Garage Floor

[athlonoc]

Hi all,

Simple question I hope.

Is there a specific tile and or grout to use/avoid when tiling a standard garage floor.

It's flat and even, is only used to store light household stuff. No vehicles to be parked on it.

My concern is that with no insulation and or heating it will get very cold during winter and wasn't sure if this should be a concern or not.

Thanks

Lee

 

[bugs183]

Hiya Ath.
Good plan coming on here asking before you start, you'll get all the answers you need!
Starting with the tiles i'd advise you go for a fully vitrified tile, this can be ceramic or porcelain. Fully Vit means it's frost proof so won't absorb any water which could freeze and damage the tile. The cold itself shouldn't do any harm to the tiles, so no worries there. Also i'd ask the supplier for at least a grade 5 glaze. This is a commercial glaze and you'll know that they won't wear. Go to a good tile supplier, and ask that the tiles all come from the same production batch, this should avoid size and shade variations.
Then the next vital step is the fixing, these have to be solid bedded, meaning that the tiles have 100% adhesive coverage between the tile and the floor. This serves a few purposes, one being that any voids will be a weak spot and could crack if loaded, also it any water from rain of mopping could eventually collect in these voids, these can freeze and lift the tiles during cold winters.
Use a good quality adhesive such as Mapei, Weber or Bal, and use a modified grout, as these are more resiliant to oils etc that you may find in a garage.

The tiling itself is not really any different from interior work, but i would advise getting an experienced floor tiler for this job as he will fix them correctly, this avoids problems later.

 

[athlonoc]

Hi and thanks for coming back to me.

Will any of the following be ok for adhesive.

Mapei - Keraflex, Rapid, or Keraquick.

Regards

Lee

 

[bugs183]

Yep! Keraflex is slow drying so is easier to use, but both will be fine.
If the garage floor had been painted, had contaminants on it such as oil,or is power floated you will need to remove these or key the floor in the case of power floating,by scabbling. But if it's normal concrete then use the primer recommended by the adhesive manufacturer and off you go.

 

[AliGage]

I know you say you won't be parking a motor on it but id bare it in mind and make it future proof as well.

Not sure on other manufacturers but BAL make an adhesive designed for the potential use of your floor, "motobond" I believe its called.

Agree about fixing fully vitrified and would go for a high grade porcelain myself.

 

[bugs183]

Motobond is magic stuff, feels alot like Pourable Thick Bed, it don't half stick!