Garage Flooring

Use a rubber roll if you want the quickest, lowest-cost way to cover a whole garage floor in a few strips. Use garage floor tiles if you want colour, want to cover the floor in stages, or want to replace one damaged section without lifting the rest. Tiles also suit garages with steps, pillars or awkward corners.

A thin rubber roll of 3mm is usually the lowest-cost way to cover a whole garage floor, because it uses the least material per square metre. Loose mats cost less again if you only need to protect the parking space or bench area. Each listing shows the price for its sizes and lengths.

Divide the garage width by the roll width and round up. A single garage around 2.4m to 3m wide usually needs two strips of a 1.5m or 2m roll, cut to the length of the garage. Run the strips from the door to the back wall so the seam follows the line of the tyres.

On a damp concrete slab, moisture can collect under any floor covering. If your garage floor gets damp, lift the rubber occasionally in dry weather so the slab can breathe, and dry any water that runs in under the door. A slab with a working damp-proof membrane rarely causes a problem.

Vented tiles have an open, grid-like surface that lets water, melted snow and dirt drop through to the slab rather than sitting on top. The vented modular tiles here are 400mm x 400mm polypropylene tiles in black, blue, red, green and yellow. They click together and can be laid in patterns or colour blocks.

Yes, but each use wants something different. A firm roll suits the parking space, and thicker interlocking rubber tiles or mats suit the area where you train. Many people lay a roll across the floor and put gym tiles on top in the training corner. Rubber gym flooring covers the training side.

An anti-vibration rubber mat under a washing machine or tumble dryer reduces shaking, walking and noise on a concrete garage floor. The anti-vibration mat here is 1m x 1m, in thicknesses from 10mm to 40mm. A thicker mat absorbs more vibration from a fast spin cycle.

Stop the rubber just inside the line of the closed door so the door seal still meets the concrete. Cut a clean, straight edge with a sharp knife and a straight edge. A bevelled edge strip or a strip of tape along the front stops the rubber lifting when tyres roll onto it.

New concrete should be left to dry fully before any floor covering goes on top, which usually takes several weeks. Laying rubber too early traps the moisture still leaving the slab. Once the concrete is dry, sweep it well and the rubber can be laid straight onto it.

Sweep or vacuum grit regularly, because it wears the surface when tyres drive over it. In winter, mop or rinse away road salt with warm water so it does not leave white marks. Coin and checker patterns trap grit between the raised areas, so a stiff brush helps on those.