Tim T Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 My shed/garage floor is currently covered in 8ft x 4ft sheets of heavy duty cardboard which works very well, soaks up spills and is a good insulator. However, I am now looking to do something more durable. Can anybody suggest anything please. Currently thinking of interlocking pvc tiles, but they are not cheap. Any suggestions gratefully received! Thanks, Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Salisbury Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 Old carpet works wonders for me, just throw it away when it gets too contaminated and put down some fresh, you'll always find some discarded in a skip somewhere, and chopped up smaller sections are very kind to the knees if working outside on the driveway. Cheers Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Motorsport Mickey Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 26 minutes ago, Tim T said: Currently thinking of interlocking pvc tiles, but they are not cheap. Any suggestions gratefully received! Thanks, Tim Yeah, that's what I bought Easy to clean in situ, and if you have a bigger spill just lift the individual or group of tiles wipe off and then replace in position. About 5mm thick they stand having a trolley jack with car lifted on them without marking. I bought mine from one of the car shows I attended at the NEC, a lot of the car appliance come tools and parts suppliers have them down on their stands as part of their display, this makes them second hand and they need replacing every few shows to keep pristine. I agreed to visit their stand after 4:30pm as they were packing up and lifted the tiles with them and used one of their trollies to take them to my car. Cost me under £250 for a bit more than twice the amount of tiles you can see in the photo, about 110 in total, they don't wear out and are clean and warmer than concrete to lie on. What else can you put in your garage that makes it look good, warmer and cleaner for less than £2.30 each. Mick Richards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 I used these: https://www.garagefloortilecompany.com/ So much nicer to work on and keep the place a lot warmer. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 Have a look on the Machine Mart website at garage floor coverings. They sell rolls 5m and 10m length with smooth, ribbed or studded finish. I chose studded because it is not slippy (compared to smooth) and easy to sweep clean (unlike ribbed). Had my floor covered with it for some years and it is wearing reasonably well. It is also much more comfortable to lie on compared to bare concrete. Under the gearbox/engine area I have a large drip tray I bought some years ago from Demon Tweeks. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel A Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Here’s mine Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hawk Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 I floored my double garage with tiles from this mob and would recommendhttps://www.bigdug.co.uk/workshop-flooring-c348/flooring-mats-c402/garage-flooring-c20293 decent value for money, durable, easy to fit and cut to size Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brian -r Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Can anyone tell me how smooth and flat the floor needs to be for these tiles to fit properly, My garage floor is not the best a bit uneven, I was thinking of using a paint on finish but you guy's have got me thinking. Brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Priest Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 I bought my PVC tiles from here: https://duramat.co.uk/ Only thing I would say is make sure you get the solid tiles, not the thicker but hollow backed ones. The latter will not stand up to use of a trolley jack without deforming (or so I was told at the time). Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brenda Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 I used to have carpet on my garage floor, but have replaced with carpet tiles, if one gets damaged or dirty I can just change the one sq. also the trolley Jack moves on the tiles easier. Mike Redrose Group Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 5 hours ago, brian -r said: Can anyone tell me how smooth and flat the floor needs to be for these tiles to fit properly, My garage floor is not the best a bit uneven, I was thinking of using a paint on finish but you guy's have got me thinking. Brian Not perfect by any means. Mine was a bit scabby, filled in some of the deeper holes with a self levelling compound before laying the tiles. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Ive always used old carpet, it soaks up oil and is more comfortable on the back when underneath the TR. And non-slip. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drewmotty Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Carpet makes a great wick for oil and fuel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 I had to use a thin layer (about an inch or so) of concrete on top of the original rough finish to level it out. I tried floor paint but because the dreaded previous owner (builder) of the garage had left out the damp proof layer, the paint peeled off. I did consider digging up the whole floor and starting again but instead used rolls of floor covering from Machine Mart. The damp is now underneath that. Not ideal but has worked reasonably well. I left a strip of bare concrete down the middle to allow damp to escape. I also discovered a hole (again the DPO's workmanship) where the mice were getting in so filled that. I also discovered that the roof felt under the tiles had been fixed so it was a few inches short of the wall plate. This explained why any rainwater blown under the tiles poured into the garage. Also had to make some new doors because old ones were badly made and didn't fit properly. Looking back on it I should maybe have taken it all down and rebuilt it properly with damp course, decent roof and cavity walls with insulation but at the time this was not on the cards financially. Happy days Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rocketman Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 I would defiantly go for the interlocking tiles. The only problem I have had is I decided to go for light grey but unfortunately they do mark from the cars tyres Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 How do these cope with welding spatter or grinding sparks? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Motorsport Mickey Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 Loose sparks are fine, but as with any covering (other than a concrete base) I place a plywood protection panel a couple of feet square in the line of sparks if they have any force in them. Welding spatter I'm not sure off but anything will submit to a cherry red piece of metal landing on it, it's the price you pay for comfort and ease of cleaning, at least the squares can be lifted and changed in position or replaced if damaged. Mick Richards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 14 hours ago, Drewmotty said: Carpet makes a great wick for oil and fuel. Indeed it does, and so reduces risk of slipping on an oil slick. Carpet also reduces the intensity of fire compared with a pool of petrol. There was a long thread a few years back about fire, quite a heated argument as I recall !! Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 18 year old Unipart garage floor paint. Sections of carpet that can be shifted around to where I am working. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Bracher Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 On 2/5/2024 at 8:59 AM, Andy Moltu said: How do these cope with welding spatter or grinding sparks? Welding spatter, or ground/cut items (bolt ends etc) does/will leave a mark. Probably means some 'swapping' periodically, if you are too bothered by the aesthetics. I did find, (my tiles are gone now) that moving a car round on skates was much harder than on a smooth concrete floor! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phil Dean Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 (edited) I have the Duramat system in my garage I give them 7/10 they are easy to clean although the white stripe down the middle these days is more of mucky grey colour. Although I have the edging strips at the front which I initially sealed to the floor I think the wind drives rain under the garage door even tho I have brushes on the bottom of the door and under the tiles. Because the garage is not attached to the house it has no heat so it’s cold and suffers condensation in cold weather unlessI run a dehumidifier during the night. The tiles are honeycombed underneath there is no indentation evident from years of using axle stands. However my tiles have the penny roundup-stands and this is we’re the problem and disaster nearly happened ,it does not allow the trolley jack wheels to move forward. When I still had the Avenger I had already jacked the front up and put axle stands underneath and was jacking the back up when my wife walked in the garage and said should those axle-stands be at that angle sure enough instead of being four feet on the floor the axle stands were precariously balancing on 2 feet just about ready to topple backwards. The jack was very slowly moved to its down position luckily the axle stands went back onto all 4 feet. Since then I always use a piece of malamute board underneath. Something like a old wardrobe side cut down. This allows the jack to move forward not the car be dragged backwards. Phil. Edited February 17 by phil Dean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Bracher Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Ever since my previous employer had the building corridors/floors resurfaced with an epoxy type product, I have always envied it. It was laid as granules, then 'rollered' flat, finally being sprayed with (what I presume) was the catalyst. It was 'as new' 3 years later, despite having any number of 12 ton printing presses (on steel rollers) and pallet trucks moved round on it. No marks left by machine feet either. Sadly, not a 'DIY' job, as far as I know....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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