Do you have the hankering to turn your blah garage into a functional, yet attractive room? Besides clearing out the superfluous junk, you have to start with what is under your feet! A garage floor is one of the most abused surfaces in the home and can really detract from the space, especially if you plan to turn your garage into a functional work room, display space for a classic car or even a family room with a pool table and other games. While epoxy or polyurethane floors are options, they can be tricky and time-consuming to apply. Consider garage floor tile instead.

What is Garage Floor Tile?

Garage floor tile is different from other tile flooring you may be familiar with. Garage floor tile is tough, made from non-breakable materials unlike porcelain, ceramic and other types of tile meant for inside the home. A garage is a place where tough work is common, from fixing cars to woodworking. Tough work often includes dropping tools, spilled liquids like oil and general abuse of the floor.

Coming in a variety of forms, garage floor tile is made from tough materials able to withstand heat, chemicals, light, impact and cracking. Many garage floor tile options are made of flexible PVC materials while others are made from special plastic polymers. You can purchase the tile in both self-adhesive peel and stick versions or even interlocking tiles that require no glue or adhesives.

Benefits of Garage Floor Tile

The main benefit of garage floor tile is the easy installation – so easy you can do it all by yourself! And for the most part, you do not have to worry about the caustic smell of glue or other adhesives in the installation process. With epoxy or other floor coatings, you have prep work to do to ready the concrete floor in addition to tolerating the smell as well as waiting several days before being able to use the floor. With the tile option, you can start occupying your garage space the same day.

Garage floor tile made today is constructed with special materials that are not only flexible to help maintain a good fit during installation, but they have many other protective qualities as well. For instance, most tiles provide shock absorption so you have a comfortable surface in which to stand and kneel on. Reduction of noise as well as thermal insulating properties are quite common with the tiles made for garages. Vapor barriers help prevent moisture from the concrete from seeping through the tiles.

Most garage floor tiles are also impervious to common, everyday chemical spills from oil, pesticides, anti-freeze and even battery acid. The tiles are easy to clean and many are manufactured with stain resistant properties and can withstand fading and cracking. Heavy loads are no problem for most garage floor tiles and they easily hide imperfections in the concrete flooring.

The colors and types of surfaces available for garage floor tiles are quite impressive. There are a number of color hues to choose from and the surfaces types include diamond, honeycomb, smooth and square weave patterns, just to name a few. You can mix and match colors to create a pattern on the floor from checkered looks to a framed appearance. The good news is that garage floor tiles can be installed virtually anywhere you have a concrete floor or other well-abused flooring areas including basements, covered patios, fitness rooms, laundry rooms, RV campers, stable hallways, pet rooms and even outdoor sheds.

Because you do not use any glues to install your garage floor tile, you will typically just need a utility knife for cutting or trimming odd pieces and a rubber mallet for gently knocking interlocking pieces into place. Within a few hours, you could have a totally new floor that you can use right away. To make sure you choose the right color and pattern, you can send away for floor samples and see how they look in your garage or other area of the home before ordering. Garage floor tile is an exceptional option for your garage or other concrete floor.