A Quebec garage floor takes a beating every winter. Cars bring in slush loaded with road salt, the slab goes through freeze-thaw cycles, and bare concrete slowly soaks all of it up. Pitting, flaking, and white salt stains are the usual result.
A properly installed epoxy coating seals the concrete so salt water sits on top instead of soaking in. The key word is properly. Most failed garage floors fail for the same reason: the coating was rolled onto concrete that wasn't prepared. Without grinding, the epoxy bonds to dust and the weak top layer instead of the slab itself, and hot tires lift it off in patches.
Good preparation means diamond grinding the slab to open its surface, repairing cracks and spalled areas, and checking for moisture coming up through the concrete. Only then do the primer and base coat go down.
For garages, a decorative flake system is hard to beat. The flakes hide dirt between washes, add texture for grip on wet days, and help disguise small imperfections in older slabs. A clear protective topcoat over the flakes takes the wear.
Timing matters too. Coatings need the slab within a certain temperature range to cure properly, so the best window runs from late spring to early fall. Plan it before the first snow and the floor will be ready when the salt trucks come out.