Garage Flooring near you

Approved Document B volume 1, the 2019 edition as amended, deals with an attached or integral garage in a short, very specific pair of paragraphs. If a garage is attached to or forms an integral part of a dwellinghouse, the garage should be separated from the rest of the dwellinghouse by fire resisting construction of at least REI 30. Where a door is provided between the house and the garage, it should meet one of two conditions: either the garage floor should be laid such that it falls away from the door to the outside, to allow fuel spills to flow away, or the door opening should be a minimum of 100mm above the level of the garage floor.

That is a floor requirement disguised as a fire requirement, and it has practical consequences for anyone changing the surface. If your garage relies on the 100mm step rather than the fall, a build-up of coating, tiles or a levelling screed reduces that step, and enough build-up eliminates it. If it relies on the fall, a self-smoothing resin poured level does the same thing in reverse. Before specifying a floor finish in an attached garage, work out which of the two conditions the house currently satisfies, and make sure the new floor still satisfies it.

Approved Document B applies in England, and this paragraph is the English guidance. Wales publishes its own approved documents, Scotland works to the building standards technical handbook rather than approved documents, and Northern Ireland to the technical booklets made under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 — where fire safety is Technical Booklet E. If you are outside England, check your own country's document rather than assuming the same numbers.

Storing fuel is the part of garage use that is genuinely regulated, and the thresholds are specific. Under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014, up to 30 litres of petrol may be kept at home without telling anyone. Between 30 and 275 litres you must notify your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority in writing with your name and the address of the premises. Above 275 litres you need a licence from that authority, which can run for up to three years.

The containers are prescribed as well as the quantity. HSE's guidance sets out plastic containers storing up to 10 litres, metal containers storing up to 20 litres, and a single demountable fuel tank of up to 30 litres, with UN-approved containers given as acceptable examples. There are conditions on the storage place too: petrol must not be stored in your living accommodation, it must not be dispensed at the storage place without a licence, an indoor store needs a direct exit to the open air and ventilation to that exit, and sources of ignition or heat capable of igniting the petrol must be kept away.

All of which bears directly on a floor project. A garage that doubles as a fuel store is a place where a spill is foreseeable, which argues for a chemically resistant finish rather than a decorative one, for keeping the fall towards the door where the guidance relies on it, and for thinking hard before installing anything with a pilot light, a heater or an unsealed electrical fitting at low level. If the garage is attached to the house, remember that the wall and door between them are fire-resisting construction and should stay that way.

Refinishing a garage floor while it stays a garage is maintenance, not building work. Turning the garage into a room is different. The Planning Portal states that the conversion of a garage, or part of a garage, into habitable space will normally require approval under the building regulations, and lists the elements that have to be considered, including doors and windows, drainage, electrics, external walls, internal walls and roofs. The floor is part of that assessment too, because a garage slab is often uninsulated, may sit below the level of the adjoining rooms, and frequently has no effective damp-proof membrane.

That matters for sequencing. A homeowner who has a smart resin floor laid in the garage and then decides two years later to convert it will usually find the new finish coming straight back up, because the floor build-up has to change to deal with damp and insulation. If a conversion is even a possibility, it is worth deciding before you spend money on a surface. And because the rules are set separately across the UK, check the requirement where you live: building regulations approval in England and Wales, a building warrant in Scotland, and the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 with their own technical booklets in Northern Ireland.

Garage floors are priced on the state of the slab far more than on the area. The variables are how much oil and old coating has to come off, whether grinding or shot blasting is needed, how many cracks and spalled edges need repairing, whether the slab is damp and what that rules out, the finish chosen and its thickness, whether an anti-slip aggregate is included, and how much has to be emptied and stored while the work happens. Tiles and matting are quicker and less dependent on the slab; a bonded coating costs more in preparation but gives a seamless, washable surface.

LokalMatch exists to get that question in front of the right people once. You set out the garage with your postcode — the size, whether it is attached to the house, what the slab is like now and what you want the floor to survive — and garage flooring pros covering your area come back to you directly. There is no charge to a homeowner for posting it; the pros pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch does not do the work, does not set prices and does not vet, rank or recommend anyone, so comparing the preparation each of them proposes is still your call.