Garage floor mats might be the easiest and quickest solution for those seeking to upgrade their garage flooring with a custom finished look. They protect the concrete, hide ugly cracks and stains, and make your garage look like new in minutes. As one of the more popular garage flooring options, these vinyl floor coverings come in a variety of sizes, colors and styles.
You can choose from stylish parking mats, roll out mats that cover the entire floor, containment mats, and even lighted floor mats for the mechanic just to name a few. With so many options available, let’s explore the world of these vinyl and rubber floor coverings to help give you some ideas for a garage floor mat for your home.
Parking mats for the garage
Garage floor parking mats come in a variety of sizes to fit your vehicle and are used primarily as a parking pad. They will protect your garage floor from the various elements that can be deposited from your vehicle. Like most garage floor coverings, they will keep your floor free from oils, anti-freeze, road salts, and other vehicular fluids. They can also collect mud and debris that you don’t want tracked onto your garage floor. You can find some of the best prices on the Diamond Deck mats here
Made of polyvinyl, these rubber-like mats can be from 55 mils to 85 mils thick depending on the application. They are available in different patterns such as coin, ribbed, or diamond and in an assortment of colors as well. They are easy to clean and can be pulled out onto the driveway to be hosed down if you like. They even make parking mats for motorcycles. Better Life Technologies makes a high quality line of mats that are made in the U.S.A. Get the best prices with free shipping here
If you like the idea of a carpet mat for the garage, there is also a soft fiber mat that looks a little like felt. These have a waterproof backing and are designed to absorb water, oils and fluids. Like the polyvinyl mats, these can be swept, vacuumed or hosed down to clean. They are fairly durable and less expensive than a polyvinyl mat, but they will not wear as well.
Roll Out Garage Floor Mats
For those of you that want to give your entire garage floor a full makeover, then a complete system of roll out garage floor mats could be what you are looking for. These are made up of the same material as the parking mats, but are available in longer lengths to cover the full length of the garage floor in widths up to 10 feet.
You can butt them up against each other using seam tape on the bottom or overlap them to appear almost seamless. They are cut to fit with a razor knife or heavy duty scissors and installed in minutes instead of hours or even days like many other floor covering options.
See how easy a garage floor mat system is to install
The advantage to roll out garage floor mats is that they easily hide all the cracks, stains, and other defects in your entire floor. They give your garage a nice finished look and can even get rid of that musty garage smell. Furthermore, cleanup of the floor is so much easier. Just a soft broom or light mopping is all that is required for most debris.
If you like the idea of carpet for your garage floor, you can do your whole floor in the absorbent cloth mat to give your garage that indoor carpet look. Unlike epoxy and some interlocking tiles, an entire floor mat system will also absorb sound and not create that hollow sound to your garage when it’s empty.
Containment garage mats
If you live where the weather conditions are more extreme and your vehicle tracks in an abundance of debris, then a containment parking mat might be what you need. These garage floor mats are designed with a raised edge around the mat which enables it to contain gallons of liquid at a time without leaking onto the garage floor.
These come in handy in really wet or snowy climates where all that rain water, snow, slush and road salts can deposit itself onto the floor making for a slippery mess. When you are ready to clean out the mat, you just squeegee all that water out the garage door and onto the driveway. You can find the two best performing containment mats here.
Specialty mats for the garage
There are a variety of specialty mats for the garage that can perform many functions as well. If your time in the garage is spent hovering over a workbench or possibly doing the laundry, then you might want to invest in an anti-fatigue mat. These mats are designed to help keep your legs and feet feeling fresh when standing on a hard surface such as concrete for extended times.
There are also oil drip garage mats that are great for absorbing leaks from your car. They are good for extra protection when changing the oil or working on your vehicle.
For the home mechanic you can choose one of a variety of the cool new lighted mats by Swisstrax. They have an LED lighting system built into the mat itself that will light up the underside of any vehicle that is parked on it.
You can even purchase mats for your golf cart, lawn tractors, or snow blowers. The first is the E-Z-GO Parking Mat
As you can see, there are many types of garage floor mat ideas and styles to choose from. This type of floor covering is hard to beat for ease of installation, protection from the elements, and good looks. And did we mention that you can take them with you when you move? So whether you need a covering to spruce up the look of your garage or to protect the floor from projects and vehicles, garage floor mats are a tough investment to beat.
I didn’t realize that you could do a whole garage floor with roll out mats. I need something simple and I think I found it. Thanks for the good info.
What prevents the mat from tearing or buckling when turning your tire?
As long as the car is moving when you turn the wheels the mats won’t move Larry. What you shouldn’t do is turn the wheel hard while the car is not moving. That has the potential of causing buckling depending on how far the wheels are from the edges.
I really like the idea of roll out mats for our garage but my husband is not the best handyman and I don’t want to hire someone to do our garage flooring. Are these really as easy as it looks to install?
Hi Sandy. If you can roll out a carpet then you can install a roll-out mat in your garage. The only somewhat tricky part may be fitting them around support columns or other obstacles you may have in your garage, but all you need is a sharp utility knife or good pair of scissors. They are heavy though when delivered, so it’s best to use two people if you can.
where in the Milw. WI area can I purchase these
carpet floor mats for garage?
It’s very difficult to find product like this from a retail store if that is what you are asking. Most garage flooring, especially mats, need to be purchased online. The quality manufacturers store the mats flat in their warehouses and then roll them up only for shipping so as not to create permanent curling at the edges. Amazon
is a great place to start if you want to shop for these products. The nice thing about them is that most mats are heavy and they are shipped free.
I’m looking for used 3′ X 5′ open floor mats to use on a dirt floor under my deck. I’m not worried about aesthetics. I’ll need 15 mats, or enough to cover a 16′ X 20′ space with a concrete pad cut-out area. –
I’ve seen on the web that you carry used mats, so I hope you can help me.
Thanks.
Hi Janine. We don’t sell product, but we know someone you should contact. He is Justin Krauss from Garage Flooring LLC. They are one of the largest dealers in garage floor mats and he has many contacts. He just may be able to put you in touch with someone who can help you out if he can’t himself. You can find his contact page here.
I have these mats. My biggest problem with them is that they discolor from the hot tires sitting on therm. Is there a cure for this problem? It I very unsitely.
Hi Alan. This can happen with mats. Depending on the manufacturer, some mats will discolor from car tires more than others. The darker colors do a better job of hiding it. One way to avoid the problem is to apply an acrylic wax coating to the mat. It does a good job of helping to prevent the discoloring, but it does require some maintenance for upkeep. Hilway Direct is one such manufacturer. You can find their product for mats here.
Should I do the moisture test described elsewhere on the site before putting a garage mat or doesn’t it matter?
Moisture for coatings are bad Bruce as they can cause them to peel up. A garage floor mat is not going anywhere if you have a moisture issue, but it can cause mold or mildew growth on the underside of the mat if there is enough moisture. If you suspect you have a moisture issue, you can always do the plastic sheet test to verify. If you do, an application of a simple penetrating sealer usually will solve the issue.
How do the mats stay in place? Would it be a good idea to apply glue to keep them in place?
Thanks.
Most mats are fairly heavy Alex and they stay in place on their own. You do have an option to glue down the edges or use special double sided tape, but most installations do not require it.
Are the mats dense enough to allow rolling around heavy mobile tools on them, such as a table saw? Will the small wheels of these dig into the mats making it difficult to roll them around or damage the mats?
Hi Tony. American made mats consist of 100% polyvinyl which is extremely dense. Small wheels from heavy equipment will roll without issue. If heavy equipment is supported by very small wheels instead of a small flat foot, there is a chance that it will create an indentation in the mat if it sits for long periods of time. Foreign made mats are the ones that tend to have low quality filler in the middle. We can’t speak for how those will hold up.
Thinking of using this garage type floor mat for a basement bathroom for an industrial look. Do they smell pretty awful because they are rubber? Do they “off gas”? If so, how long does it take for the smell to disappear? Thanks!
Hi Janet. These mats are made of polyvinyl and not rubber. As a result, you will not get that bad rubber smell. Purchase the U.S. made mats and not the ones made overseas and you will be good. Just make sure you don’t have any moisture vapor coming up through the concrete or they will get wet and damp underneath. This simple moisture test with a small plastic sheet will help you determine that.
If you can use polyurea coating complete on basement floors do you have a video on how to do it
Hello Lynn. Basements are not always the best place for a floor coating. The first thing you need to do is run some moisture tests during the wet part of the year. This article here explains how to run a proper moisture test and why they are important for floor coatings. If you don’t have moisture, then you can install a polyurea floor coating. We don’t have any videos on how to install polyurea, but the single-part polyureas are easy to install.
I am wanting to cover the cement under my carport. It’s more of a courtyard. The roof of the house extends over it. At the same time, be able to park my vehicle on it. The cement has cracks and looks stained. I thought about painting it and started thinking about indoor/outdoor carpet. Will these mats work?
Hi Tammy. They can work if the car is pulling straight in and out. One possible issue is creep if the mats aren’t up against anything and it requires turning of the tires to pull in and out.