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Garage floor covering recommendations
- Thread starter dale1uk
- Start date
I’d have done mine myself apart from a couple of things.
Firstly I’m a idiot and useless with this sort of stuff, so would rather pay the professional to do it right first time than have a go, mess it up, and call them in anyway
Secondly the floor surface was so poor (new build) it needed a good polishing to even it out.
It’s not perfectly smooth either, they haven’t done it like they do on their industrial floors where it’s mirror smooth, but for a residential garage it’s fine.
And I importantly for my wife you can still see the paw prints where a cat obviously decided to walk through some of the concrete when it was wet
Firstly I’m a idiot and useless with this sort of stuff, so would rather pay the professional to do it right first time than have a go, mess it up, and call them in anyway
Secondly the floor surface was so poor (new build) it needed a good polishing to even it out.
It’s not perfectly smooth either, they haven’t done it like they do on their industrial floors where it’s mirror smooth, but for a residential garage it’s fine.
And I importantly for my wife you can still see the paw prints where a cat obviously decided to walk through some of the concrete when it was wet
Over two years on and I've moved house. I've just had a rolling door fitted on the garage so now I'm looking at garage flooring. I'm liking the look of both Mototile and Garage Floor Tile company. This is how it currently is:
In hindsight I should have ordered it all before pitting the shelving up! But it's not bolted in so shouldn't take too long to remove for floor fitting.
Soldato
Swisstrax Ribtrax or Tuff Tile (Rib04 I think they call it). I've got the Swisstrax stuff, @Gibbo went for Tuff Tile (which wasn't available when I got mine) and my neighbour has just also installed the Tuff Tile version, which as far as I can tell is basically identical to the Swisstrax.Over two years on and I've moved house. I've just had a rolling door fitted on the garage so now I'm looking at garage flooring. I'm liking the look of both Mototile and Garage Floor Tile company. This is how it currently is:
In hindsight I should have ordered it all before pitting the shelving up! But it's not bolted in so shouldn't take too long to remove for floor fitting.
Cheers mate, I'll take a look.
Soldato
Neither option is particularly cheap (I'd expect ~£600 for a single garage) but they are both REALLY good quality, very quick and easy to put down (and take up) and you can always take it with you if you move.
Wow, can't believe it's almost 2 years since I laid the Mototile flooring down in my garage! They are holding up great and have zero regrets about opting for them over painting. I wasn't keen on an open tile due to me being more than likely to spill oil or other fluids which would have resulted in me having to lift the tiles to clean up properly, but I can see the appeal of them if you're not a clumsy ****** 
It's never caused me any issues and it's a million times better than my old plain concrete floor for working on/under my cars.
An old photo but all I have to hand right now:
Tuff Tile, in black and yellow, same as Swiss trax but not as expensive, cost me about a grand for the garage floor and over a year on very happy with it, have jacked the Corvette on it a few times with zero issues.
Tuff Tile, in black and yellow, same as Swiss trax but not as expensive, cost me about a grand for the garage floor and over a year on very happy with it, have jacked the Corvette on it a few times with zero issues.
Soldato
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That looks awesome and I'm not talking about the floor (although that does look good).
Soldato
I guess the open grate you still want a paint or sealer to keep down dust?
Soldato
To be honest it doesn't get dusty at all in my experience. I've laid mine on bare concrete and I have no dust issues, plus you can vacuum over the top and suck most of the crap from below the tiles straight up. If you really need to it's super easy to lift a tile, or a whole section, out to clean up beneath them. A few weeks ago I dragged out one whole side of my garage to clean the floor and the tiles after 2 years of constant use.
From recent experience it is cheaper than Swisstrax, but not by much at all. I did Swisstrax and for my garage it came to ~£1350 and my neighbour with identical garage size has just done his with Tuff Tile (on my recommendation) and it came to £1200.Tuff Tile, in black and yellow, same as Swiss trax but not as expensive, cost me about a grand for the garage floor and over a year on very happy with it, have jacked the Corvette on it a few times with zero issues.
I can't see any difference in quality between Swisstrax and Tuff Tile.
I've fitted mine myself and did my neighbour's with him and it's super easy. All the edges can be cut with a hand saw and provided you're not a ham-fisted ape and can use a tape measure it's really easy to get a good finish. We did my neighbour's double garage with two of us in about 6 hours start to finish (which included a fair bit of moving stuff about) and the vast majority of that time, probably ~4 1/2 hours, was spent doing all the edges/cuts.
I suspect TUFF Tile have increased their pricing, like you say its same as the Swisstrax stuff so they were only undercutting them substantially to gain market share and these days they seem to be doing pretty well and can hence charge more.
Soldato
I suspect you're right. Now I think the only advantage Swisstrax have over Tuff is that they offer more colour options (including metallics) and they also have different flooring types that interlock with the same modular system (e.g. they have astroturf tiles).I suspect TUFF Tile have increased their pricing, like you say its same as the Swisstrax stuff so they were only undercutting them substantially to gain market share and these days they seem to be doing pretty well and can hence charge more.
Either option is a great choice.
Most garages have a fluttered concrete finish. This ideally needs to be ground out. I did our garage, diamond ground out the concrete ridges then used an epoxy resin (platinum colour) on top. Bes thing I did. Ultra clean, and easy to sweep / mop
Soldato
Can’t even imagine the dust that must have created though?
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Old carpet does the job...and will be replaced every few years as you swap house stuff....