a little. I did do the garage coating over the summer, I just hit the oil spots with a degreaser and scrubbed the E36 M3 out of it. Ended up doing the floors about four months ago, they look great.

Just to close this thread, I ended up ordering the ribbed G-Floor mats from HD. Cost wise they were jsut a bit more than my idea and will be able to be used in the winter even after getting the floor finished to help keep things clean.

Thanks for all the advice!

Since you solved your probem, let's talk about floor coatings. I'm thinking epoxy coating mine this coming summer. Looks to be something like a procedure of cleaning the hell out of it, cause etching, and spreading epoxy. Buy spiked shoe things.

Any pro tips/products recommended? Recommended places to buy supplies?

I've heard 100% solids are the way to go, but require fast accurate work due to dry time. In my case it would be a one man show. Is that a bad plan? What about coating the edges of the garage foundation. Special tricks there?