# Heavy-Duty insulated Garage floor



## nicofranceusa (Jan 20, 2015)

Hi,

I've been researching my options in floor finish for my new shop (20×20 2 car garage). I lean toward a wood finish with some insulation underneath.

Question is: My wife wants to make sure we can still park a car (not 2) in the garage "in case of".... I tried to fight against it but I wanted to see if there were any options to still achieve a warmer and softer floor than my concrete slab while still being able to support occasionally a car.

Any thoughts? Would some Dricore + plywood combo work?

Thanks


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## pjones46 (Mar 1, 2011)

It would definatly help to reduce the cold from transmitting up your legs, however, what about water, snow, ice, etc if you live up where you have to deal with that sort of weather. Also, put out signs renting space for critter condos 

I bought a wood stove some years ago which takes care of the warmth, wish I had put in a gas forced air heater as I get older. I have to be careful with finishing with the woodstove.

To be honest, I think it would be more practicle to invest in a heat system which in turn would warm the whole space and then lay down some foam rubber shop mats.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I know there's some sort of interlocking plastic tile system that you can get that would do a bit of insulating, be better for standing in and be able to support a car. I don't think the wood is the way to go.
http://www.amazon.com/ModuTile-Garage-Flooring-Interlocking-Diamond/dp/B00534YF6I


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## sawdustjunkie (Sep 12, 2013)

I have been thinking about a rubber floor as well.
I found some rubber flooring at Menards. It comes in a 48"x 10' length and is about 1/4" thick.
I don't plan on parking a car in my garage since I made it my shop, there hasn't been a car in there for the last 3 years.
The flooring is $87 per roll and there is currently a 11% off sale this week so I think I am going to go order 4 rolls. That will cover about 1/2 of my floor.
I currently have a few pieces of outdoor carpet on the floor now, but is impossible to keep clean without using the house vac, which is a no no with the wife. The rubber floor should provide plenty if insulation for the floor and be easy to use the shop vac to clean up.
This product is also available at Home Depot, but is a bit more expensive.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Go to Tractor Supply, or your local Co-Op and get you a couple of those rubber matts they put in horse trailers.
They are made from real cheap rubber, not pretty at all, but they are about 3/4" thick, will insulate as well as, if not better, than wood. The best thing is that water, snow, cars, dropped tools, or bucking horses will not damage it.


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## sawdustjunkie (Sep 12, 2013)

I just looked at the local Tractor supply.
They sell 1/4" thick rubber in 4' width and is $5.67 per foot. That would be quite a bit less than me using Menards even after the 11%
I'll try there!


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## nicofranceusa (Jan 20, 2015)

Thanks all for the tips.

I live in NJ so if I want to be able to use the shop in the winter I think I will have to insulate the floor in order to keep some of the heat. I've been researching about dricore but it is unclear whether rolling over it with a car will crush it or not.

I've read that it could hold up to 5000lbs/sqft. My wife's honda civic is something like 2500 lbs. Let's assume that the tires have a contact patch (just learned the word) of 30 sq in which the size of tire in contact with the floor. That's roughly 625 lbs on each tire or 0.2 sqft which is 3215 lbs/sqft.

Sounds like I might be ok… Though no one I'm sure is going to recommend it. Again I'm trying to see if parking the car on it for a few days would be ok for the emergency situations (like a hurricane or something) without ruining the floor.


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## FRC (Jan 8, 2015)

Have you looked at Racedeck? I just moved into a new house and was thinking about it, not sure how it would be in a shop, but parking on it wouldn't be a problem. It's not cheap, though, about $1700 to do a two car garage. I'm also in Jersey, and so far just bought a pair of insulated boots. I'm thinking that $1700 could be spent better on a new bandsaw or other tools. Good luck, and let us know what you decide, post pics.


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## Garbanzolasvegas (Jan 15, 2015)

I had looked into this my self months ago and was thinking about covering my entire shop floor with Rubber mats sort of like one might see at a gym. Long rolls of the stuff. BUT it is pricey. My floor is your typical very old garage floor when built they did not install any rebar so its has three or four large cracks that radiate out from the center and the middle is higher than the sideband the rubber would help cover that up.

When I win the lottery I will do just that


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