I’m lucky enough to have a detached double garage but it was in need of some TLC. The concrete floor was starting to break away in places, the walls were covered in dust and the kitchen units were falling apart. Storage wasn’t great and it was all looking a bit sad really. I finally decided that this year was the year to spruce it up a bit. I wanted to make my garage a functional space as I not only use it to store the bikes in, but I also do all my exercise in there too. I wanted to paint the walls, fit a tiled floor, skirting and have some proper storage options in the form of racking. I had a small but manageable budget and the main reason for renovating the garage was for functionality not glamour!! I’ve seen some owners garages and wow, they are lottery win good! I’ve spent the last few weekends working on the garage and although not 100% complete (new window and door to be fitted in May) and I’m very happy with the end result. Here’s how I got on…. Decided to go with a masonry paint from B&Q and I was after a nice grey which was lighter than anthracite grey. The only option I had off the shelf was a Dulux “Concrete Grey”! Thought bugger it and went with it and I must say it looks brilliant. I searched the internet for plastic (PVC) tiles and opted for The Garage Floor Tile Company. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive either, but came with great reviews so I thought why not. The tiles have an anti-slip surface which is ideal for exercising as it gives you the right amount of grip you need. I researched the chequer plate and dot type but they’re not great for exercising (being on your knees) and they’re a bastard to clean (crevasses hold all the dirt/grime). Installation is so easy, cutting is not so with a utility knife, so I opted for a mitre saw which made light work of it. Next was the skirting, I opted for timber skirting from Howdens and painted them anthracite grey to match the garage door (and soon to be installed side door and window). Dot and dabbed them on with a “No Nails” type adhesive and finished off with decorators caulk. This finished the floor off as it covered the 5mm expansion gap and shit cutting! (I have to admit here that I didn’t fit the skirting, my brother did it as he’s a joiner. I would have fucked it up, so better he did it!!) I then moved on to the storage and I opted to go with BigDug racking, I chose the BigDug400 range. Really easy to assemble (no mechanical fixings) and for piece of mind I also purchased (from BigDug) the wall fixings. I can store everything I have with ease. I wanted additional lighting so I can see what I’m doing when tinkering with and cleaning the bikes. I just bought some tube lights from Toolstation and lobbed them up. Not pretty but functional. Finally it came the bikes, the most important bit! For functionality I wanted to be able to move the bikes around easily and also have them in the air for when working on them. I decided to buy two Abba sky lifts for the RSV4 and Monster and a Constand for the CBR. The Abba stands are awesome but they are big and cumbersome, but they give you confidence that the bike is not going anywhere when fitted to it. The Constand is much lighter and very easy to operate (once you get the knack of it) but I don’t trust it 100% like I do the Abba stands. I also wanted to protect the flooring a bit so I purchased BikeTek mats which initially was a great idea until I tried to roll a stand on to it. Hmmmm, the mat kept folding and it was a nightmare!!! I’m slowly getting used to how to manage the mat situation, they look good but not how I imagined they would work in tandem with the lifters. So there it is, I’m super happy with my new stable and it’s now time to try and find the time to use them, it!!! I’d love to see your garage projects and to hear what you think of mine.
Looks factory I need to sort my flooring. How do those tiles cope with cars driving on them? I’m guessing they are loose lates and not stuck?
am also working on my garage, ive put a self levelling concrete as an initial layer and i will cover it with an epoxy resin layer of about 5mm thick the shame is the concreter layer is so nice and smooth i feel bad covering it but its hard to clean.. the 1st picture am including is of the epoxy resin ,, not my garage (I wish) the tiny garage with the bikes is mine
Mine gets quite wet underneath. And comes thru the concrete. Old floor on detached garage so don’t expect damp proofing under it! Even with foam tiles down (which get ripped up by the car, hence the change!) there are patches and soooo much dust ! Thought about getting someone in to do train, just not sure how it copes
Cheers Bradders. They are heavy duty tiles so they'll be ok for running cars over them but i'm not sure if they'd push at some point? They're not glued down as i don't need them to be but you can do this as you would with a ceramic tile or timber floor.
It all depends on your use i suppose. Epoxy is nice but what are they like under foot if damp? My concrete floor this year had condensation on it and it was like a frozen lake.
Blimey that's not good. Do you have drainage issues? Sounds like either water is not being drained away from the garage well enough and/or the garage is in a low spot. I'd want to sort that out before tiling the floor.
We live close to the bottom of a hill, when wet, we get water coming under the path and so must be under garage too. I didn’t notice too much until I put foam tiles over it, now I do! I considered raising floor a bit with 4x1 strips but wonder how it would cope with car weight. It’s not mega, under 1500kgs, but wonders if just fitting better tiles would sort it or resin as it’s meant to reduce dust. All the walls are insulated and plasterboarded. It’s just the floor.
You need to get rid of the water problem because if you fit tiles the water will be drawn up to them (especially if glued to the floor). One way to rid your garage of the water would be to install a french drain sytem around the garage. This would collect the water and deposit it into a soakaway or permanent drainage system. Time consuming and expensive. A cheaper option would be to opt for an alternative tile option like this https://tuff-tile.com/ your wet floor could then breath and dry out when warmer.
When I had the garage extended they said we’d have to basically dig everything up! As I was retaining 3 walls, was a no go really
Yeh water is a big issue. Replacing the floor with a new floor and DPM will not solve your issues, it will just move it somewhere else. Sounds like the floor is the path of last resistance at the moment!! If its run off water which is your issue then that's not so difficult to resolve, but if its ground water and the water table is naturally high then that's a big problem. In my line of work the only way to treat the issue is to divert it elsewhere but sometimes that's easier said than done!
Why do you ask? I have cctv with a caravan and vehicles blocking the main double door. I live in a very very safe area and tbh what I have in my garage pales into insignificance compared to some around here!!
