Garage Flooring?

[mattius]

Has anyone used any of these plastic/rubber floor tiles in your garages/workshops?

I painted my last floor, but it didn't hold up too well, my new garage floor isn't really in the best nick, so i was wondering about these tile things (like Duratile).

Im not sure if they need a perfectly level floor or what their like for durability?

[JohnD]

I don't know, mattius, my floor paint in the new garage has held up well, excpet in the alcove wher I keep the roller cab, and the wheels have worn it away.    The old garage has a concrfete floor that could be 100 years old, with a helfty coating of old oil.   I've cleane dit up, but cannot imagine that any paint would stick to that!  But it is not at all dusty, like the new one.   Is this a feature of age, the oil, or is it only modern concrete that is so dusty?

Anyway, I was going to say, will pushing things about on softer tiles be lot more difficult than on hard concrete?     LIke furniture on lino, then on carpet.  Just a thought.

JOhn

[PaulAA]

I can't tell you from direct experience of the tile you are looking at, but both options will depend on the quality of the sub-base.  If you have an uneven, dusty or flakey slab or screed finish, even interlocking high density pvc tiles won't give you an even and stable floor finish, so it depends what you are looking for and how clean and flat you need it to be.

As John says, if the surface you are working from is oil- and dirt-stained, but relatively even, the tiles will give you a better and more durable end result that an epoxy coat, but if the surface is pitted or flakey, the tiles won't sit flat and will likely create a tripping hazard where they start to pull apart.

Your third alternative, if the surface is uneven rather than just oil-stained, is to brush the surface clean, slap a coat of sealer on it (diluted pva), lay a covering of reclaimed osb (preferably 18 or 20mm - the sort that contractors use for site hoarding) and screw it down at regular intevals, then lay the cheapest heavy duty vinyl roll you can find.  So long as you don't intend to wash the car and flood the floor, this might be the most cost-effective option.

Paul

[mattius]

Realistically to paint the floor i would need to put down a self levelling compound to fix the missing bits of concrete, but i don't fancy the idea of taking everything out the garage for a few days, there is a hell of a lot of stuff!

I was hoping laying tiles would be a shortcut....

Certainly laying a screed would then have to wait for it to cure fully, before painting so if i was doing that it would need to be tiles or vinyl

[2.5piman]

Hello Mattius,

what Paul suggested is almost what I did. My workshop had a concrete floor, not too bad a condition but was always damp. I laid a damp proof membrane over the conctrete and laid a floating floor of normal tongue and groove chipboard finished with normal floor paint. I can now lie on the floor without getting cold and damp.

 

Alec

 

[mattius]

I don't like the idea of putting timber on the floor without an air gap, it just cries out to me rot, even with a membrane.

Perhaps im misguided but in wet scotland, wood on the ground is generally a no no.

[zetecspit]

But use a DPM under the wood and it should be OK. My house, like all pre mid70's houses, has no DPM under the concrete floor. When I laid a real wood floor, I used a double layer of the thickest DPM, then a very dense 3mm underlay (it was VERY heavy) with a foil face, then flooring on top. Not suggesting using that underlay, but a DPM laid on the floor should keep it all dry. It may be worth filling any big holes with something, quickset /premixed cement mix in a tub is handy for those sorts of jobs. Then some T+G OSB3 sheets would be my choice. They could be pre-painted to keep the timeframe down. (exterior ply would be nicer, but I don't think it is available in T+G)

[Nick Jones]

My garage floor is a mixed bag. Some areas were born smooth, others have had self-levelling compound applied, yet others have been left as rough as a crocodiles back.

It was all dusty as hell, but no oil stains. I swept it endlessly. I hoovered it. I sealed it with some watery stuff by just pouring it out and spreading with a fine bristled broom. Then I painted it with the cheapest floor paint I could find. First lot from Screwfix which was too dark, second lot from Toolstation.  It’s done well. High traffic areas could do with repainting now, but it’s been five years and it’s been heavily used. At 50m2 it wasn’t a small job.

[Martin]

I had a very rough and dirty concrete floor in my workshop. First I considered to save money and clean it, Level it, laying then some tiles.

Then I asked a Company that does Industry Floors and parking Garage Floors. They made me a very competitive offer. They shot blasted the Floor , added several layers of ??? And now I do have the same Floor like a parking Garage. They took 25 Euro per m2. OK they made it not in one go but as they had time between other Jobs. 

Perhaps worthwhile asking such a company

Martin

[PaulAA]

The original post didn't explain that the floor is damp.  Even when the cut edges of wbp-grade OSB are sealed and waxed, I wouldn't recommend laying it on a potentially damp or wet surface.  Equally, a paint finish won't bond consistently to a damp surface.

So the best option for a reasonably even, durable finish is Martin's abraded surface + (I would guess) high-build epoxy screed, which should also reduce the amount of damp leeching through the slab.

Paul

[TimBancroft]

My old garage had tiles like Mattius is suggesting and they were comfortable, warm to lay upon and made the garage a nice place to be. However, mine had perforations, so I they would fill with fasteners, swarf and the like. Oh, and a bit of a pain with axle stands......

But, if one can stand the cost, go for it.

[mattius]

Yeah i don't see the point of the tiles they call "vented" the slots are just asking for nuts and bolts to fall into them.

The floor is not damp, bone dry most of the time, but i live in scotland, it rains a lot i would worry the edges would start to go and then your lifting the whole floor because a little water got in under the garage door.

Cost wise, the tiles are pretty much the same as paint, my last garage cost me around £300 to seal it, then paint it with around 2 cans of high quality floor paint. Floor tiles are around £350

Might get in touch with a manufacturer and see what they say about rough floors.

[Nick Jones]

So use cheaper paint. Friend used the expensive stuff, faithfully following the instructions and it peeled of in sheets. Paint was impressively strong - but useless as not stuck to the floor. My cheapo stuff is still going after 5 years. Sure, it needs freshening-up in the high use areas, but that is a fraction of the total and quick to do.

[JohnD]

Preparation rather than the paint, Nick?   You said you used ?PVA to stop the dust before painting - was your friend as preparatory?

If you employ a good decorator, they will not use expensive Dulux (unless you insist), but cheaper paint, and spend more time preparing,  rubbing down and correcting defects, than actual painting.

 

[zetecspit]

I am getting the same issue as Nick's friend. Brand new garage, tamped the concrete floor and used a bulldog float to get it reasonably smooth. (first try at that!)

Left for a few months to dry out. Applier the corect, supplied "primer" which was some sort of PVA, instructions to the letter. Put down the 2K epoxy coating. Dead hard/strong/smooth, but it is lifting. 

I will be using the Screwfix no-nonsense stuff for patching it up. When I can see the floor.

[John I]

32 minutes ago, JohnD said:

 

If you employ a good decorator, they will not use expensive Dulux (unless you insist), but cheaper paint, and spend more time preparing,  rubbing down and correcting defects, than actual painting.

 

That way the overall price is the same but they end up with more pennies in their pocket  and the next bloke can put Dulux on the top of the earlier good work!

[PaulAA]

1 hour ago, zetecspit said:

I am getting the same issue as Nick's friend. Brand new garage, tamped the concrete floor and used a bulldog float to get it reasonably smooth. (first try at that!)

Left for a few months to dry out. Applier the corect, supplied "primer" which was some sort of PVA, instructions to the letter. Put down the 2K epoxy coating. Dead hard/strong/smooth, but it is lifting. 

I will be using the Screwfix no-nonsense stuff for patching it up. When I can see the floor.

Clive

It is possible that the surface is too smooth to achieve an effective mechanical bond.  Did you use a hardener on the surface?  It's too late now, but if you do ever decide to replace the whole finish, the best solution will be to do what Martin's contractor did and media-blast the screed/slab surface to give it an adequate key to adhere to.

Paul

[zetecspit]

It was "just" floor grade concrete. The surface is not polished at all.

Reports from others who have used a solvent based floor paint imply it sticks better than the epoxy type. But whatever, I will never be able to completely empty my garage.

[mattius]

I learnt recently about this stuff you put on walls before plastering, its basically PVA with sand in it, revolutionised my plastering, not only better adhesion but your able to work the plaster harder in my view.

Anyways, i was painting my back steps a few weeks back, thinking they would be too slippy in the wet, so i painted this stuff on first a) to firm up the loose paint and dust b) to provide a grippy surface. Im basically using it as a test for a garage floor, although i would need to patch the dunts and holes if i went the concrete and paint way.

Benefit of paint would be i can do it bit at a time i guess, do the front half, move everything back, wait for a week and rotate.

 

And JD, we had mega expensive windows fitted in our house, so i got a decorator in to paint the surrounds properly, 1 coat of primer, 4 coats of undercoat and 1 topcoat, sums it up really, prep prep prep.

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by mattius

[PeterC]

I use old carpet. The fire risk from spilled fuel is reduced when it is soaked up compared with a pool of liquid. Counter intuitive but I found a fire safety site saying so

 

[JohnD]

Peter,

That's surprising!     The old film trope of the cigarette end in a pool of petrol signalling impending disaster isn't true - the petrol puts the fag out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrj9VFl2cY

It's petrol vapour that burns, and vapourisation is increased if you increase the surface area of the liquid.   Soaking  a carpet in fuel will vastly increase its surface area!   I can't find anything like the source you suggested, but Ma, Olenick, Classon et al found that "The liquid burning rate could be less or more than that of a similarly spilled free-burning pool fire. For the worst-case scenario in fires, the maximum enhancement of the burning rate due to the porous media is predictable through the physical properties of the fuel."  They used methanol, 'kerosene' and heptane, the last being the most like petrol in terms of vapour pressure, but even heptane is much less volatile, so as they imply, petrol will be most hazardous when soaked in carpet..

Temperature is an important factor, of course, and DeHaan found that "Ignition of their vapors in a carpeted room produced a very short-lived flash of fire throughout the room, followed by intense flames in a layer above the floor ∼1 m deep" killing the inhabitants by heat and a surge of carbon monoxide a few seconds  later, as oxygen was consumed by the intense fire.   Also, many old carpets produce toxic fumes when burnt.

I use carpet offcuts in my gaarge, but to kneel on!   I'd dispose of them ASAP into the open air, and not re-use them, if they got petrol on them.

John

Ma, T., Olenick, S.M., Klassen, M.S. et al. Burning Rate of Liquid Fuel on Carpet (Porous Media). Fire Technology 40, 227–246 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FIRE.0000026878.29456.3c

DeHaan, J. D. The Dynamics of Flash Fires Involving Flammable Hydrocarbon Liquids, Am. J. Forensic Medicine and Pathology: March 1996 - Volume 17 - Issue 1 - p 24-31   https://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Abstract/1996/03000/The_Dynamics_of_Flash_Fires_Involving_Flammable.4.aspx

 

[PeterC]

John. I dont have the links I cited and the long discussion on the other site maybe 3 yrs ago is now closed to me, I think the site - a pro fire safety organisation- said that carpet reduced spreading compared with a pool on concrete and also prevneted as rapid access to oxygen in the felt, slowing combustion. I use carpet for "comfort" and if it gives me a few seconds more to escape from under the motor so mcuh the better- rather petrol soaked into the carpet than my overalls. Peter

 

[JohnD]

Amen to that, Peter!

[RichardB]

We used the plastic floor tiles in my Dads garage and they are great Mattius. I'll try get a better pic when I can, we went with alternating grey and black tiles with the diamond plate style embossed pattern, and yellow edging pieces.

They are so easy to cut and fit with a hand saw, and have been very durable. Even where we cut them and left exposed edges around the pit. 

Paint on the other hand... even with the best prep, nothing off the shelf from most shops is any good. The 2 part epoxy we used from ebay to paint the pit has done well, but i don't know how it would hold up to tyres - its probably the only thing that stands half a chance. The one part Leyland epoxy I've used in the past ('garage floor paint') still flakes.