Boring garage floor questions…

I’m having a go at sorting the garage so that it is usable in the winter. Insulation on walls, insulated false ceiling and something on the floor. Nothing particularly heavy would be going in the garage, no cars etc.

I’m not keen on painting and I think I want something down for increased warmth. Carpet wouldn’t last in my garage. Foam doesn’t look very robust. So I’ve narrowed it down to pvc tiles, or rubber tiles.

Does anyone have any experience with either? I’m thinking rubber (10mm thick) would be best, but not sure how good it would be with brake fluid / oil / hot things. The pvc would probably look the best, but not sure if it adds any insulation?

Does anyone have any experience with either?

Cheers

May I be the first to say that there’s NOTHING boring about a garage floor thread,

Alex

some of these

https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-equipment/garage-essentials/halfords-6pc-black-floor-mat-set—120cm-x-180cm-336870.html

and some of this

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-contact-adhesive-natural-500ml/32657

has lasted five years for me so far

I’m going with vinyl plank tile, but I’m also having walls boarded and skimmed so it’s really more a posh zwift room and cave for bikes and bike kit.

Window went in this week, I spent too much time over the past few days looking at the 200+ pages of piston heads show us your garage thread 🤣

Doing this at the moment. Went with 8mm PVC tiles (mainly because they look the bollocks, as above it’s a fancy Zwift cave/man cave/workshop rather than car storage!) with some cheap underlay underneath for a bit more insulation & squish. They are really quick to install and easy to keep clean, even with oil etc. Not a cheap option, but seem very tough and supposed to last 20+ years.

OSB walls and Astro turf? Mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice?

Anyone got any particular brand recommendations for floor tiles?

Unsurprisingly, PistonHeads is full of these threads. From what I can see Plasfloor is the tile of choice. It’s the one I’ll be doing my garage in when I get round to it.

@baddddad, do you know if those Halfords tiles are hard rubber/plastic or foam? I don’t want the foam tiles but something firmer. Thanks

I’ve got the value 12mm ones from bigdug, recommend them, they have been down in 2 garages now. Just pulled up when I moved and was able to buy more the same to make up the difference in floor size.

The Halfords ones (if it’s the 6 pack for £12 ones) are foam and not hard plastic. I’ve had them down for a while but you couldn’t drag something heavy over them without ruining them. I would look elsewhere if you’re after something firm/hardwearing.

Unsurprisingly, PistonHeads is full of these threads. From what I can see Plasfloor is the tile of choice. It’s the one I’ll be doing my garage in when I get round to it.

Plasfloor looks like the cheapest PVC tile option, probably cos they’re quite thin compared to others. I went with 8mm Duramat tiles with a thin underlay, really pleased with them although haven’t seen any other makes to compare them with!

The Halfords ones (if it’s the 6 pack for £12 ones) are foam and not hard plastic. I’ve had them down for a while but you couldn’t drag something heavy over them without ruining them. I would look elsewhere if you’re after something firm/hardwearing.

Thanks. Don’t want a squidgy floor so will look elsewhere.

Costco do a massive roll of silver vinyl (assume its vinyl) in a checker plate design. Looks like it might be nice but slippery when wet.

Hi

Try Duramat they do a garage floor range

I used this on my garage floor, went down well and more than happy with it, I had to use 2 rolls to get the width, very easy to cut etc

May I be the first to say that there’s NOTHING boring about a garage floor thread,

Amen. A mate / neighbour mocked me for painting my garage floor years ago. A few years later, he “got it”. Felt like welcoming him to a club.

https://professionals.tarkett.co.uk/en_GB/collection-C000319-tilt-tarkett-interlocking-tiles

The halfords tiles are great, cheap, soft so you don’t get fatigue standing on concrete.
Best of all don’t catch fire when ball of welding splat falls on it.

The plasfloor tiles look good 👍
Anyone put anything underneath it like a barrier/insulation?

I put this stuff under my PVC tiles, dunno how good it is, gives them slightly more spring if nothing else
https://www.screwfix.com/p/aquastop-underlay-5m/2471r

Thanks for all the suggestions, Plasfloor looking most likely for me. Just need to clear some space out of the garage first!

I went bigdug in my garage/workshop. They trap air underneath so keep the place a little bit warmer.

Ive gone with large foam tiles.

Its bloody brilliant coming from a painted floor.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zvx5Z48bt4SAg9ux7

Watching with interest.

Can you put those 12mm pvc bigdug style tiles over small voids on a concrete floor? Most of my garage floor is fairly smooth but there are a few small pitted areas

@winston yeah should be fine. My floor has a few, as well as being a bit bumpy. I have 8mm tiles and they are quite rigid. Those BigDug black tiles are REALLY cheap vs the competition, didn’t see them when I was buying my floor although didn’t want black anyway as it’s a) gloomy and b) probably a pain if you drop any tiny black bolts on them 🤣 (went red/grey checker which looks pretty snazzy I think 😃)

They do grey as well …I’m going for a check

I used a large roll of rubber, saved spending ages joining it together and if you get the right pattern (long ribs, fairly high) it keeps dirt off your feet whilst you’re in there, and makes sweeping all the crap to one end super easy

I’m also looking to improve my garage but as it’s just a concrete slab job plonked on a concrete base my expectations are lower. Main problem atm is water seeping in between the base and frame. What’s best to waterproof this? What’s best for filling the gaps between the wall joints? If I can get it water tight I fancy laying a non-boring garage floor so this is a good thread!

this is what ive used btw.
https://blornflooringmats.co.uk/product/foam-flooring-mat/

@andybrad – are they 1mx1m tiles as suggested on the website?
How heavy duty are they – would having a workstand on them mark them?

Ordered the Blorn 13mm mats – works out nearly 1/3 of the price of the others.
Also looks like a few examples of garage/workshops on their Insta posts so should be OK for my use.

Garage now has a floor. Plasfloor fitted over the weekend, easy to do to be honest, it was quite satisfying!

That looks awesome

That looks awesome

Thank, it’s looks much better than it did and hopefully warmer and drier to store stuff and work in.

This is what it looked like before

looks great