Oak-Frame Garage Gym in PVC Interlocking Tiles
A homeowner converting the open bay of their oak-frame garage into a home gym wanted a hard-wearing floor that could take dropped weights and rolling equipment without staining the bare concrete underneath. The look needed to suit the timber and brick character of the building rather than read as a workshop.
Before After Project overview
The brief
A homeowner converting the open bay of their oak-frame garage into a home gym wanted a hard-wearing floor that could take dropped weights and rolling equipment without staining the bare concrete underneath. The look needed to suit the timber and brick character of the building rather than read as a workshop.
The challenge
The substrate was an unsealed concrete slab open to the elements at the front bay — dusty, with leaf debris blown in over the autumn and a slightly uneven finish. A bonded floor was off the table because the slab wasn't fully isolated from ground moisture, and the client wanted the option to lift sections in future if the use of the space changed.
Our approach
- Survey and prep — We swept and vacuumed the slab back to a sound surface, taped a polyethylene moisture-check patch overnight to confirm vapour wasn't going to be an issue, and trimmed two high spots on the slab with a diamond cup so the tiles would sit flat without rocking.
- Tile specification — Specified a 7mm heavy-duty PVC interlocking tile in graphite and slate grey — suitable for vehicle traffic and free weights, dimensionally stable across the temperature swings you get in an unheated garage, and dry-laid so the floor floats over the slab with no adhesive.
- Setting out — We set out from the centreline of the front opening so the checkerboard reads symmetrically as you walk in. Cut tiles were placed at the rear and side walls where the brick plinth hides the perimeter cuts.
- Install and finish — Tiles laid in a two-colour checker pattern, hammered together with a rubber mallet through a tile offcut to keep edges clean. Perimeter scribed tight to the brick skirting course with a 3mm expansion gap concealed behind the timber.
The result
A 28 sqm gym floor fitted in a single day that lifts the bay from a dusty parking space into a usable home gym. The checker pattern gives the space a clear identity, the floor takes a dropped dumbbell without flinching, and individual tiles can be swapped if anything ever does get damaged.
“Jack turned up, sorted the slab and had the whole floor down in a day. It's transformed what was basically a dusty parking spot into a proper gym.”
Homeowner · Hertfordshire
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