What is the best flooring for a garage? As a business owner who has been in the garage flooring industry since 2003, I get asked this question a lot. You can search the phrase on your favorite search engine and come up with lots of opinions. You’ll absolutely come up with manufacturers and distributors who claim that their garage flooring is the best. The question becomes the best for who? We have a lot of articles on the subject, but the best advice I can give you is to read the following two:
Spoiler Alert: In my own personal garage I used TrueLock HDXT Coin garage floor tiles. But that does not mean they are the best product for your garage floor!
But, seriously, What is the Best Flooring for a Garage?
Your best resource for finding the best garage flooring for your garage is going to be the two articles above. The rest of this article is going to focus on explaining why we won’t claim to sell the best garage flooring — and why no one else should either!
One example I use often is that of vehicles. Any dealership is going to tell you they sell the best. Best in class that is. If you and your significant other were retired in Florida witn no kids, you might have different needs than my wife and I who live in Colorado and definitely need room for kids, and the ability to tow a 7000 lb camper. Selecting the best flooring for your garage is very similar.
The first question you need to know the answer to: Other than parking your car in the garage, how is the garage floor used? This question is the single most important factor in product selection, with a budget running a close second. Other questions that need to be answered pertain to where in the country you are, what you are looking to achieve (protection, looks, etc) and frankly the level of skill you possess.
Let’s look at a couple of examples:
What is the best garage floor tile? If I were not allowed to add any qualifiers onto that statement and was forced to answer, I would likely say RaceDeck ®with TrueLock HDXT tiles costing significantly less and being a close second. But like I said earlier in the post, I used TrueLock HDXT Coin in my own garage. Why would I do that if RaceDeck ®was a better tile?
First, the HDXT, or Extreme tile is less expensive and better fits the budget on many of our customers. Second, personally I will never use the benefit that causes the RaceDeck ®product to be so much more. The underside of their tile is extremely beefy. If your jacking cars up day in and day out, it is probably the way to go. I might change a tire, but I am more concerned about rolling resistance. a 25,000-pound rolling load rating is more than enough form my F150. Small coins allow carts, toolboxes and creepers to roll better. The HDXT Diamond tile is, in my humble opinion better looking than other products on the market — because it was modeled after an actual diamond plate sheet. If you were driving a forklift on the tile I would have a different suggestion. Yet another for using it in the basement, a woodworking shop and all-together different for what I would suggest for a garage that leaks over a basement.
What about garage floor coatings? 100% solids epoxy is best, right? Actually, for the vast majority of our customers, Polyurea may be the best choice. Until it’s not. If you are highly sensitive to odors I might suggest a different product. If the floor is beat to you know where something different. An industrial location with heavy forklift traffic that has concrete protection as its’ main objective. I have another suggestion.
Next, of course, what is better for your floor, the best tile or the best coating…. And what about a mat? ok, your head probably hurts by now and perhaps you have conceded my point. It just depends. So go back and read the two articles at the top of the page. Then give us a call and we will help you decide what is best for you — PS that is why my staff is not on comission. It needs to be about you! Want my advice, give me a call directly 800-956-4301 x203
