best garage floor options

[pompousporcup...]

cut a long story short i've finally bought a house with a garage on the property rather than one in a separate block, several meters from the house. yaay for me.

Looking forward to having Power, lighting and heating too for those cold winter nights tinkering. Last year i was working on a Honda Cr-x in the god damn snow

Now, Has anybody put "garage flooring" down over a concrete floor? IE the duramat stuff? Is it easy to clean and definitely non-slip?

Is there a better alternative that i'm missing perhaps?..

Also, what lighting is best from your personal experiences? I've never had the benefit of a garage with light No idea if a certain light config will create dark zones/shadows

All help/advise appreciated.

Garage size is approx 10 x 20 ft(possibly a few ft bigger) with sockets on the back and house side wall so plenty of place to get power from.

[sickpup]

I haven't used the Duromat product but that type of tile has been used for years and dependent on the density of the rubber can be extremely long lived. It won't be totally non-slip, nothing is and it won't stand up to side stands, centre stands or heavy weights on small legs etc as it isn't designed for this. It also has the problem of water underneath not being able to run out and possibly causing the tile to rise. If any part is exposed to sunlight on a hot day you may also find it expands but it will contract again once cooled.

A good altenative is a resin type floor although this also won't stand up to heavy use.

Another alternative is a porcelain tile floor. This is quite possibly the most durable floor if laid correctly BUT if not is fragile. Unlike the other options it doesn't provide good insulation against a cold floor but you could add underfloor heating to take off the chill or use rubber tiles on top where you are working.

If it was me I think I would fit underfloor heating and go with the porcelain as it would last for decades and raise the value of the house if/when you came to sell or at worst it would become a selling point helping any sale happen quickly.

[sickpup]

A lot of people swear by T8 battens but I prefer LED's at the moment. LED's cost more but should be considerably cheaper to run and last longer. In a garage the size of yours I would fit at least 4 6 foot doubles possibly 6 of them.

[sickpup]

As an aside you may want to consider these wall cabinets.

Hilka wall cabinets.

They come flat packed but are easy to build and once assembled and mounted with large bolts they are incredibly strong.

[spikenipple]

[arry]

One thing is certain don't use Ronseal Diamond Hard floor paint cos it most definitely ain't.

[sickpup]

[BTTD]

I bought a couple m2 of plasfloor tiles to see what they were like three years ago. I think they're pretty decent for the price and I would have done the whole floor in them, but it's one of those things I just haven't gotten around to. I blame my two year old son and a wife who thinks finishing the house is more important.
In the meantime the bikes been parked on them. Order a m2 and see what you think for yourself.

[charlie74]

personally I would split it into 2 halves..

first 10 ft near the door id use industrial poly type floor paint, do a coat, scatter a bit of sand lightly while its drying, then paint over again to seal the sand in bit pikey but it works and you wont slip over in wet boots etc and get a bike mat if you want somewhere to let the daily drip dry

back half is probably where your going to do the "projects" so thick plyboard/osb painted in a lightish colour ( helps you find that bloody washer/spring) and is cheap and can take a whack, and dead easy to repaint as needed, also works well as an insulator

I'd be surprised if that cost you more than £200 tbh and that's having the sheets deliverd

[whitedevil]

I put down reclaimed office floor tiles. Cost me 40 quid to do the whole garage. 100 tiles. Can't fault it tbh.
____________________
GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[mudcow007]

not really helpful this but we have a resin floor in our warehouse, it has lasted less than a year an is now breaking up - was applied by the company that supplied it too..

[iooi]

Cheap option.

Take the carpet out of the house and lay that on the garage floor
____________________
Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[J4mes]

[BTTD]

If you really want to see a lot of garages (with a whole sub forum purely for flooring) have a look at The Garage Journal.
It's a US site so some of those domestic garages are bigger than UK industrial units, but there's a fair few smaller spaces and even a few UK posters.

[pompousporcup...]

cheers folks, some good ideas there

fwiw i've used an old rug from the house in the current garage and its worked well. A new "thick" carpet would probably work well enough

Heated floors are probably a bit extravagant for the garage (as much as i'd love to do it). the cost of the heating bits for that size room appears to be way more than doing the actual flooring. I guess a couple of external heaters either end of the garage will suffice There's also the issue of the other half wanting the kitchen and bathroom floors heated. Those rooms are apparently more important than the man space.. don't want to set precedent

Found these
https://www.screwfix.com/p/heuga-ribbed-heavy-contract-carpet-tiles-graphite-20-pack/57304?kpid=57304&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&cm_mmc=Google-_-Shopping%20-%20Building%20and%20Joinery-_-Shopping%20-%20Building%20and%20Joinery-_-all\building%20&%20joinery\carpet%20tiles\heuga_22930416-ab6b-415c-b174-5167a4018d18&gclid=Cj0KEQjw-YO7BRDwi6Stp7T296ABEiQAD6iWMUMTsL-mKrOXDab45xBryKU-izThVHpFHUKEIevy0qkaAgdm8P8HAQ#product_additional_details_container

which is similar to the carpet the office i work in has and seems a decent option.

Like the idea of having a wooden garage floor* i think it would be fairly hard wearing and much easier to replace than tiling and easier to lay (i've not tiled a floor before) and would have an "old skool" vibe to it









*fire extinguishers at the ready

[BTTD]

Heated floors: If you're putting electric elements in to heat the floor, don't you need insulation underneath? Otherwise you're just heating the ground , which is very big heat sink. Modern houses will most likely have under-slab insulation (or insulation between the floor joists), but I'm not so sure about a garage, or indeed the age of the OP's property.

I've seen wood/ osb flooring in some woodworker sheds / garages as it makes the floor more comfortable to walk on, you can insulate under, and you're less likely to damage a tool if you drop it. I think you'd want to coat it if you parked a wet bike on it regularly, I'm not sure if it would like the moisture that much.

[Baffler186]

I covered mine with the old lounge carpet (very short and worn pile). There are pro's and cons though. Pro's: it's cheap or free, it absorbs spills very well and can be dried out if you have a heater/dehumidifier on it for a day. It's comfy to kneel on when working on the bike.

Cons: it can absorb and retain moisture if you don't dry it out. It can hide little nasties like off cuts of wire etc (but you can also hoover it).

For me, anything you lay will have to be glued or secured down properly, that's about my only advice. I've tried mats but unless fully covered and secured to the floor I found it annoying because they slipped about and were a trip hazard.
____________________
Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[B5234FT]

In my last couple of garages, I've gone for expoxy based floor paint in a light grey colour on the floor as it makes it easy to mop up spills and reduces dust when sweeping up and then I normally keep bits of old carpet as mats for crawling under cars. I wouldnt carpet the whole floor, too easy to dump 5l of coolant, or worse still, fuel into it.

For the walls, plain white emulsion onto the breeze block, cheap and helps with light no end!

For lights, cheap external (i.e. with a cover to save you smashing the bulbs) high frequency 5' flourescent tubes. I have 6 in a double garage and thats ample.

After that, a ceiling helps if your design suits it, get everything you can off the floor (my compressor is in the rafters for instance) and go for cupboards and drawers rather than shelves as it helps to keep things tidy if you're creating dust.

A dehumidifier is a huge asset too, especially in winter.

[Aky208]

[mudcow007]

I put lino on my shed (10 x 10) floor, it was a roll end so cost me £30 from local carpet shop

makes wiping oil up easier, bit of cushioning for your knees if you bend down etc an its warmer

side stand leaves dents though - i use a jam jar lid to spread the load

and its slate effect for that rustic look

[stinkwheel]

[doggone]

I have some of these - quite good to kneel on and price seems reasonable for a couple of packs.
https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/garage-essentials/rolson-6-piece-floor-mat-set-120-x-180cm
You need a bit of ply for the stand.
Any kind of matting soon gets disgusting if you are putting the bike in wet/muddy/salty most days in winter.

[331X2]

Regarding lighting, look at the 600x600 modular LED fittings as fitted into suspended ceilings, they throw a lot of light out and can be picked up for around 25 quid each if you look around.

I've currently got 7 5' twin T8's in mine and it id ridiculous how much power it uses, I'll be going over to LED when I rebuild it later this year.

[sickpup]

[BTTD]