Type of flooring in garage

[JamiePattison]

Hi

What would be the recommended type of flooring for a garage?

The ideal purpose would be to hold gym equipment so ideally something strong but also convenient to use daily and possible low temperatures etc.

Finally something I could install myself without having to hire a specialist if possible at all?

Thanks

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

My workshop is an old cow shed with a concrete floor, I put down 30mm batons about 500mm apart, infilled with kingspan kooltherm boards then topped with moisture resistant chipboard flooring from Wicks. It has been down for eight years now and I could not be happier with it. It is strong enough to cope with my planer thicknesser, mortiser and table saw being shifted around on it and it is warm and comfortable under foot. For a gym floor you could put a vinyl sheet or carpet tiles on top or even paint it with an industrial floor paint.

​

 

[ChaiLatte]

What does the garage floor look like? Is it standard concrete, reasonably level, with a tamped finish?

If so, put down 50mm polystyrene insulation (Jabfloor is the hoover term for polystyrene insulation https://www.selcobw.com/jabfloor-70-floor-insulation-2400-x-1200-x-50mm-487310041), DPM over the top (https://www.screwfix.com/p/damplas-damp-proof-membrane-black-1000ga-4m-x-3m/2121p )and T&G chipboard (caberfloor is the hoover term here https://www.selcobw.com/caberfloor-p5-t-g-chipboard-flooring-2400-x-600mm-tg4-fscr) with the joints glued.

It will be warm, damp proof and 'springy.'

You can cut the chipboard with a handsaw, but a cordless circular saw is easier. You do need to make sure the joints in the chipboard are pulled up tight. A flooring clamp can assist (https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-flooring-clamp-4m/932FT)

The challenge is making the perimeter neat. If you are to carpet or lino on top of the chipboard, than a 5mm gap filled with the cork strips for laminate flooring is OK as the carpet will cover them (https://www.screwfix.com/p/vitrex-cork-expansion-strips-0-6m-x-12-5mm-18-pack/6257h). If the chipboard is to remain bare, some kind of scotia, fixed to the wall (not the floor) will hide the joint.

 

[JamiePattison]

What does the garage floor look like? Is it standard concrete, reasonably level, with a tamped finish?

If so, put down 50mm polystyrene insulation (Jabfloor is the hoover term for polystyrene insulation https://www.selcobw.com/jabfloor-70-floor-insulation-2400-x-1200-x-50mm-487310041), DPM over the top (https://www.screwfix.com/p/damplas-damp-proof-membrane-black-1000ga-4m-x-3m/2121p )and T&G chipboard (caberfloor is the hoover term here https://www.selcobw.com/caberfloor-p5-t-g-chipboard-flooring-2400-x-600mm-tg4-fscr) with the joints glued.

It will be warm, damp proof and 'springy.'

You can cut the chipboard with a handsaw, but a cordless circular saw is easier. You do need to make sure the joints in the chipboard are pulled up tight. A flooring clamp can assist (https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-flooring-clamp-4m/932FT)

The challenge is making the perimeter neat. If you are to carpet or lino on top of the chipboard, than a 5mm gap filled with the cork strips for laminate flooring is OK as the carpet will cover them (https://www.screwfix.com/p/vitrex-cork-expansion-strips-0-6m-x-12-5mm-18-pack/6257h). If the chipboard is to remain bare, some kind of scotia, fixed to the wall (not the floor) will hide the joint.

It's a concrete floor.

I checked out those links but could I get away with just the jab flooring and glue that to the floor?

 

[JamiePattison]

My workshop is an old cow shed with a concrete floor, I put down 30mm batons about 500mm apart, infilled with kingspan kooltherm boards then topped with moisture resistant chipboard flooring from Wicks. It has been down for eight years now and I could not be happier with it. It is strong enough to cope with my planer thicknesser, mortiser and table saw being shifted around on it and it is warm and comfortable under foot. For a gym floor you could put a vinyl sheet or carpet tiles on top or even paint it with an industrial floor paint.

​

Do you have a link of the product you're referring to?

 

[ChaiLatte]

...I checked out those links but could I get away with just the jab flooring and glue that to the floor?

The Jabfloor is polystyrene. So no.

It does come in 25mm thick which will do the same job for 25mm less height gain, but will result in a floor that is colder and harder (https://www.selcobw.com/jabfloor-70-floor-insulation-2400-x-1200-x-25mm-487310081).

If you mean could you glue the caberfloor (chipboard) directly to the concrete, it could be attached using something like Sikabond 52 (which comes in a sausage and requires the appropriate applicator gun).

The great disadvantage of this is that it will not compensate for any uneveness in the concrete (the polystyrene will accommodate ridges in a tamped concrete finish), is not resilient (springy); is not warm (no insulation) is not damp proof (no DPM), and is unlikely to offer any signficant cost saving.

I gave the Selco links as I know them. The products are generic (that is what I mean by 'hoover term') so any equivalent would be acceptable. In the post above, Kingspan insulation is suggested. This is better than polystyrene but comes at a price premium. Another alternative is the chipboard sold for boarding lofts - it comes in smaller sheets (easier transport and easier to push through a loft hatch) but is more costly per square metre.

Kingspan Kooltherm for flooring here:

https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en/prod...-insulation-boards/kooltherm-k103-floorboard/

Typical supplier here:

https://www.insulationuk.co.uk/prod...rboard-insulation-2400-x-1200mm-single-sheets

Wickes T&G chipboard (and same Jabfloor) here:

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Building-Materials/Sheet-Materials/Chipboard-Sheets/c/1001105
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Jabfloor-70-Polystyrene-Insulation-Board---2400-x-1200-x-25mm/p/287740

 

[JamiePattison]

The Jabfloor is polystyrene. So no.

It does come in 25mm thick which will do the same job for 25mm less height gain, but will result in a floor that is colder and harder (https://www.selcobw.com/jabfloor-70-floor-insulation-2400-x-1200-x-25mm-487310081).

If you mean could you glue the caberfloor (chipboard) directly to the concrete, it could be attached using something like Sikabond 52 (which comes in a sausage and requires the appropriate applicator gun).

The great disadvantage of this is that it will not compensate for any uneveness in the concrete (the polystyrene will accommodate ridges in a tamped concrete finish), is not resilient (springy); is not warm (no insulation) is not damp proof (no DPM), and is unlikely to offer any signficant cost saving.

I gave the Selco links as I know them. The products are generic (that is what I mean by 'hoover term') so any equivalent would be acceptable. In the post above, Kingspan insulation is suggested. This is better than polystyrene but comes at a price premium. Another alternative is the chipboard sold for boarding lofts - it comes in smaller sheets (easier transport and easier to push through a loft hatch) but is more costly per square metre.

Kingspan Kooltherm for flooring here:

https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en/prod...-insulation-boards/kooltherm-k103-floorboard/

Typical supplier here:

https://www.insulationuk.co.uk/prod...rboard-insulation-2400-x-1200mm-single-sheets

Wickes T&G chipboard (and same Jabfloor) here:

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Building-Materials/Sheet-Materials/Chipboard-Sheets/c/1001105
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Jabfloor-70-Polystyrene-Insulation-Board---2400-x-1200-x-25mm/p/287740

Curious but could an item like this but be used instead? https://amzn.eu/d/5JIJrYR such would have minimal work to carry out?

 

[ChaiLatte]

Curious but could an item like this but be used instead?

Somewhere near the top of this thread, three requirements are given: "strong but also convenient to use daily and possible low temperatures". The foam tiles fulfill none of those three criteria.

If you accept the fact that the gym equipment will sink into the foam and leave a permanent imprint, that the tiles will be quite hard underfoot and not very warm, go ahead.