Carpet or paint
Author
Discussion

bmgm3

Original Poster:

10,480 posts

273 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
Starting to restore my car in the garage of my rented residence. Problem is the concrete floor is very dusty and covers everything in a fine dust. I thought about painting it, but good paint looks to be £100 + .So I thought about a cheap roll of carpet which will cover the floor and also give me something to lay on and keep of the cold concrete floor. So what's a cheap carpet cost in approx 9x3m size ? Am I missing any downsides to the carpet option ? Odd question I know , but I'm bored and it is a wonderment

Mikey G

4,899 posts

270 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
bmgm3 said:
Am I missing any downsides to the carpet option ?


You get a leak or a spillage and it will be a bugger to clean.

I'm sure you can get floor paint much cheaper than what you have been quoted.

ridds

8,372 posts

274 months

Monday 5th December 2005
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Just get old offcuts from your local carpet store, they chuck out loads.

The first serious bit of work you do will see the carpet covered in oil and then they're not that nice after that so you'll want to get another bit.

Used carpet in my garages for years, saves you knees too.

TheLemming

4,319 posts

295 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
Maybe cheap carpet tiles?

That way you can pick them up and clean them when a couple get seriously dirty, or worst case replace the offending tiles with new ones when some are truly beyond saving?

We kept all the tiles that were in the kitchen / hallway when we moved into the current house. Enough to cover the work areas in the garage and replace whatever needed replacing for years.

NikB

1,835 posts

295 months

Monday 5th December 2005
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Normally you have to seal the concrete before painting it - this adds to the expense, £100 sounds about right for a normal sized single garage. Maybe you could get away with just sealing it?

How about Screwfix, are they any cheaper?

bmgm3

Original Poster:

10,480 posts

273 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
Mikey G said:
bmgm3 said:
Am I missing any downsides to the carpet option ?


You get a leak or a spillage and it will be a bugger to clean.

I'm sure you can get floor paint much cheaper than what you have been quoted.


I used some floor paint from one of the big DIY stores a few years back to do the floor in my dads garage. It took about 4 5ltr tins and was really thin and didn't stick that well. Looking around via a Google search , I reckon £100 is going to be near the mark with something decent. Then again, I've only tried the once , so I'm hoping the PH guys will know better.

pesty

42,655 posts

286 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
Have you seen those plastic tiles that fit together? they are excellent for garage floors.

i'll see if I can find a link. they are often advertised in teh back of car mags.

www.versatileflooring.co.uk/ecotile/garage/garage_flooring.html
this type of thing.

yes it may be more expensive than paint but when you move all you do is peel it up and put it in your next garage.


>> Edited by pesty on Monday 5th December 18:49

DrDeAtH

3,701 posts

262 months

Monday 5th December 2005
quotequote all
i recently did my garage floor.(5m x 5m)
i used the stuff out of wickes, it was a floor sealer which i applied first, then 2 good coats of floor paint. although the paint and sealer came in 2.5 litre tins.
it seems to be fairly tough, and hasnt lifted yet....

sealer was £11.99 a can
paint was £15.99 i think

anyway, used 2 cans of each left 24hrs between coats and then 2 further days to dry out.

M3 Mitch

538 posts

259 months

Monday 5th December 2005
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I think I recall something about carpet under a car being a severe fire hazard, if fuel ever leaks onto it.

Paint might be an option but you should recruit your landlord to at least help pay for the paint. If you were going to donate your labor, and I thought you would do a decent job, I'd buy the paint if I were your landlord.

The plastic tiles have the advantage that you can take them with you.

You're a brave soul restoring a car on rented premises...I don't think you are planning on a full-on restoration, maybe more of a freshening, right? I'd keep in mind that you may indeed move before completing the work on the car, so I'd suggest you be organized and try to keep the shell as at least a roller...

muley

1,453 posts

311 months

Tuesday 6th December 2005
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I second the recommendation for Wickes garage floor paint. You could put tiles on top, but it will all work better if the floor is sealed/painted. I only used 2 coats of paint and 12 years on it still looks fine. Top tip - leave it to dry for two days.

It shouldn't cost anything like £100.

Cotty

42,259 posts

314 months

Tuesday 6th December 2005
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I suggest you seal the floor then paint it and get a creeper

Make sure when you seal the floor you have lots of ventelation as that stuff is strong

Versatile

1 posts

249 months

Thursday 12th January 2006
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We are the manufacturers of the interlocking floor tile mentioned in earlier posts, in support of Piston Heads we have placed a Trade add in the classified section so at least they earn some money out of us. With regard to the comments made, yes the tiles are probably 4 or 5 times more expensive than paint if you include the cost of rollers, paint trays etc. but they look better and last 50+ times as long. Ceramics crack and splinter and carpet gets damp and very smelly. As one of the posts mentioned there is always a deal to be done, we have second quality and ex demonstartion tiles slightly cheaper.

Hope you dont mind me posting a reply

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

285 months

Thursday 12th January 2006
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bmgm3 said:
it is a wonderment


Never heard of that....is it Japanese?

blaineuk

2,615 posts

277 months

Thursday 12th January 2006
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Versatile said:
We are the manufacturers of the interlocking floor tile mentioned in earlier posts, in support of Piston Heads we have placed a Trade add in the classified section so at least they earn some money out of us. With regard to the comments made, yes the tiles are probably 4 or 5 times more expensive than paint if you include the cost of rollers, paint trays etc. but they look better and last 50+ times as long. Ceramics crack and splinter and carpet gets damp and very smelly. As one of the posts mentioned there is always a deal to be done, we have second quality and ex demonstartion tiles slightly cheaper.

Hope you dont mind me posting a reply


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