There are quite a few options for covering the floor in the garage. This became possible due to the fact that several fundamentally different materials can be used with which the coating is arranged. In addition, a large selection of raw materials is due to the fact that each of them is used for its climate. Also, the presence or absence of a viewing hole will affect the choice.
Coverage Options
Today there are two main factors on which the choice of flooring depends. The first factor is the features of the soil at the construction site, and the second is the climatic conditions.
Naturally, the first and simplest floor in the garage is earthen. The platform is leveled and tamped. Naturally, in this case, the garage will not be protected from damp, cold, etc. The only thing that can be added to at least somehow increase resistance to frost is to apply another layer, on top of the ground. As a raw material for this layer, a clay solution is used. It is also carefully compacted and leveled.
Another budget option for a garage floor is a gravel pillow. Instead of clay mortar, I pour gravel of medium fraction onto the earth, which is moistened and compacted. The method is inexpensive, not too practical and not durable. However, he is able to solve the problem with high humidity in the garage, which is already not bad.
The third way to equip the floor in the garage is to pour concrete screed. This option is the most common during the construction of a major garage. This method will allow you to equip a viewing hole in the room, and if the foundation is buried, then equip a good basement. The option is quite reliable and has a long service life, but, of course, more expensive than the two previous ones.
Another method of equipping a garage floor is to lay timber in logs. The base is quite simple to manufacture and quite convenient to use. However, there is a significantly increased risk of fire. If the wood is additionally treated with protective compounds, then the service life of such a coating can exceed ten years.
The last option is the laying of tiles or stone. This method of floor preparation is the most costly and difficult to implement.
Arrangement of the simplest foundation
It is best to start work with the base of the floor in the garage with its simplest options, that is, with the arrangement of the earth and / or gravel layer.
- The first thing to do in any case is to remove the upper fertile soil layer 15-60 cm, depending on what kind of soil is on the site.
- After that, the earth is poured with water and carefully rammed.
- If nothing is done, then the garage will have high humidity, which will occur due to the flow of high groundwater. To reduce this percentage, you can coat the floor with a liquid layer of clay. Apply two to three layers of clay. However, before applying the next one, it is necessary that the previous one is completely dry.
- It is important to add here that if the walls in the garage are wet, then the option of laying clay is excluded. In this case, sifted sand that does not contain clay particles can be laid on the floor in the garage. After that, a layer of red burnt brick or waste slag is poured on top and is also rammed.
- Another option that will help reduce humidity in the presence of a regular earthen floor is ventilation. To do this, small holes are made in the corners of the structure.
- Another budget idea is laying old linoleum on the ground. The room will become much drier and warmer, but it will glide strongly. In addition, linoleum itself should be laid with a slight overlap on each other if the material is laid in pieces. In order to make it more convenient to call in, you can lay a few boards under the linoleum at the entrance to the garage.
It is worth noting that you can lay tiles on a gravel pillow, which will be quite good. Such material should not be laid on the earthen floor, since a good waterproofing layer is needed.
Work with tiles
In order to successfully lay the tiles on the floor for the garage, it will take more effort and time than with the previous option. It will have to be much more careful to ramming all layers, and therefore renting a ram rammer is an ideal option, since it will be very difficult and much longer to carry out all the work manually. Each five centimeter section should be carefully processed. We can assume that the work was successful if, after a person walks on the ground, there are no traces left on it.
The sequence of layers for laying tiles on the floor in the garage with your own hands is as follows:
- The first layer is sand with a thickness of 5 cm.
- The second layer is medium fractional gravel. Layer thickness - at least 10 cm.
- Next is another sand cushion, but with a thickness of 10 cm.
- Further, the foundation will require a cement base or cleaned sand, a thickness of 5 cm.
- Finish from the selected tile.
Here you need to stay in more detail. After the first layer of sand has been laid, it is recommended to put one, and preferably two layers of waterproofing material. As such a material, you can use roofing material or, for example, a thick plastic film (300 microns). The most reliable option will be laying geotextiles on the floor in the garage with your own hands.
If the base will have two layers of waterproofing, then they are glued together with double-sided tape or soldered. Strips of material are overlapped by 5 cm. Each joint must be additionally treated with bitumen mastic.
When the tile has already been laid, it is recommended to fill up all existing joints with a mixture of cement and sand 1: 3. This is done so that the dirt does not clog in them. Excess mixture is swept away from the coating. After this, the seams are sprayed with water and left to dry. All cement that was on top of the tile should be removed immediately. A small nuance - it is impossible to use watering from a hose, since the pressure of water will knock out the mixture from the seams, only work with a spray gun is allowed.
Arrangement of a wooden floor
How to cover the floor in the garage? Budget and quite acceptable option is wood. The service life of this material in such conditions is up to 20 years, and if it is processed, then more. The sequence of work when arranging such a foundation is approximately the following:
- it is necessary to remove the entire fertile soil layer;
- the surface is compacted using a ram rammer with moistening;
- Next, you need to lay a waterproofing layer - a material such as geotextile, ruberoid, film or a special waterproofing membrane is suitable;
- a layer of sand or gravel 10 cm thick is poured on top of this, which is also carefully compacted.
One very important nuance. When arranging a warm floor in a garage made of wood, it is necessary to check each layer with a level so that it is perfectly even. If the garage is large enough, then it is better to use not the usual building level, but a laser.
- The next step is the laying of wooden logs. Here, most often used boards with dimensions of 50x50 cm or 40x40 cm. This material must be treated with an antiseptic or resin and flame retardant, which will protect against rot and fire. Railway sleepers can be an ideal option as lags, since they are soaked at the factory with all the necessary compounds and will serve much longer.
- To successfully install a wooden floor in the garage, the logs need to be mounted in the recesses. They are fixed to the wall with anchors or plaster mixes can be used. This option will be much faster and easier to implement.
- The step of laying the log is 50-100 cm. It will be ideal to stack them so that the car at the entrance to the garage passes along them or at least next to them. In addition, it is worth adding that the more boards are laid, the less “walking” the floor will be.
- To ensure the floor in a warm garage, you need to use extruded polystyrene foam. The thickness of the sheets should be at least 5 cm. In addition, this option is two in one. Expanded polystyrene and waterproofing and insulation.
- If you do not want to use such material, then it can be replaced with granular foam glass, which also performs two functions at once.
- There is an option for budgetary floor insulation. It is necessary to use broken brick, glass and expanded clay. However, such a base will still allow moisture to pass through.
Budget option of a wooden floor
You can make flooring in the garage without insulation. In this case, you can lay the logs on the posts.
- The soil is leveled and compacted.
- Next, a pillow is made of gravel, on which columns of brick are installed. The height of the elevation is two bricks wide and the same height.
- The distance between each support is one meter.
- Brick columns are laid on cement mortar, which means that you have to wait until it is completely dry before continuing with work.
- The top of the support is covered with two layers of waterproofing or bitumen grease.
- The last stage - lags are exposed and a wooden floor is laid.
Which garage floors are better
Another base option is a concrete screed. This option is rightfully considered one of the best. However, the work to create it requires much more effort, time and money.
Work begins with the preparation of the basis for the work. At this stage, you need to determine the height of the floor. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the screed should be slightly higher than the threshold. When everything is ready with this step, you can proceed with the removal of excess soil from the garage, if any. The next step is to lay two pillows. The first of crushed stone with a height of 30 to 85 cm. This parameter depends on the type of soil. The second pillow is sifted sand. The thickness of this layer is from 15 to 20 cm.
Filling the floor in the garage begins with the fact that the existing base is carefully leveled, tamped, watered and tamped again. You can use both improvised tools and special equipment, if available. The surface should be almost perfectly flat. The slope should not exceed 5 mm per meter.
After that, you can proceed to the arrangement of waterproofing, insulation and reinforcement of the coating. Any suitable waterproofing material, for example, roofing material, is laid on a tamped surface. Recently, it has become very popular to use expanded polystyrene as a heater, and therefore sheets of this raw material with a thickness of 5 to 10 cm are laid on top of the roofing material. After this, the expanded polystyrene is covered with a film or a waterproofing membrane. If the laying took place in separate sections, then you need to work with an overlap, and glue all the joints together with adhesive tape.
Site reinforcement
How to fill the floor in the garage? To successfully create a concrete base, it is necessary to have a reinforced layer to strengthen the future floor.
For reinforcement, rods of reinforcement with a diameter of 8 to 12 mm will be needed. This material is selected depending on what kind of load will be carried out on the base in the future. Naturally, if the garage is equipped for a large number of cars or for freight vehicles, then the thickness of the reinforcement should be as large as possible.
All elements are interconnected by wire. Only such a connection is possible. Welding is not suitable, since the design should be characterized by a certain mobility, and welding the base will exclude this possibility. As transverse racks for the frame, 6 mm reinforcement can be used. In the finished version, a two-layer mesh should be obtained in which the distance between the rods is from 5 to 10 cm.
Next, you need to know some conditions by which the thickness of the concrete layer is determined. For example, if the soil is sandy, and the region is characterized by the absence of low temperatures, then the thickness of the plate can be from 25 to 35 mm. But in those areas where there is a low temperature, and the soil itself is considered heaving, it is necessary that the thickness of the concrete screed exceed 45 mm.
You also need to pay attention to the fact that the frame of the reinforcement is separated from the walls by a compensation gap. The concrete base will need this space for free expansion or contraction, depending on climatic conditions.
Base fill
In order to have a good base in the garage, it is recommended to use durable and frost-resistant cement of the M300 grade or higher. If the area is characterized by rather severe or difficult climatic conditions, then it is necessary to add special additives and plasticizers to the composition. One of the main requirements for finished concrete is a completely uniform consistency. Manually fulfilling this requirement will be very, very difficult.
To solve this problem, the most optimal option was to order a mixer for mixing concrete mortar. In addition, it is almost necessary to do this, since pouring a concrete screed is necessary at a time. It is impossible to divide this process into several parts, since in this case the integrity of the coating will be violated soon.
When the mixture is being poured, the leveling rule is used, and the beacons are used for marking. It is for them that you need to navigate. It is also important to expel absolutely all air bubbles that will appear in concrete. The main goal that should be pursued at this stage is to obtain a continuous, even mass of solution that does not have a void inside.
The day after the base has been poured, it must be covered with a continuous rag, which should be wetted from the outside every day. Until the level of strength reaches the desired point, it is necessary to avoid sunlight on the solution. Full and final hardening of the concrete slab will occur only 28 days after pouring. Only after this, you can proceed to the stage of finishing the floor, if necessary.
Rubber floors
Recently, a rubber floor for a garage is gaining popularity. It can be made in two versions. Either rubber floor tiles or rolled rubber floors can be used.
As for the tile, its advantages include high resistance to abrasion, icing, exposure to static and dynamic loads. In addition, it successfully resists exposure to chemicals. It is very difficult to damage such a material, and therefore its use as a floor covering for a garage is a great idea. This version of the foundation is stacked in separate sections, however, for its installation it is best to call a specialist. When compared with rolled rubber floors for a garage, two advantages can be distinguished:
- The first is an easy replacement. If any area was still damaged, then it is enough to simply replace it with another. If the roll floor is damaged, it will be necessary to replace the whole strip, and not just a separate section.
- The second is styling. To successfully lay such a base, the use of special adhesives is not required, since the segments have special fasteners.
As for the thickness of the sections, the maximum figure is 4 cm.
If we talk about rolls of rubber, it is worth noting that they are made from already used car tires. There are special devices for this - drum type vulcanizers. Such a floor covering has a long service life and high strength.
Rubber floor mounting
Start by laying modular tiles. If large loads on them are not planned, then you can not stick them to the floor, but only fix the edges of the segment. In addition, for ease of interconnection, each section has docking protrusions. Because of this, the installation of the floor resembles the assembly of a puzzle. After several sections have been combined, all remaining seams are sealed with sealant. The service life of a properly assembled coating is at least 10 years. In addition, for the installation of this type of rubber floor there is no need to process the base, which saves a large amount of time and effort. In addition, the boards can be installed on the rough floor even without prior leveling.
As for the installation of a rolled rubber coating, here you will have to work with the base. The draft base layer is carefully primed, after which it is covered with a special mixture of polyurethane adhesive and turpentine. The approximate consumption of the primer is 300 g per m 2 . The rubber rolls themselves are spread on a concrete base, after which they need to be allowed to lie down for several days. In addition, unlike laying segments, the use of glue for installation is necessary in any case, regardless of further loads.
The latest technology for installing a rubber floor is a bulk coating. The composition that is used in this case includes rubber crumb, dye and polyurethane adhesive. The finished mixture has a liquid state. It is evenly applied to the prepared substrate according to the instructions. Such a substance can be applied by spraying, which makes it easy to apply it not only on horizontal, but also on vertical and inclined surfaces. It is worth noting that the cost of any of these three types of rubber floor is quite high, but this is justified by the reliability and durability of the base.
From all of the above, we can conclude that the question of how to make the floor in the garage is no longer such a problem as it was before.