Can I install garage floor tiles in just part of my garage?
Ribbed Tiles At Workbench
A member on GarageJournal.com asked this question today and I thought we had talked about it here. Apparently we have not. Here is the basic scenario:
Lets say you have a classic car or perhaps a new 2014 sports car and you want to create a parking pad to show it off. You either don’t have the budget to do the whole floor or perhaps most of your floor is epoxy and you want a special place to park your hot rod.
We sell a lot of garage floor tile for this type of application. I would say the majority of them go in just fine but there is a small percentage that have an issue. The issues are more likely on highly polished, troweled or coated concrete.
Interlocking garage tiles get their stability from being interlocked over the entire floor. The more tiles you have locked together the more total weight you have and the less likely the tiles are to move.
When you install tiles in just part of your garage, the system weight is much lower and typically there is not a wall to help ‘stop the tiles’. When this happens the tiles are much more likely to move and in some cases even buckle. There are several fixes for this, and you should check with the manufacturer of your tile.
Rubber underlayment under the entire floor generally stops the movement. Rubber has some downsides including odor. Some of our customers have had good luck using shelf liner material under the leading edge.
The best option is to make sure the tiles are fully expanded and pin the tiles in all four corners. If it was my floor I would start with just the front two edges.
