Garage floor?

I need some thoughts on what people put on their garage floor. Garage as in full of hanging bikes so no cars btw.

I have used this previously: https://www.watco.co.uk/products/watco-epoxy-gloss-coat

This was all okay until a builder who was doing our house refurb a few years back flooded the place and this caused the thick epoxy-coat paint to lift and more rubbish was it made a thin layer of concrete to left in places. I think this mush have been localised repairs.

I could:

i. take up all the paint and loose’ish stuff, treat/clean and put the same stuff again
ii. clean roughly and use something like the bigdug flooring? https://www.bigdug.co.uk/mats-flooring-c402/garage-flooring-c20293
iii. Maybe https://duramat.co.uk/category/all/duratile/ ?

Any thoughts and experience out there? Its not a massive garage, think 1930’s house garage space.

How level is the floor? Maybe use some self-levelling compound to remove any irregularities?

I got a few packs of interlocking EVA tiles from Halfords:

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

I’ve got the floor tiles from the place that’s often recommended on here (the name currently escapes me). They’re foamier than the ones you’ve linked, I think. I doubt mine would withstand a car, but they don’t have to.

I really like them. It makes the garage feel warmer, less dusty, neater, easier to find bolts, easier to kneel down etc. I’m definitely glad I did that rather than paint. It was super easy to lay down, too. Much easier than painting would have been (my garage was full at the time).

I spent ages cleaning, de-dusting and painting my garage floor during lockdown 1.0 when the weather was nice. Waste of time. Despite good preparation, and good paint, it’s peeled and worn very quickly in places. No car in the garage, just fridge freezer, bikes and tools etc. I recently bought foam interlocking tiles from B&Q as they were on offer. Much nicer, but an absolute bugger to fit due to shape of garage and not being able to move done fixed stuff.

I used Ronseal diamondhard floor paint. It’s not diamond hard, it chips fairly easily but it’s also fairly fast drying and is a single tin brushable product so every so often I go around and touch it up. Definitely not the best option out there but sometimes there’s a lot to be said for something that’s a little bit crap, but really really easy.

I did have the cheap-ish foam tiles before, the B&Q/Halfords sort but after a while they started to distort- maybe from moisture? and ended up all humping up. And then it turned out that the Massive Foam Tile Company PLC who make all of these things for every seller had changed the interlock design slightly so I couldn’t even replace the humpy ones. ****ING NEW STANDARDS!

I have a tin of this going for free if it’s any good to you?

Blackfriar Polyurethane Floor Paint for Indoor Outdoor Use 5L Black

The Watco epoxy paint is pretty amazing. you mix in the hardener pour it out on an empty floor push it out to the edges and it sets rock hard like glass in a couple hours. It did last ten years before said builder messed it up. I will do some further research

TVM for the info

I painted mine 10+ years ago with some green garage floor paint which is beginning to wear. I was debating repainting of these floor tiles.

With the floor tiles can things like my rolling work bench still roll or will they casters sink into the tiles?

It has been loaded up and put on weight since this photo but is 120×240 and home to table saw and loads of other stuff. I can currently roll it from one side of the garage to the other depending on where I need the space

With the floor tiles can things like my rolling work bench still roll or will they casters sink into the tiles?

On my tiles, I reckon that’d sink in a little way and leave an imprint for a day or two after you move it. I’ve never had a dint that didn’t eventually sort itself out. It depends how heavy that workbench is but I reckon you’d be able to roll it. It just might leave loads of semi-permanent dents if you move it often.

I have recently converted one of my garages into a workshop. I used Bug Dug interlocking tiles. Really impressed with them and they add a layer of under foot insulation.

Not cheapest but pretty good.

I got some old office carpet tiles from our office refurb. Taped them down with some double sided tape. No car in the garage and the ones at the edge move around a little, but otherwise a good solution. They did suffer a bit after a flood a year or so ago but as they are rubber backed they did dry out eventually.

Out integral garage floor slab protruded beyond the door, i did try painting it with the Ronseal stuff but as the front edge got damp the paint lifted plus it wore elsewhere in less that a year so I went balls deep & did the following;
Fitted a custom made ally threshold to keep water from running down the face of the door & soaking the edge of the slab.
Hired a diamond grinder to remove the laitence from the top (probably 8mm worth of fine powder came off until we got to the aggregate).
Swept, vacuumed & acid etched.
2 Part epoxy stuff from watco.

So far so good.

I have the Halfords ones linked above, and until recently had a mobile workbench on chunky castors, but it was hard work moving it around on the squishy floor, so have recently re-designed the layout with a fixed workbench. I also have a kit car in the garage, it does now have permanent depressions where the 4 wheels sit, but otherwise is as good as it was when I fitted it ~10yrs ago. Makes it much more pleasant working in there!

I work for an industrial paint supplier, I have used floor tiles in my garage.

If you want to paint the floor with an epoxy, in most cases you would need to grind, blast or acid etch the floor prior to application.

I used Bug Dug interlocking tiles.

Big Dug! Thanks – that was the name I was struggling to remember.

Halfords tiles here.
Garage now a much nicer place. Warmer, quieter less dusty etc.
Special offer of 2 packs for £20.

I have put offcuts under the trolley jack and a couple of heavy items which don’t move often.

Big dug checked grey and black tiles with a blue inset for Zwift. Very pleased with them. Warmer than concrete too. About £400 for the standard garage and very satisfying to fit too.

Screwfix floor paint. One coat and it goes on easily. Apparently it’s a bit smelly while it’s being applied but I used it when I had covid so couldn’t smell a thing.

With the floor tiles can things like my rolling work bench still roll or will they casters sink into the tiles?

I’ve got duratile something or other. They are pretty hard. My big rolling tool chest still rolls around.

I also have the BigDug interlocking tiles.

Easy to fit and add a layer of insulation so make it a warmer place to be.

Mine are the more rigid ones and they have lasted really well so would recommend