I originally had my garage floor done with an epoxy. They did a great job, ground the surface to key it, filled holes etc and put 3 coats down. Looked amazing and seriously tough; I just wish they had suggested mixing some pumice with the paint! While the floor looked amazing come the day I walked in with wet boots on it was a skating rink. It needs something gritty in it. I lived with it for a while and toyed with the idea of getting them back to re-coat it but decided to move on. So round two. I bought from Ecotile (https://www.ecotileflooring.com/) an end of batch load of 7mm Industrial interlocking tiles at a good price. They say heavy duty and good for garage workshops. They go down very easily, have good grip and also add insulation - if you have to work on the floor it isn't cold like bar painted concrete however a couple of drawback; 1) The floor does mark due to a chemical reaction with tyres, they tell you this; "https://www.ecotileflooring.com/application/garage-workshop-flooring/) so I chose a dark grey. 2) I have found the tiles mark from paddock stands and my Abba Lift wheels. They did at one time produce some tiles with inset 3mm steal plate that could be used to avoid point 1 or I thought 2 how ever when they shipped me a couple the plates where just stuck on the tile and I didn't like them so sent them back. I ordered some "checker plate" 3mm aluminium 400 x 400 plates but found I couldn't move anything over them as they were too rough for anything that didn't have large castors so got a couple of flat aluminium plates - much better. I'm going to have a go at routing a recess into a couple of spare tiles I have, if it works then great. Oh I also just replaced the old yellowing florescent lights with 1200mm x 600mm bright white LED panels (https://www.ledpanelstore.co.uk/led-panels.html), has transformed things!
another vote for ecotile here. got them used from ebay. wouldnt leave a point load on for extended period though just in case
Use interlocking tiles for a run onto 'wet bay' and carpet the rest - tile inlay for the workbench area too
A wet bay sounds like a good idea. I may incorporate one into my new floor, or chuck a mat down for such an occasion
Worked for a large food company for years & they tried various floorcoverings for grip & hygiene. The best one they had was resin epoxy with gritsand in the mix. It lasted the last 5 years I was there. Every day lots of fork trucks & pallets dragged about. The floor never seemed any worse for wear. Very expensive though & the prep work with various primers took forever to do.
Those are the tiles I ordered and cancelled. Ithink they are still the favourite at the moment Thanks for the write up.
I wonder if anyone had/has approached a local aluminium company who manufacture alu chequer plate and given them a full floor measurement and layout for the room and if they have ever cut a one piece made to fit chequer plate floor?
That would be one massive sheet of Ally!!! While tough it would be very cold and could also be dangerous - pretty conductive for anything electrical !
I doubt it would be one piece - unless its a small room... Largest I have seen available is like 8 foot x 6 foot... I assume there is a manufacturing limit on size as well as practicality on shipping and handling..
Whilst you are redoing it, might aswell get some underfloor heating plumbed in? Yeah probably expensive, outside the budget etc. But it would make you garage one of the best in the world! I had it a house in Colorado. Fantastic doesn't doesn't come close...
Now that would be fabulous! I can imagine in Colorado you want that in winter. I’ve seen the same in Switzerland
I had heated elements on the roof aswell, to make sure the snow slid off the roof rather than crushing it under the weight.
Just asked for my Ecotile quote. Looks similar to the Duramat stuff I was already looking at. Hoping it comes out reasonable. 4.8m x 3.8m attached garage with heating. Building myself a little man cave. TV already on the wall and keeping an open mind as to wether a sofa is over the top or to just get a couple of bar stools.
I got mine for £16 m2 - I bought 28/m2 Ecotile 500/7 - Smooth Texture - Dark GreyRAL7015 - per m2 (E500/7/221)
