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A Thorough Look Into Different Garage Flooring Options

Friday, 22 September 2017

Epoxy vs PVC tiles

When looking for a floor for your home garage or commercial workshop, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the different available options. Two types of flooring you're likely to run into are poured epoxy floors and a more recently developed product, the PVC floor tiles. Epoxy flooring has been around for many years, and is for a lot of people the first thing that comes to mind when discussing garage flooring.

Many of us unconsciously connect the particular shine of epoxy to the joy and excitement of buying a new car, and it's therefore no surprise that poured epoxy flooring has made its way into the garages of private people, too. However, this comes at a cost. Epoxy flooring has a number of disadvantages that make it worth your time to look at other options for your garage. These disadvantages include high cost, long preparation time and damages that are close to impossible to repair without replacing the entire floor. Luckily an alternative exists that solves all these problems: interlocking PVC tiles. These PVC tiles come in 50 by 50 centimetre format, with thicknesses ranging from 4 to 7 millimetres. This makes the tiles easy to adapt to any space and application: from domestic garages to heavy industrial applications. See the table below for the most important differences:

Epoxy PVC tiles
Moisture in underground Substrate needs to be permanently dry Substrate can handle minor moisture
Before installation Substrate needs to be thoroughly prepared Substrate needs to be clean of dust and debris
Installation Difficult, needs a skilled worker with specialist tools Easy, can be installed by virtually anyone, using only a knife, a rubber hammer and a ruler
After installation Wait for the material to set and dry Can be used right away
Customisation options Mainly solid colours, although patterns are possible with notable extra expenses Modular flooring allows for countless customisation options. Tiles can even be printed with visuals such as a logo.
Point loads Cracks and breaks Is resilient enough to compensate
Falling objects Cracks and breaks Is resilient enough to compensate
Harmful chemicals Contains various harmful chemicals, known to cause burns, irritation and dermatitis Free of toxic chemicals
Walking comfort Very hard and dense, and can be unpleasant to walk on Resilient properties make walking on the tiles pleasant
When damaged Replace entire floor Replace only affected tiles
When replacing Tearing out takes a lot of time and effort Tiles can be lifted and removed
When disposing of Chemical compound needs to be taken to a specialist to be disposed of Can be retured to manufacturer to be recycled into new tiles
When moving Floor cannot be moved, and might have to be removed to comply to terms of sale Floor tiles can be lifted, removed and reused in next garage

This clearly shows that PVC tiles have a number of advantages, especially for domestic and light commercial applications where skill and cost can be important factors in deciding to for one product or another. Although visually obviously different, both products offer a sleek and neat look when finished. In the category of PVC tiles we offer products from the UK-based Flexi-Tile. Flexi-Tile products are particularly interesting, even when compared to similar products, because this company offers more different thicknesses and different interlocking systems and therefore a more adaptable product. Even water-tight tiles that visually conceal the interlocking system. Visually these tiles are attractive as well, as four different surface textures and various different colours are available. If you're going for that fully customised look, you can even order transparent tiles, tiles with custom graphics such as a logo, and even custom colours can be ordered (when ordering more than 100 m²). Naturally you can also purchase matching ramps and edges, for even more user friendliness and a visually more complete final result.

PVC tiles are an excellent products that are a very worthy alternative to have a look at when considering garage flooring. With an ever growing "DIY mind set" and ecological awareness, we at BRICOFLOR feel that PVC tiles are likely the product of the future. In addition to the advantages outlined above, we find that customers seldom return or complain about PVC tile garage flooring.

If you're curious about how these nifty products can freshen up your garage, feel free to have a look at our offering of PVC garage tile floors.

Once you've found a product that sparks your interest, you can order easily and quickly through the BRICOFLOR online store. Beside a massive assortment, we also offer free samples across the range, a free express sample service and free tailored offers with no strings attached. If you have any questions or concerns, contact our competent customer service team, they will gladly assist you. Shop confidently, at BRICOFLOR!

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