The basic requirements for the flooring in the garage, various options for materials for installation in the garage, their disadvantages and advantages, the rules for pouring a concrete screed, the recommendations of specialists for laying floors. A garage floor is a covering that should not be damp and should not emit a lot of dust. Of course, the main requirement is that it must withstand heavy loads. Thus, the car will be kept in a well-equipped place. The classic garage flooring is a concrete screed, but today materials such as wood, tiles, as well as earthen and self-leveling floors are popular.
Garage flooring requirements
If you decide to lay the flooring in the garage yourself, the main problem is the correct selection of materials, because the assortment in hardware stores is huge. In addition, today there are many technologies with which you can make various floor bases.
The garage space is a kind of place, and the floor in it must meet certain requirements:
- The coating must be durable and reliable, withstand constant loads and external mechanical influences. From the weight of the car on the floor, there should be no dents, cracks, scratches or other defects.
- Resistant to chemicals. The garage is often used as a workshop where car enthusiasts can fix their car on their own. And in this case, the floor material must also be resistant to the effects of various chemicals.
- Easy to care for. It is important that the garage floor is easy to maintain as it gets dirty on a regular basis.
- Resistant to fire. If the base of the coating is wood, then, of course, it is far from safe in this regard. Plus, the harmful effects on such a floor will also be denied by fuels and lubricants (fuels and lubricants). For this indicator, wooden flooring is not the best option for laying in a garage. If you still opted for wood, then before starting work it must be impregnated with special solutions.
- Moisture resistance is an important requirement, since in winter and autumn a large amount of moisture gets from the wheels of the car to the floor, which over time destroys the structure of the coating and reduces its service life.
Materials such as laminate or linoleum are absolutely not suitable for installation in a garage. These coatings very quickly become unusable due to the influence of fuels and lubricants. And that doesn't even take into account the weight of the car, which will also ruin the materials in no time.
Materials for arranging the floor in the garage
There are some of the most common materials that are often laid on the floor in a garage. They have special technical characteristics, as well as their own disadvantages and advantages.
Reinforced concrete slabs on the garage floor
This material can make your garage floor more durable and stable. But you won't be able to lay the slabs on your own. It is better to entrust this business to professionals or enlist the help of friends.
Among the advantages of such a material for finishing floors in a garage, one can single out ease of use and speed of installation (subject to the presence of a team of workers), durability and reliability of the surface.
It is worth noting certain disadvantages of reinforced concrete slabs as flooring:
- Great weight. If you hire a professional team of builders, it will entail additional costs.
- If the slabs are laid directly on the ground, they can soon crack due to the subsidence of the soil under them.
- If the temperature in the garage is too high, the material can expand, leading to the destruction of both the slabs and the foundation of the room. Therefore, it is recommended that the first thing before starting work is to compact the soil well and make gaps between the garage foundation and the working material.
Wooden floor in the garage
Wooden garage flooring is currently not as popular as it used to be. New materials, methods and technologies have appeared. However, such floors are still being laid, since they have a number of advantages:
- Wooden floors in the garage are quite relevant, since the installation work can be carried out independently, without the use of expensive equipment and additional labor. The styling process is fast enough.
- Unlike concrete or brick floors, wooden floors are able to perfectly retain heat, they "breathe". This means that there will be no unpleasant smell of gasoline or chemicals in the garage.
- Such flooring is inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
It is also important to take into account the disadvantages of such a floor:
- Short service life (as opposed to concrete). Under the influence of constant friction from tires and chemicals, the period of use of this floor will not exceed five to seven years.
- Strong mechanical stress will be detrimental to the wooden floor.
- This coating is highly flammable.
- If the room is humid, the wood will quickly deteriorate and rot.
- Wood is susceptible to rodents and pests.
If you plan not only to store the car in the garage, but also intend to use the premises as a car workshop, then it is better to opt for the classic floor screed in the garage.
Garage floor screed
Concrete screed is one of the most popular options for flooring in a garage. And there are many reasons for choosing a coating, since it has the following advantages:
- The floor will be very durable. He is not afraid of large and uneven loads.
- The coating is resistant to chemical liquids, oils and gasoline.
- Such a floor is safe, as it has fireproof qualities. If a fire breaks out in the garage, the flame will not spread.
- With proper concreting, the coating will also be moisture resistant.
- The process of pouring a garage floor is very simple.
- Long service life of the flooring.
If you have a concrete floor in your garage, then you should not worry about damage from mechanical or chemical influences. But just like any coating, concrete also has disadvantages:
- The pouring process, although simple, is quite laborious.
- The floor can become very dirty and will need frequent cleaning.
- The concrete surface can wear off quickly enough. The top layer of the fill is destroyed and turns into gray dust.
- The concrete floor has good absorbency, so it will be difficult to remove any spilled liquid. In addition, an unpleasant smell can also be disturbing.
Rubber covers for garage
Rubber is an excellent material that is ideal for the garage due to its advantages:
- This floor covering is durable and durable. Paul will serve you for over fifteen years.
- The rubber floor is highly durable. He is not afraid of sudden changes in temperature, ultraviolet radiation, exposure to fuel oil, acids or alkalis.
- Rubber is characterized by a high level of water resistance, as the flooring is water-repellent. Thus, you can wash your car without leaving the garage.
- The material also has soundproofing and anti-vibration properties. A garage with a floor covering of roll or sector rubber flooring completely isolates the sound.
- It is very important that such an anti-slip coating is sufficiently safe. It will not freeze, which will provide you with a comfortable walking in any weather and season. The rubber material is non-flammable and environmentally friendly.
- It is very easy to work with such flooring, which will allow you to make garage floors with your own hands. The help of professionals is not needed, which means that unnecessary material costs are excluded.
- It is easy to care for such a coating, it is easy to maintain cleanliness, and no special efforts are required. The rubber floor is washed with plain water, no special detergents are needed.
There are several types of rubber flooring: rolls with a width of 1.25 m, rubber plates of various shaped shapes (the surface of the plates can be both flat and embossed), carpet with a rubber backing and rubber sprinkling, self-leveling rubber floor covering.
The latter type has long been popular and in demand among consumers who want to equip their garage with high quality. The self-leveling coating has both pluses and minuses, which are much less than advantages.
Before pouring the floor in the garage, it is necessary to study the technical characteristics and features of the material:
- No seams will form during installation. This means that dust and bacteria will not begin to collect in the cracks in the flooring.
- The rubber self-leveling coating is absolutely environmentally friendly, it does not emit harmful substances, does not harm the human body and the environment.
- The mixture hardens quickly enough. Some substances need only a day to dry completely, and they will already be ready for active use.
- Self-leveling floors can be insulated.
- They are highly resistant. They are not afraid of mechanical damage.
- The self-leveling floor will serve for more than forty years.
The disadvantages of rubber flooring in the garage include the following:
- This type of coating is not yet very common in our country, therefore, it has a high cost. But it is worth considering the long service life, over these decades the cost of purchasing the material will definitely pay off.
- The pouring process is not very straightforward. It is long and laborious, and it is better to entrust it to a team of specialists. If you decide to fill the floor yourself and make a mistake, then significantly shorten the period of its use.
- The dismantling process is also not easy. And it is recommended to simply install a new coating on top of the self-leveling one, it will be much easier and cheaper.
How to make a concrete floor in a garage
The problem with installation work is that the material will be in close contact with the ground, which gives off a lot of moisture. The water levels can be quite high and the premises can be heated, especially in the spring. This is very important to consider before making a garage floor in this most common way.
Do not forget an important detail - the base of the floor should be slightly sloped. It is necessary to ensure a high-quality outflow of water from the garage. In this case, you can wash the car without leaving the garage.
Features of installing a concrete floor in a garage:
- Making a gravel embankment. It will serve as a kind of drainage. Its main task is to remove unnecessary moisture, preventing it from penetrating into the concrete pavement. Don't make this layer more than ten centimeters long.
- The next stage is backfilling of the sand layer, which will also remove moisture from the concrete and transfer it to the lower layer. The thickness of this layer should be no more than one hundred millimeters.
- We install waterproofing, which will not allow groundwater to penetrate to the floor of the garage. As a waterproofing, we use a dense plastic film, which we fix with an overlap of twenty centimeters.
- We fill in a concrete pad (its width should not be more than twenty centimeters). The material can be poured and level the coating by eye, but it is recommended to use beacons.
- We fix the concrete layer with 1 cm reinforcement. After finishing the work, cover the floor with polyethylene. Thus, the evaporation of water is reduced, the material dries more slowly, while becoming much stronger. Drying completely will take several weeks.
- The final stage of laying a concrete floor is a screed. The process must take place clearly, therefore, beacons must be used. The screed must be reinforced, for this we use a metal mesh. If you add a small amount of liquid soap to the water, the concrete solution will not dry out so quickly.
- At the end of the work, we again cover the floor with plastic wrap, remove it only when the surface becomes light in color. This will mean that all excess moisture has evaporated. It will take at least a month to dry the concrete pavement.
- To strengthen the concrete surface, it is coated with a special "milk" of cement in the following proportion: 1 part of cement to 3 parts of water. You also need to add slaked lime or polyvinyl acetate emulsion to the solution.
- If desired, the garage floor can be insulated. If you do not want to insulate it using a special system, you can add expanded clay or pumice to the solution, the surface will become a little warmer.
Do not lay earth near walls under the foundation. At a distance of fifteen centimeters, it is necessary to fill in sand, rubber or any other insulation. Thus, if the garage sags, the floor will not be damaged. How to make a floor in a garage - watch the video:
The choice of materials for laying on the floor of the garage is very wide. Before buying, be sure to make calculations, study the technical characteristics. The main requirement is that the floor in the garage must be practical and durable.
