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How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

This article covers how to easily and cheaply create a smooth, level floor in a garage. It outlines the steps involved, including cleaning, levelling, and choosing the material that you will use for the floor. The flooring material is then applied and, depending on the material, coated with a sealant for increased protection. This step-by-step guide emphasizes the use of economical materials, allowing anyone to enjoy durable and level surfaces without breaking the bank. By following the instructions provided, you can easily and affordably install a new floor in your garage, giving it a fresh, polished look.

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For intensive loads, the floor must not only have a stable supporting system, but also have a high surface strength. Of course, we must not forget about automotive chemicals, the contact of which with the floor in the garage is highly likely. We will tell you how to equip the floor correctly and at no extra cost.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

Floor requirements and acceptable types of its device

According to the current operating load, the garage floor occupies an intermediate link between the usual household and road surfaces. There are three main risk factors for the garage floor:

  1. Load from vehicles and garage equipment.
  2. Impact, such as from dropped tools and parts.
  3. Chemical attack from automotive process fluids.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

As you can see, in comparison with the roadbed, the garage floor does not experience only atmospheric and weather influences. For this reason, the use of materials such as asphalt concrete is not only impractical, but sometimes even undesirable. Of the most suitable device systems, three are:

  1. Concrete screed.
  2. Wood flooring.
  3. Gravel mound or paving stones.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

Before you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each system, as well as determine the most profitable for your garage, focus on the economic aspect. It is foolish to hope that for a penny it will be possible to arrange a floor of unprecedented reliability, at the same time, today we will not consider such options as a polished mosaic or bulk polymer floor. Some costs for the purchase of materials cannot be avoided in any way, but in the end it all depends on the foresight of the master and the correct execution of work on the device of the selected type of floor.

Screed and its processing

Filling the floor with concrete in most cases can be called the best option. Mainly for the reason that most often no screed has to be poured: in many garages, the floor is made of concrete by default and only needs to eliminate such shortcomings as curvature and dustiness.

If the garage is under construction or design, concrete flooring is in most cases the cheapest solution. Its pouring is usually performed simultaneously with the foundation or flashing of the inspection pit. It is enough just to pre-assemble the formwork and use the simplest reinforcement. Since the entire floor slab is located in the room, which means it does not experience heating from the sun and is not subject to significant thermal deformations, the installation of expansion joints is not necessary. On the other hand, since the garage has the opportunity (and sometimes the need) to fill up to the optimal level, the thickness of the screed itself can be very small โ€“ about 5 cm, that is, in fact, only the upper and lower protective layer of concrete. With an average garage area of โ€‹โ€‹30 m2 the production of concrete works will require only 1.5โ€“2 m3 mixtures, that is, the entire volume of concrete can be prepared by yourself using a rented concrete mixer.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

The concrete floor in the garage is a classic version of the device. Even if the existing screed has been in use for more than 15โ€“20 years, it is likely to fully meet the technical requirements. Investments are needed in two cases:

1. To correct the slope. To level large holes in which water can accumulate, it is enough to fill the floor with the cheapest self-leveling screed compound. This will also further strengthen the surface, but only if the layer thickness is not less than the permissible according to the instructions.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

2. To eliminate dust. Almost any concrete floor is gradually erased, forming a lot of fine dust, from which even wet cleaning does not save. This phenomenon can be prevented by grinding the top layer (8โ€“10 mm), or by ironing, or by priming followed by painting. Please note that if the floor was poured with a leveling screed, there is no need to use epoxy primers and polyurethane paint, impregnation with a universal acrylic emulsion and coating with alkyd enamel in several layers will be enough.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

Is it acceptable to install a wooden floor

Now letโ€™s take a look at some more exotic garage flooring options and start with the boardwalk. This system is often preferred due to its heat saving properties. Drivers who spend a long time under the bottom of their iron horse know well the difference in which floor they have to work on โ€“ concrete or wooden.

In essence, the idea of โ€‹โ€‹a wooden floor is seen as a winning one in many ways. There is no need for dirty concrete work, the process can be divided into several stages in order to work at a convenient time. But since wood has less durability in comparison with mineral materials, an additional series of harmful effects arises for such a floor:

  • Organic damage to wood.
  • Drying and loosening of the flooring over time.
  • Transport and equipment load.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

It is noteworthy that some of the factors are overlapping. However, due to minor modifications, the standard floor structure on logs can be made quite suitable for garage conditions. The first is high-quality stabilization of wood: mineral impregnation with fire-biological protection or digestion in waste oil. The logs and the back of the boards going to the flooring are subjected to this processing..

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

The second change is filling the voids under the floor with dry compacted mixture. To do this, it is necessary to arrange waterproofing in the pit of the garage, for example, spread a polyethylene film in two layers on a compacted sand embankment, carefully gluing the joints with an overlap. After that, the lag system is mounted, they are directed across the entry line, resting on the ledges of the foundation and the edges of the inspection pit lining. Before laying the boardwalk, the entire space between the logs is tightly filled with a mixture of dry sand with fluff in a ratio of 10: 1, the filler is rammed in layers of 30โ€“35 mm. It is not necessary to use a tongue-and-groove board, but the joining should be very careful. To prevent dust from blowing out from under the flooring, the logs and filler are covered with one layer of film on top.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

Bulk floor

Obviously, the cost of installing the floor should be comparable to the intensity of its use. So, if the garage is used exclusively as a place for storing transport and nothing more, then neither the concrete nor the wooden floor justifies the time and money spent. But the usual gravel embankment โ€“ still how justifies.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

There is nothing tricky in such a system, but you need to protect the floor from replenishment of moisture from the soil. For this purpose, excavation is carried out over the entire area of โ€‹โ€‹the garage and the construction of a clay castle with a thickness of at least 25 cm. That is, dry crushed clay is poured onto the bottom, which is mixed with water and pounded with feet. Usually the whole process is divided into 2โ€“3 stages: first, knead and give 1โ€“2 days for swelling, then add water or dry clay to bring the consistency back to normal. At the final stage, the surface is washed out several times with the addition of new portions of more liquid clay, which fills the cracks formed during the drying process.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

A carefully compacted embankment of sand and gravel is arranged on top of the castle. To prevent punching between the layers, they are separated by geotextiles. It is important that the embankment was tamped really well, and the upper 8-10 cm was filled with mixed gravel. Otherwise, the floor will have to be repaired frequently, leveling the resulting track.

Tiled and paved floor

Finally, we will consider a fairly budgetary option for a floor device, which provides a more or less acceptable look and retains the ability to work in the garage with convenience. It will be about laying paving slabs and other materials suitable for paving.

In this flooring system, most attention is paid to bedding. It should be performed by screening out granite chips or blast-furnace slag, preferably sieved and uniform fraction. There are no such stringent requirements as for street laying, because the structure is not subject to intense washout. A layer of 10โ€“12 cm will be sufficient, poured in 3 passes with alternating manual compaction. Each layer must also be leveled with a rule, along the way setting a slope to drain water flowing from the car.

How to inexpensively make a floor in a garage

Anything can be used as a topcoat, from illiquid bricks to ordinary paving slabs. It is better to give preference to large-format materials, for example, concrete tiles measuring 30ร—30 cm. This way the work will go faster, and it will be easier to re-lay in the future. And do not forget about the scouring: at the end of the installation, pour a mixture of fine sand and 300 grade cement in equal proportions on the floor, and then carefully place it, ensuring that all cracks and joints are filled.

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Comments: 1
  1. Colton Anderson

    Iโ€™m wondering if there are any cost-effective ways to create a garage floor without breaking the bank. Does anyone have any suggestions or DIY tips for inexpensively making a durable and functional floor in a garage? Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

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