Garage flooring
Discussion
riosyd said:
They're kitchen units from Howdens (gloss white integrated handle) 
Could also try these ones from Costco - more "garage like" if you prefer that look . Only trouble was lead time is about 10 days and tracking of delivery wasn't great - but they arrived and are really great quality - proper job 
Also added a few images of floor tiles and logo - they were from Ecotile - nice people great service and quality really good - be careful as there are plastic floor tiles and plastic floor tiles - you get what you pay for
Sorry about photo orientation - don't know how to solve this ??
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/category/uk_catalog/c...
Edited by RSVP911 on Saturday 6th September 09:09
Edited by RSVP911 on Saturday 6th September 09:10
Edited by RSVP911 on Saturday 6th September 09:14
I thought some of you may like to see these at Costco.
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/category/uk_catalog/c...
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/category/uk_catalog/c...
Update time - after asking the initial question on this thread a long time ago, I am particularly proud of the results I have achieved in my garage. I will be the first to admit that it is not quite a 'Gucci' as some of the garages on here, but it fits my needs and was affordable.
After initially enquiring about plastic garage floor tiles and being scared by the price quoted, I took a suggestion from this thread to visit the website of Regal Paints.I spoke to John and Matt in the technical section of the company, who helped me with basic questions before during and after this project. Tehey were happy to direct me every step of the way.
I have cut/paste the details below from another forum.
I bought a new build house in Marlborough about 2 years ago. Since moving in the garage has been home to kids bikes and boxes as well as anything else not needed in the house. Now my finances are looking in better shape, I had better start to prepare for a classic car again. Thankfully, the garage is a double with two up and over doors. The internal walls were just breeze block which I painted using Screwfix Missionary paint (on special offer at the moment). I used a roller, but it will need a coat or two more to stop the white looking grey. This has stopped quite a lot of the dust that was sitting on top of everything in the garage.
I strongly recommend this paint.
I researched all different types of flooring. I had a bad experience with standard floor paint a few years ago, when I painted the garage floor in my old house. As soon as I put my car on it, it tore all the paint up. I vowed never to use this again. I spoke to people about interlocking tiles, and found them to be very expensive. I enquired about ceramic tiles and decided against it. My cheapest and best 'old school' method was to use some 2 pack epoxy paint from Regal paints (made in England).
www.regalpaints.co.uk/epoxy-floor-paint.html. It wasn’t cheap at about £200 for the paint alone and perhaps another £50 for rollers brushes etc, but I was assured that once this stuff is down, it’s down. The technical assistance offered by John and Matt at Regal Paints is excellent and they have guided me through the buying, prep and painting phases. Thanks chaps!
As my garage is a dumping ground, I decided to attack a side at a time. Thanks to my lovely wife for helping me to move everything from one side to the other!!
It will have to stay like this for two weeks at least - more on this later. But my wife will have to use her turbo trainer in the confined space - Sorry dear. I will have to have a clear out at some point very soon.
I started preparing the floor by sweeping it free of loose dust, stones, leaves etc. This was hard work and a mask is advised. It was very dusty, in fact half a bin bag full of dust was swept up. I used my wife’s Dyson on the rest and ended up killing it. Any advice on how to repair it? Anyway - One swept garage ready for paint.
I started painting at 20:00 (don’t ask me why). The first coat is a 2 pack epoxy undercoat. I opted for light grey, but it went on purple?? Once the two parts of the pack are mixed a chemical reaction begins and within 1 hour, the paint is hard. I had to work fast, but with a belly full of curry, this wasn’t easy!! I painted a small are of skirting board up the walls firstly to give me something to mop against in the future. Then a 9" roller was used to roll the paint onto the floor.
Surgeon’s tools:
I didn’t wear any gloves and to my horror the paint wouldn’t come off my hands. Gloves are advised!! I used petrol to clean it all off and will be buying some gloves for the remaining coats today. As I was so panicked about my hands last night, no photos of the finished article, but this morning it looks like:
I have to let this dry for 24 hours (until 20:00 tonight) and then will apply the first of two top coats. The top coat is more workable as the pot life is about 5 hours compared to the 1 hour I got with the primer (undercoat). However, the top coat needs 5 full days to harden completely. After this time, a second coat of top coat will be applied and I will have to wait a further 5 days prior to moving my stuff onto it. The tools are rendered useless after the paint dries, so I had to buy a few roller bodies, cheapy paint brushes and plastic trays.
Start on the top coat.
I came home from work and at 19:00 started painting the first layer of top coat.
Once again its Regal paints 2 pack epoxy. Four litres of colour and one litre of activator. Mix together and you have about an hour to get this stuff down.
The colour of the top coat is more like the silver I was after. It will reflect the light in the garage making it easier to work on bikes cars etc as well as see oil, water spillages and tools/screws/bolts etc.
The consistency of the top coat is more like gloss than the primer. I used a 9" roller a 1.5" brush and this time remembered to wear latex gloves.
The only shame is that there is quite a lot of waste as once its mixed, it will go hard in an hour. I suppose I could have decanted each of the sub parts, but I was too excited.
This is how I have left it this evening:
John at Regal has advised that I leave it for 5 days now to let it cure and then go with another layer of the top coat.
I applied the final coat and left this to dry for a further five days, prior to moving my garage items back. The garage is used as a store for junk, kids bikes and not for storing or working on the car.
This is how it looks now:
and
A big thanks for John and Matt at Regal paints for all the technical assistance they have provided at every step of this project. The paint itself is rock solid and even dragging a big screwdriver across the floor doesn’t leave a mark. It is very strong stuff and I am happy with the final result. I probably went a bit OTT with the number of coats bearing in mind it’s a storage room, but even then the total cost has been less than £250.
After initially enquiring about plastic garage floor tiles and being scared by the price quoted, I took a suggestion from this thread to visit the website of Regal Paints.I spoke to John and Matt in the technical section of the company, who helped me with basic questions before during and after this project. Tehey were happy to direct me every step of the way.
I have cut/paste the details below from another forum.
I bought a new build house in Marlborough about 2 years ago. Since moving in the garage has been home to kids bikes and boxes as well as anything else not needed in the house. Now my finances are looking in better shape, I had better start to prepare for a classic car again. Thankfully, the garage is a double with two up and over doors. The internal walls were just breeze block which I painted using Screwfix Missionary paint (on special offer at the moment). I used a roller, but it will need a coat or two more to stop the white looking grey. This has stopped quite a lot of the dust that was sitting on top of everything in the garage.
I strongly recommend this paint.
I researched all different types of flooring. I had a bad experience with standard floor paint a few years ago, when I painted the garage floor in my old house. As soon as I put my car on it, it tore all the paint up. I vowed never to use this again. I spoke to people about interlocking tiles, and found them to be very expensive. I enquired about ceramic tiles and decided against it. My cheapest and best 'old school' method was to use some 2 pack epoxy paint from Regal paints (made in England).
www.regalpaints.co.uk/epoxy-floor-paint.html. It wasn’t cheap at about £200 for the paint alone and perhaps another £50 for rollers brushes etc, but I was assured that once this stuff is down, it’s down. The technical assistance offered by John and Matt at Regal Paints is excellent and they have guided me through the buying, prep and painting phases. Thanks chaps!
As my garage is a dumping ground, I decided to attack a side at a time. Thanks to my lovely wife for helping me to move everything from one side to the other!!
It will have to stay like this for two weeks at least - more on this later. But my wife will have to use her turbo trainer in the confined space - Sorry dear. I will have to have a clear out at some point very soon.
I started preparing the floor by sweeping it free of loose dust, stones, leaves etc. This was hard work and a mask is advised. It was very dusty, in fact half a bin bag full of dust was swept up. I used my wife’s Dyson on the rest and ended up killing it. Any advice on how to repair it? Anyway - One swept garage ready for paint.
I started painting at 20:00 (don’t ask me why). The first coat is a 2 pack epoxy undercoat. I opted for light grey, but it went on purple?? Once the two parts of the pack are mixed a chemical reaction begins and within 1 hour, the paint is hard. I had to work fast, but with a belly full of curry, this wasn’t easy!! I painted a small are of skirting board up the walls firstly to give me something to mop against in the future. Then a 9" roller was used to roll the paint onto the floor.
Surgeon’s tools:
I didn’t wear any gloves and to my horror the paint wouldn’t come off my hands. Gloves are advised!! I used petrol to clean it all off and will be buying some gloves for the remaining coats today. As I was so panicked about my hands last night, no photos of the finished article, but this morning it looks like:
I have to let this dry for 24 hours (until 20:00 tonight) and then will apply the first of two top coats. The top coat is more workable as the pot life is about 5 hours compared to the 1 hour I got with the primer (undercoat). However, the top coat needs 5 full days to harden completely. After this time, a second coat of top coat will be applied and I will have to wait a further 5 days prior to moving my stuff onto it. The tools are rendered useless after the paint dries, so I had to buy a few roller bodies, cheapy paint brushes and plastic trays.
Start on the top coat.
I came home from work and at 19:00 started painting the first layer of top coat.
Once again its Regal paints 2 pack epoxy. Four litres of colour and one litre of activator. Mix together and you have about an hour to get this stuff down.
The colour of the top coat is more like the silver I was after. It will reflect the light in the garage making it easier to work on bikes cars etc as well as see oil, water spillages and tools/screws/bolts etc.
The consistency of the top coat is more like gloss than the primer. I used a 9" roller a 1.5" brush and this time remembered to wear latex gloves.
The only shame is that there is quite a lot of waste as once its mixed, it will go hard in an hour. I suppose I could have decanted each of the sub parts, but I was too excited
.This is how I have left it this evening:
John at Regal has advised that I leave it for 5 days now to let it cure and then go with another layer of the top coat.
I applied the final coat and left this to dry for a further five days, prior to moving my garage items back. The garage is used as a store for junk, kids bikes and not for storing or working on the car.
This is how it looks now:
and
A big thanks for John and Matt at Regal paints for all the technical assistance they have provided at every step of this project. The paint itself is rock solid and even dragging a big screwdriver across the floor doesn’t leave a mark. It is very strong stuff and I am happy with the final result. I probably went a bit OTT with the number of coats bearing in mind it’s a storage room, but even then the total cost has been less than £250.
Dyson online support will help in the first, a DIY filter clean may be all it needs. If not they can service it and you're not far from Malmesbury so could drop it in. Put serial number in here, get some guides on how to disassemble and clean:
http://www.dyson.co.uk/support.aspx
Nice floor btw
http://www.dyson.co.uk/support.aspx
Nice floor btw
I once got expanding foam all over my hands. It rendered me incapable of doing any more work without spreading sticky stuff everywhere, so I 'quenched' my hands in plaster and brick dust in the skip and continued. Hands were black for days, petrol wouldn't touch it. In the end (ie the night before a wedding) I used my Bird's 'ped egg' to grate the skin off my hands after soaking them in hot water. Fun times.
Can't see your pics at to comment on the quality of the work, but intersted to know how much of the finish quality is down to the paint and how much is down to the quality of the underlying slab? What I mean is, is the paint more of a selant, or more of a top coat if that makes sense?
Has anyone powerfloated a polished concrete floor at all? I need to do my garage eventually, but I think I'm going to have to replace the slab, so rather than dropping £15 a square meter on tiles I could save a fair bit by polishing the slab instead.
Can't see your pics at to comment on the quality of the work, but intersted to know how much of the finish quality is down to the paint and how much is down to the quality of the underlying slab? What I mean is, is the paint more of a selant, or more of a top coat if that makes sense?
Has anyone powerfloated a polished concrete floor at all? I need to do my garage eventually, but I think I'm going to have to replace the slab, so rather than dropping £15 a square meter on tiles I could save a fair bit by polishing the slab instead.
Croutons said:
Dyson online support will help in the first, a DIY filter clean may be all it needs. If not they can service it and you're not far from Malmesbury so could drop it in. Put serial number in here, get some guides on how to disassemble and clean:
http://www.dyson.co.uk/support.aspx
Nice floor btw
Thanks Croutons - this is my job for tomorrow as well as the bread machine :-(.http://www.dyson.co.uk/support.aspx
Nice floor btw
At least I have a nice garage floor to take it apart on now though.
furtive said:
As you did one half of the garage before the other is there any noticeable "join" in the middle? As I'm going to have to do mine in 2 stages like that
Furtive - There is a noticable join even though I feathered the two sides into each other the best i could. The easy solution is to just go over this area again. I am going to do this next week. Its the price you pay for doing each side seperatly, but like my situation, it has to be done.paulrockliffe said:
I once got expanding foam all over my hands. It rendered me incapable of doing any more work without spreading sticky stuff everywhere, so I 'quenched' my hands in plaster and brick dust in the skip and continued. Hands were black for days, petrol wouldn't touch it. In the end (ie the night before a wedding) I used my Bird's 'ped egg' to grate the skin off my hands after soaking them in hot water. Fun times.
Can't see your pics at to comment on the quality of the work, but intersted to know how much of the finish quality is down to the paint and how much is down to the quality of the underlying slab? What I mean is, is the paint more of a selant, or more of a top coat if that makes sense?
Has anyone powerfloated a polished concrete floor at all? I need to do my garage eventually, but I think I'm going to have to replace the slab, so rather than dropping £15 a square meter on tiles I could save a fair bit by polishing the slab instead.
Paul - LOL. I crapped myself when this stuff wouldnt come off my hands! I tried nail varnish remover (not mine) and even a scourer from the kitchen. The Ped Egg made me laugh!Can't see your pics at to comment on the quality of the work, but intersted to know how much of the finish quality is down to the paint and how much is down to the quality of the underlying slab? What I mean is, is the paint more of a selant, or more of a top coat if that makes sense?
Has anyone powerfloated a polished concrete floor at all? I need to do my garage eventually, but I think I'm going to have to replace the slab, so rather than dropping £15 a square meter on tiles I could save a fair bit by polishing the slab instead.
The paint is of a thick gloss consistancy - it really does seal the slab and ouses into the cracks when wet. Its fantastic stuff.
My slab was pitted and dusty - all sorted with this stuff with no real preparation (except for sweeping). I am very happy.
Regal paints also offer a self leveling paint (yes paint) - it would have made my garage floor flat and painted it at the same time. The fact i had to paint it in two seperate sides made me decide against this as well as the cost being slightly more than this paint. Its worth looking at if you are after a flat finish and will be durable and look as good as tiles.
Looking good! Interesting that the primer is also coloured and sounds more like paint rather than just a traditional sealer.
I've been doing this very same thing with my father in law's garage, and have been using this 2 pack epoxy stuff, having first cleaned and sealed the concrete. Seemed good value if you buy the kit.
http://www.floorpaintexpress.co.uk/garacoat-garage...
Back in 2007 I did my own garage using International paints floor paint and it did last for 4-5 years of having a car parked on it before it started to flake. It's amazing how different the space feels before and after.
I then found some Ecotiles on their clearance section, which are the thinner ones in graphite. Absolutely love these!! Still standing up well, and can take a car jack without problem. They don't look like garage tiles as they don't have the domed raised bits and for me they are better that way.
Here they are being fitted
And they certainly can take the usage.
The only thing now that I need to do is to improve the insulation in the garage so it's not freezing over the winter. Thinking of putting some themal blankets over the door, and making sure its sealed quite well.
How hard is it to fit some plasterboard or insulation between the roof beams? Ideally something white to reflect some light as well as keep some of the heat in. I know it's not going to ever be amazingly warm etc, but i'm open to any suggestions on cheap ways to insulate it enough so its still ok to use in the winter with a small heater?
I've been doing this very same thing with my father in law's garage, and have been using this 2 pack epoxy stuff, having first cleaned and sealed the concrete. Seemed good value if you buy the kit.
http://www.floorpaintexpress.co.uk/garacoat-garage...
Back in 2007 I did my own garage using International paints floor paint and it did last for 4-5 years of having a car parked on it before it started to flake. It's amazing how different the space feels before and after.
I then found some Ecotiles on their clearance section, which are the thinner ones in graphite. Absolutely love these!! Still standing up well, and can take a car jack without problem. They don't look like garage tiles as they don't have the domed raised bits and for me they are better that way.
Here they are being fitted
And they certainly can take the usage.
The only thing now that I need to do is to improve the insulation in the garage so it's not freezing over the winter. Thinking of putting some themal blankets over the door, and making sure its sealed quite well.
How hard is it to fit some plasterboard or insulation between the roof beams? Ideally something white to reflect some light as well as keep some of the heat in. I know it's not going to ever be amazingly warm etc, but i'm open to any suggestions on cheap ways to insulate it enough so its still ok to use in the winter with a small heater?
Gravel said:
I do like the look of the interlocking tiles, but what happens if I spill a bit of oil or coolant on them? Will the thin gaps between them wick they fluids away underneath the tiles before I can wipe/mop up the spills?
Maybe overthinking this - I have them from Ecotile , great quality , do the trick - posted a few photos a while back - if you spill something they lift straight up if you miss it and can dry underneath - if the worst comes to the worst and tile gets damaged just pop it out and replace Edited by RSVP911 on Sunday 28th September 15:01
RSVP911 said:
Maybe overthinking this - I have them from Ecotile , great quality , do the trick - posted a few photos a while back - if you spill something they lift straight up if you miss it and can dry underneath - if the worst comes to the worst and tile gets damaged just pop it out and replace
Cheers - that is good to know Edited by RSVP911 on Sunday 28th September 15:01
Is it easy to take a tile out from the middle if you need to, or do you have to work in from an edge?
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