Garage Floor Tiles
Discussion
Didn't end up buying them (all too expensive in the end), but Duramat were the ones I planned on going for - even a sidestand didn't mark them appreciably.
https://duramat.co.uk/category/garage-floor-tiles/
https://duramat.co.uk/category/garage-floor-tiles/
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
This thread has been running for 10 years
lots of info on different flooring options
This thread has been running for 10 years
lots of info on different flooring optionsApriliaTuonoVeeFour said:
Is there any particular reason you want floor tiles? I thought about it when building my garage but decided to go with an epoxy resin floor instead. It's about half the cost and, I suspect, more durable in the long run. But it's only been down ~6 months or so, so time will tell.
Epoxy is good if you've got the time/space for it - in my case I'd have to put everything in the garage into storage which would take a lot of effort. Floor tiles you can click together and fit around the existing junk.ApriliaTuonoVeeFour said:
Is there any particular reason you want floor tiles? I thought about it when building my garage but decided to go with an epoxy resin floor instead. It's about half the cost and, I suspect, more durable in the long run. But it's only been down ~6 months or so, so time will tell.
I had epoxy resin floor and then went to tiles, the Duratile ones mentioned above.The epoxy resin looks very good, but it just can't cope very well with car tyres. Might be fine with motorcycle tyres, but with a car, you come in from a drive with nice warm tyres, park up, the tyres cool and shrink and pull the coating off the floor. I tried about three different brands/types over the years with the correct prep for each product prior to application prior to going to tiles. Tiles are effectively fit and forget.
Duratile's specifically, are fine, but they will be black for about 5 seconds before getting some dust/dirt on them and you'll never get them back even with mopping, cleaning etc. Fine in my garage as its a working garage, but if a 'show' garage maybe something more tolerant of dust/dirt.
Also pay attention to the edges, they are male on two sides and female on two sides, so if you are buying ramps/edge pieces etc make sure you get the right gender.
Mine have been down nearly a decade now, axle stands, jacks, side stands, oil, fuel, brake fluid, paint, wood dust, no complaints.
Good luck.
I have had dynotile down for over 10 years, no issues, and would fit them again but wouldn't have black in hindsight. Grey would be fine, the black looks dusty after a few weeks and you would need to be forever mopping it to look really clean. Also lay down the thinnest foam underlay you can find, just a few mm gets rid of any tappety tap sound as you walk around. Combined with 5mm of tile it helps a bit with insulation. Mid winter I can work on the floor and its not cold.
I've had red Duramat Duratile down for the past year and I'm very happy with them. They are as easy to slap down and whack together as they claim.
My floor was completely unprepared, rough, unsealed concrete. I did the bare minimum of prep beforehand - dust sealed with PVA then a couple of thick coats of screwfix No Nonsense red floor paint.
The tiles have gone down really well except in the middle of the garage, where the concrete has a 1cm ridge across the whole width. Luckily it's in the middle of a row of tiles so they just kind of 'flex' over it
but in hindsight I should have put a levelling screed down as well. This is no fault of the tiles, just my corner cutting with the prep.
Rationale for tiles over resin is that I have so much s
t in the garage and nowhere else to put it, I had to do the prep 'half-and-half' anyways. I also won't be here more than a few years, so will probably take them with me.
My floor was completely unprepared, rough, unsealed concrete. I did the bare minimum of prep beforehand - dust sealed with PVA then a couple of thick coats of screwfix No Nonsense red floor paint.
The tiles have gone down really well except in the middle of the garage, where the concrete has a 1cm ridge across the whole width. Luckily it's in the middle of a row of tiles so they just kind of 'flex' over it
but in hindsight I should have put a levelling screed down as well. This is no fault of the tiles, just my corner cutting with the prep. Rationale for tiles over resin is that I have so much s
t in the garage and nowhere else to put it, I had to do the prep 'half-and-half' anyways. I also won't be here more than a few years, so will probably take them with me.Having put Duramat black and grey tiles in my garage around four years ago, I can't say I'd be rushing back to them next time. Whilst they're vastly superior to an unsealed concrete floor, they mark very easily and the grey tiles are now stained more like brown just from general use (and tyres, for example, will leave yellow/brown prints on the tile if they're left in one place for more than a week or so).
When I asked Duramat about how that tallied up with the "stain resistant" claim when I purchased, I was advised to clean the stains off with WD40... genius idea when the tiles are used to park bikes on. Not. The tiles also tend to ruck up when used with a trolley jack, which can be a bit dangerous, and if they get hit with direct sun for more than a couple of minutes they expand at an incredible rate and start to push up at the joins.
Next time I'll either go with something like Swisstrax or just bite the bullet and get the floor either polished or epoxied, the latter options seem to be far more suitable for messing with vehicles of the four wheeled variety as they're more trolley jack friendly. Probably not as comfy to kneel on though.
When I asked Duramat about how that tallied up with the "stain resistant" claim when I purchased, I was advised to clean the stains off with WD40... genius idea when the tiles are used to park bikes on. Not. The tiles also tend to ruck up when used with a trolley jack, which can be a bit dangerous, and if they get hit with direct sun for more than a couple of minutes they expand at an incredible rate and start to push up at the joins.
Next time I'll either go with something like Swisstrax or just bite the bullet and get the floor either polished or epoxied, the latter options seem to be far more suitable for messing with vehicles of the four wheeled variety as they're more trolley jack friendly. Probably not as comfy to kneel on though.
The best solution I've found is Ecotile.
They aren't cheap if you pay full price, but they sometimes have generous offers on surplus stock.
If you aren't fussy about colour then they can be fairly reasonable. Hence the bright blue tiles in the first pic.
They shrug off oil, solvents and acid etc.
A heavy bike on a centre stand will slightly dent the tiles, so I have a couple of off cuts which I put under the stand on my BMW.
If you do a lot of angle grinding, then lumps of hot metal will melt themselves into the tiles, but that aside they are tough and easy to keep clean.
They aren't cheap if you pay full price, but they sometimes have generous offers on surplus stock.
If you aren't fussy about colour then they can be fairly reasonable. Hence the bright blue tiles in the first pic.
They shrug off oil, solvents and acid etc.
A heavy bike on a centre stand will slightly dent the tiles, so I have a couple of off cuts which I put under the stand on my BMW.
If you do a lot of angle grinding, then lumps of hot metal will melt themselves into the tiles, but that aside they are tough and easy to keep clean.
I went for BigDug black interlocking floor tiles. I have had them down for 2.5 years and have had cars on axlestands, welding, angle grinding and all sort of fluids spilt on them and they are excellent for a garage. They are also warmer to lie on and I laid a layer on radiant heat foil insulation underneath them. Easy to cut and lay too.
I think black is the best colour for longevity - grey will probably stain or show up damage and look tired sooner if its a busy garage space.
I think black is the best colour for longevity - grey will probably stain or show up damage and look tired sooner if its a busy garage space.
ApriliaTuonoVeeFour said:
Did you weld that chassis yourself? Looks awesome!
Sadly I can't take any credit for it. I can barely get two pieces of angle to stick together.The chassis was made by a TVR magician by the name of Keith Ticer and was powder coated by Elite Engineering in Aintree.
Thanks everyone for the replies and thanks for highlighting my lack of PH search skills!
Some brands I hadn't come across who I'm now looking at. Will also look into carpet tiles.
The garage has been converted into a room for a large % of the space but the front has been partitioned to leave a small garage roughly 5.5 square meters. Really like the look of Swisstrax but not sure it's worth it on such a small space!
Some brands I hadn't come across who I'm now looking at. Will also look into carpet tiles.
The garage has been converted into a room for a large % of the space but the front has been partitioned to leave a small garage roughly 5.5 square meters. Really like the look of Swisstrax but not sure it's worth it on such a small space!
I went with Duramat vented tiles. Very happy with them. Stand makes no dent on them. Was worried at first that debris would collect in the gaps, but it's actually easy to keep clean (best to use a leaf blower or a vacuum).
I went for the black and grey combination.
Also a link to Duramat's social media:
https://www.picuki.com/media/2263795684021157578
I went for the black and grey combination.
Also a link to Duramat's social media:
https://www.picuki.com/media/2263795684021157578
Stevemr said:
Those carpet tiles look great, and are what I am going to put down, I think. Are they the polypropylene ones that won’t rot if they get wet?
How smooth was the concrete floor under them, and did you seal/paint it first?
Yes polypropylene. The floor was fairly level concrete with a few cracks in it. Didn’t seal it. Just laid them out and like I said just spray glued the outer edge ones. The rest stay in place. I have glued a couple of others down since. How smooth was the concrete floor under them, and did you seal/paint it first?
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