A garage tends to be that forgotten place used as a parking space and messy storage room. However, a garage is actually an essential part of the house, a highly versatile room, and an asset that can add value to the property. Renovating it can be a huge change, and the choice of flooring can truly make a difference in the overall result.
You can put vinyl flooring in a garage. Rollo-out sheets, peel-and-stick tiles, and interlocking vinyl planks are waterproof, easy to clean, and undemanding. Moreover, vinyl is affordable and strong enough to withstand heavy footfall and regular vehicle movements.
Installing vinyl in your garage is straightforward, but you need to be sure that it’s the best option for your garage. Read on to find out the best types of vinyl flooring for your garage and how to install them.
Can You Put Vinyl Flooring in a Garage?
It’s not only possible to install vinyl flooring in a garage but also convenient. Vinyl is highly affordable and available in a wide range of colors, textures, and patterns, which means you can design a unique room out of your garage.
Heavy-duty vinyl sheets and planks are also anti-slip and resistant to water, spills, moisture, and chemicals. Being easy to clean and maintain, vinyl floorings are the ideal garage flooring option for many homeowners.
Here are the characteristics that make it such a good choice for your garage:
Vinyl Is Water-Resistant
Although vinyl won’t survive a flood in your garage, depending on the type of vinyl you’ve chosen, you can build waterproof or water-resistant flooring.
In most cases, vinyl sheets and tiles will withstand the water and moisture that enters the garage through vehicle tires. Since garages are also more exposed to the outside environment than the other rooms in your house, vinyl flooring can also prevent mold growth, mildew, and warping.
Vinyl Requires Minimal Maintenance
Garages are often the most external room of the house and often close enough to the road or backyard to be at the mercy of dirt and dust. Over time, debris can build up on the floor and stain it, giving your garage a dingy look.
Vinyl is easy to clean: you can just wipe off any mud, grease, oil, or road salt with a mop. And, since it’s a non-porous material, no dirt will penetrate the surface and affect it in the long run.
Vinyl Is Tough
Heavy-duty vinyl is one of the most durable materials for your garage floor because it often boasts a PVC or polypropylene plastic built. While the paint is bound to peel or warp and the tiles might not withstand the weight of vehicles and heavy footfall, vinyl can keep its appealing appearance with minimal maintenance.
Should You Put Vinyl Flooring in a Garage?
As we have seen, vinyl is one of the best materials for your garage floor. However, no two garages are the same. So, the same sheet of vinyl might not work as efficiently in two different houses.
Vinyl flooring can be a good choice for garages due to its durability and resistance to moisture. It withstands heavy traffic and is easy to clean, making it suitable for a space like a garage that may be exposed to dirt, oil, and other substances.
However, vinyl flooring may not be the best choice if the garage is used for heavy mechanical work or storing heavy equipment. Vinyl can be susceptible to damage from sharp objects and extreme weight. In such cases, a more robust material like concrete or commercial-grade tiles may be more appropriate.
For garages with temperature fluctuations, it’s important to note that vinyl can expand and contract with temperature changes. This needs to be considered during installation to allow for expansion gaps and avoid warping or buckling of the flooring over time. Choosing a vinyl specifically designed for garages can mitigate some of these issues.
Unfortunately, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” formula to decide whether vinyl is the ideal material for your garage floor. However, in a residential garage that boasts a temperature control system, vinyl flooring can be an excellent idea.
Which Vinyl Flooring Is Best for a Garage?
Vinyl isn’t a new invention. In fact, it’s just under 100 years old, and, thus, it has multiple variations. Today, you can choose among heavy-duty stick-and-peel tiles, floating or interlocking planks, or roll-out sheets.
With so much choice on the market, it is essential to understand the benefits and disadvantages of each option. Here are three of the most viable solutions:
Roll-Out Vinyl Flooring
Roll-out vinyl flooring is definitely the easiest and most efficient way of covering your garage floor. Roll-out floors are ideal for all kinds of bases, from uneven concrete subfloors to epoxy-painted floors requiring a makeover.
Aside from hiding imperfections extremely well, roll-out vinyl is straightforward to install: you can roll it out and cut off the excess.
Pros
- Easy to install
- Suitable for any kind of flooring
- Usually made of heavy-duty, anti-slip vinyl
- With minimal gaps and joints, it won’t easily get damaged
Cons
- Doesn’t let you create patterns
- Not easy to repair and might need to be replaced altogether
Heavy-Duty Peel and Stick Vinyl Tiles
Peel-and-stick tiles are suitable for even floors without height imbalances. After properly cleaning your garage floor, you can install these tiles in seconds and create your desired pattern.
Pros
- Easy to install
- Made of heavy-duty vinyl
- Lets you create patterns
Cons
- Primarily suitable for even floors
- Not ideal for extremely hot or cold rooms
- The edges are more easily damaged
Interlocking Vinyl Planks
Interlocking planks are usually made in heavy-duty vinyl. Instead of being glued down to the subfloor, they offer a floating system that makes them easier to move and replace. You can arrange them in different patterns, but they work best on floors that are already even.
Pros
- Easy to replace and repair
- Not directly stuck on the subfloor
- Stable and able to withstand multiple vehicle’s weight
Cons
- Primarily suitable for even floors
- More challenging to install
How To Install Vinyl Flooring in a Garage
Vinyl flooring can be a suitable solution for most residential garages. Depending on the type, you most likely won’t have to worry about maintenance, complex installation processes, or moisture damage.
Alternatively, keep reading for more in-depth passages.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on May 26, 2021.
Gather Your Roll-Out Vinyl, Cutting, and Cleaning Supplies
- Roll-out vinyl sheet
- Utility knife and scissors
- A small sheet of plywood
- A wide putty knife
- Heat gun (optional)
- Pencil
- Duct tape
- Vinyl seaming strip
- Liquid adhesive
Measure and Prepare the Floor
The first stage is to prepare and clean the floor. You can use a mop and mild detergent to get rid of dust, salt, debris, and oil that might still be lingering on the garage floor.
In vinyl sheets and interlocking plank, this step prevents any dirt from swelling underneath the flooring. For peel-and-stick tiles, debris can prevent them from settling, so you will need to ensure that the floor is pristine.
Roll Out the Vinyl Sheet
Take the vinyl sheet and roll it out to cover a side portion of the room. Cut it in excess along the walls, then use a utility knife to start refining the edges. You could place a piece of plywood behind the vinyl so that the concrete surface doesn’t blunt the blade too quickly.
Next, heat the vinyl with a heat gun to make it more flexible, and then push the edges down with a putty knife. Its large blade will also help you make a line to cut along for precision.
Bond the Sheets Together
One sheet of vinyl isn’t likely to be enough to cover the whole garage. When laying a second sheet, you need to decide if you want the edges to overlap or sit next to each other. In the second case:
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on May 26, 2021.
- Arrange them side by side.
- Trace a line with a pencil where they meet.
- Using the duct tape, fold the edges backward for a couple of feet and secure them to the rest of the sheet.
- Apply a vinyl seaming strip along the line you traced.
- Apply the liquid adhesive to the seaming strip and on the folded edges of the vinyl sheets.
- Carefully release the edges and press them down against the strip to fix them in place.
For tiles and planks, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure that you’re creating your desired pattern.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on May 26, 2021.