The Complete Guide To Garage Tile Flooring

What used to be the simple space to park the car and store a lot of things not actually in use, the garage used to make someone look at the living space for most homeowners. One would most likely enjoy seeing their garage looking fully functional, organized, and even appealing. One of the nice options for this is installing garage tile flooring. Installing this gives a new look not only to the whole garage but also to the parking area and provides an imperishable, easy surface to take care of. In this ultimate guide, we take every detail you should know about garage tile flooring.

Benefits of Garage Tile Flooring

Knowing these major features, it's now time to get into a little bit of the major benefits in more detail of using garage tile flooring.

1. Durability: Garage tiles are such that they can hold a heavy load and lots of foot traffic. The quality used in the making, either porcelain or ceramic, takes into consideration its solidity and sturdiness to stand against heavy foot trafficking. They can be best put as ensuring the maximum weight of vehicles, motorcycles, and even heavy equipment is not going to crack or chip the floor tile.

2. Easy Maintenance: The garage floor can actually get quite messy, especially if you use your garage as a workshop or fairly often if you tend to work with lots of greasy tools and equipment. The tiles are quite easy to clean and pretty easy to maintain. It is, therefore, best recommended for use in the garage. It also resists oil, grease, chemicals, stains, or spills. The floor can be easily wiped clean using either a broom or a mop, as often as need be.

3. Aesthetic Appeal: Garages are no more the dingy, greasy, and ugly place of yore. Now, they are being converted into quite a fashionable space. They offer quite a variety of colors and assortments in the pattern and design of garage tiles such that they will best suit your taste and harmonize with your garage decor. From a tile design of your choice, whether it is the sleek and modern look or the more antiquated kind of look, select.

4. Improved Safety: This should be first and foremost; however, the much-sought-after component for the smooth, possibly not very safe environment of the garage has to be priority. The tile in the garage normally has some friction on their surfaces, hence reducing injuries from slippery falls. They can even be made to be set with some interlocking mechanism for the safety of tiles.

Types of Garage Tiles

1. Porcelain tiles

2. Ceramic Tiles

3. Vinyl Tiles

There are different types of garage tiles in the market, each with features, advantages, and some considerations. Here are the most popular types of garage tiles:

• Porcelain Tiles: This type of tile is known for its very high durability. It's also resistant to stains, scratches, chemicals, and more. They are fired at extremely high temperatures with the sole objective of giving it the characteristic of strength and density. Porcelain tiles should be the flooring of choice in areas where the garage has high traffic, as they resist enormous loads without giving in to chipping or cracking.

• Ceramic Tiles: These tiles are made of clay, which is molded and fired at a lower temperature compared to porcelain tiles. The size, availability and colors provided in the market can even be patterned, depending on individual interests. Ceramic tiles, on the other hand, are slightly less strong compared to porcelain, yet their level of resistance to staining, chemicals, and impact is equally high.

• Vinyl Tiles: This is a very common type of tile that has become very popular over recent years since it is very affordable, easy to install, and has a hard-wearing quality. Made from PVC, it is very lightweight, has excellent flexibility, and is moisture and shock resistant. Vinyl tiles are very flexible in design and can take the look of virtually any naturally occurring material, such as wood or stone.

Installation Considerations

When considering the installation of a tile floor in the garage, planning and consideration of several factors briefly highlighted below should be put into consideration.

Moisture: In general, a garage area is most likely to have moisture, both from the outside. Always consider choosing a type of tile according to its water-resistant features or how much sealing it will require. There are, however, types of tiles such as porcelain that would be, of course, more moisture-proof and a perfect fit for use in garages.

Temperature: Garages generally have a sudden change in temperature, especially when the weather is punishingly cold or summers are hot. The tile should be selected in such a way that it could bear these changes without the possibility of cracking or warping. Talk to your tile supplier to ensure an appropriate choice is made for your specific climate.

Subfloor Preparation: Ensure proper subfloor preparation before tiling the garage. The subfloor has to be clean, leveled, and free from cracks and damage. Remove any existing floor material to the subfloor and repair any defects of it. Over an underlayment, this is usually done in order to level and make the surface as smooth as possible for the tiles.

Ease of Installation: The garage tile is designed with the possibility of carrying out various methods of installation, including adhesive, interlocking, or floating. Depending on the kind of tile, how expert you are, and what level of permanence you would like to achieve. When it comes to the method of installation, adhesive tiles provide a more permanent solution, while interlocking or floating tiles can be removed or replaced without much difficulty in time of need.

Conclusion

The garage tile flooring gives you a range of benefits; durability, easy to maintenance, great aesthetics, and improved safety. With myriad tiles at your disposal, you can do up your garage floor to work efficiently while reflecting personal style. 

Consider the type of tile, type of installation, and the specific requirement of your garage to make a suitable selection. Properly installed and taken care of, garage tile flooring can go a long way in changing your garage from somewhere utterly unloved into an inviting, very functional area that ties into your home's overall aesthetic.