Garage Floor Tiles: Types and Uses

People install garage floor tiles in their garages for various reasons. For some, it’s about showcasing their nice cars, expensive machinery, and high end tools while others simply want a good surface to place their workstations on. Because of the changing nature of the demand for these types of solutions, there are now numerous types of garage floor tiles available in the market.

Which one should you choose is a question that you'll have to answer yourself but we can arm you with the information you need to make that decision. Here’s our small guide on different types of garage floor tiles, their respective applications.

Interlocking Garage Floor Tiles are usually plastic tiles with grooves on all sides. These grooves interlink with the grooves on adjacent tiles till the whole garage floor gets covered. There are more advantages of Interlocking garage floor tiles than disadvantages.

One of their biggest advantage is how easy they are to install in your garage. Interlocking garage floor tiles are incomparable when it comes to ease of installation. In fact, the installation process of these types of garage floor tiles is downright childish.

You can refer to the video but all you need to do to install these babies is to align the grooves on the sides and gently hammer them together. It isn’t just the ease of installation that is making interlocking garage floor tiles so popular but also a number of other qualities and characteristics. These garage tiles' design process is also extremely simple.

The reason for this is that most modern day manufacturers of these tiles provide tools on their websites where you can design the pattern and style that you want in your garage. Essentially, you'll put in the dimensions of your garage and pick and choose different types of tiles to make patterns.

Once you have the patterns ready, you can simply check how many tiles you'll need of which type. They’re available in multiple colours and are resistant to most types of abuse that garage floors usually receive.

However, they aren't invincible. Over a period of time, you may start seeing slight discolouration and warping of the surface. These problems can only be fixed by replacing the specific tiles that have become damaged.

At the same time, its important to note that the average life span of these types of tiles is anything between 7 to 15 years depending upon the nature of use. This is precisely why many of these tiles come with 15 years' warranty.

Despite these flaws, interlocking garage floor tiles are growing in popularity mainly because of their versatility. You can find these tiles in sizes ranging from 12 x 12 inches to 24 x 24 inches. Moreover, if it is cheap garage tiles that you're interested in then these tiles can be had for as low as $2 per square foot. The higher range for these types of tiles is $3 per square foot.

Vinyl composite garage floor tiles are possibly the cheapest garage tiles for sale in the market with prices as low as 69 cents per square foot. These garage floor tiles are preferred by those individuals who want to give their garage a retro look.

The reason for this is that these garage floor tiles tend to be on glossy side. The glossy and polished appearance is considered to be traditional in nature because its what used to be used earlier. Typically, vinyl composite garage floor tiles are available in only one size which is 12 x 12 inches across. The thickness of these tiles is one eighth of an inch.

The biggest quality of vinyl composite garage floor tiles is that they're very resistant to liquids. This means that as long as you keep your vinyl composite garage flooring maintained, you can drop all types of liquids on it.

However, these types of garage floor tiles have a huge disadvantage as well. This is the fact that they are susceptible to damage from sharp objects being dragged over them. Effectively, if you work with a lot of sharp tools or heavy machinery, then you might want to pass on them.

Moreover, they require a considerable amount of maintenance in the form of buffs and polishes. This means that you might have to give your vinyl composite garage flooring regular touch-ups if you want to keep it looking the same as it did when it was first installed.

One of the best garage floor tiles today in terms of looks , ease of installation, and resistance to damage are flexible vinyl garage floor tiles. These are the most resistant to damage from external conditions.

You might think that because they can be peeled off and pasted on the floor, they would be low quality but you would be mistaken. Peel and stick garage floor tiles provide a very cost effective and hassle free way of changing the way your garage looks.

These garage floor tiles are available in 12 different but complimentary colours that you can use to create patterns and styles in your garage. In addition to this, peel and stick garage floor tiles are also incredibly easy to install.

They only require you to peel off their back cover and put them in the right position on the floor. Since they have an adhesive at their back, they stick straight away. However, this is also where their main flaw crops up.

Peel and stick garage floor tiles have a tendency to not perform very well in high traffic areas of your house. There are two problems that can show up because of high footfall.

The first is that individual tiles will start shifting because of the repetitive pressure from people walking over them. Most manufacturers recommend using extra adhesive in high traffic regions to keep the tiles... erm... grounded.

The second is that of warping on the edges due to changing temperatures. this usually happens when you leave space between where the last garage floor tiles end and the wall.

If you can plan your pasting efforts in advance and maybe get some mathematician to help you calculate how to place these garage floor tiles to cover the whole room, you won't have to leave space near the walls. That would directly prevent problems of warping.

Peel and stick garage floor tiles are available in sizes which vary from 12 x 12 inches to 24 x 24 inches. Approximately speaking, they cost around $3 per square foot.

As you can see, each type of garage floor tiles I've talked about here has its own advantages and disadvantages. Because of the various pros and cons each of these types, it can become difficult to choose between them. After all, how do you find the right blend when there's no product that is absolutely perfect? But, isn't that true for every product in the market?

The real trick is to begin by figuring out what exactly are your priorities. If you know your priorities and expectations from your garage floor, you'll be better able to pick the right type of garage floor tiles.

Ideally, you should make a small priority list containing the qualities that are most important to you in descending order of importance. Elements you should consider while choosing garage floor tiles include looks, cost, durability, installation process, and versatility.

We even have a poll set up containing each of these elements. Do give us your opinion by casting your vote? We'd even appreciate a comment or two too, if you have any opinions about our content or the subject we've covered.