Car Detailing Garage Floor Tiles: What Type Should You Buy?

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When it comes to building or renovating a car detailing garage, many don’t know what to do with the floor. In my opinion, the best option is to install floor tiles. Since there are plenty of floor tile types, I decided to write this article and show you what kind of floor tiles you should buy for your auto detailing garage.

The best car detailing garage floor tiles are open-profile (vented) floor tiles. Their structure allows water and dust to drain and keep your surface dry and clean.

Again, you can use many types of floor tiles in your garage, but let me show you why you should buy open-profile floor tiles.

I’ll dive deep into this topic and show you all the benefits and brands I recommend.

Different Types Of Auto Detailing Garage Floor Tiles

I’m going to be as simple as possible here. There are plenty of various floor tiles, but I’ll concentrate on the beneficial types for auto detailing garages.

Nowadays, most garage floor tiles are hard plastic tiles that are easy to install and impact-resistant. Ceramic and similar tiles aren’t the best for the garage. So, I’m not going to spend my words and your time on them.

In my opinion, there are only three types of tiles that one can use in an auto detailing garage. 

1. Open-Profile (Vented) Floor Tiles – My Recommendation

This type of tile is the one I recommend. The main benefit of open-profile floor tiles is that they are designed to let everything drain away. That way, your floor is dry, clean, and slip-resistant all the time.

I recommend every car detailer to buy these, and below I’ll explain why.

For now, let’s see two other types.

2. Flat Surface Floor Tiles

Many auto repair shops use these tiles. They’re great, easy to install, clean, and maintain. 

All flat surface floor tiles are water and oil-resistant. However, they have one significant disadvantage.

They don’t have a draining system, so they’ll keep water and dirt on the surface. That’s a big NO for detailers if you want to work safely and get great cleaning results.

3. Garage Flooring Rolls

Garage flooring rolls are a budget option for tiles. They’re the easiest to install. In 20-30 minutes, you can cover the whole 2-car garage with them.

They have the same problem as the flat surface tiles, and that’s the lack of a draining system. 

When you install them, it may take up to 2 weeks for them to become completely flat. Because they come in rolls, you’ll see many waves when you install them. 

Another con of rolls is that if they damage, you need to replace the whole roll. You can’t replace the damaged part only (as with the tiles).

Now, let’s see why I recommend you open-profile or vented tiles for your garage.

Open-Profile (Vented) Floor Tiles: The Best Choice For Your Detailing Garage

If you’re serious about the car detailing business, you should buy these tiles for your garage.

Most brands make these tiles from polypropylene copolymer. It’s durable and resistant to various spills, such as oils, soaps, acids, and other chemicals.

How Do They Work?

The open-profile floor tiles are built to keep water (and other spills) and dirt on the surface. 

They have a self-draining system that will let the water and dirt through, so you can work on a nice and clean surface.

A clean floor is one of the most important things when it comes to car detailing. You’ll finish with the exterior, and then you should do the interior – how will you do it if the floor is all wet and dirty?

Where Do The Water and Dirt Go?

Water, other spills, and dirt will go through the tiles on the garage floor. 

Now, depending on how you built your garage, it can go either to:

• The drainage system in the garage
• Out of the garage (if your garage has an outward slope).

If you have neither of those, you shall think about renovating your garage and making it suitable for auto detailing tasks. The water and other spills have to go somewhere. Of course, my advice is a drainage system built somewhere on the floor or at the garage door.

Is It Hard To Install Them?

Installation of all plastic tiles is straightforward and easy. It’s more like a puzzle.

They are all interlocking tiles, and they snap together. That way, you don’t need any professionals to do it. They’re great for DIY installation.

So, you can save some money by doing it yourself too.

Even better is that you don’t need too many tools:

• Rubber hammer
• Vinyl tile cutter 
• Measuring meter
• Some string to make the draw lines (the ones with powders are great because you can draw the line on the floor)

These are the essential tools you’re going to need. Check out the video below and see the installation process.

Are These Tiles Durable?

Yes, they’re very durable. Copolymer tiles are all impact-resistant. So, they’re resistant to all kinds of chemicals, liquids, dirt, etc. 

Depending on the brand, these tiles can withstand anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 pounds of rollover weight.

That’s enough strength for buses and trucks, so you’re going to be completely safe with detailing all types of cars.

3 Brands I Recommend: And The Exact Tiles 

There are tons of different brands that you can choose from. However, many of them won’t offer you the quality and the specs I mentioned earlier (such as rollover weight…).

When it comes to garage tiles, I’d only choose between those three brands:

• Racedeck
• Swisstrax
• IncStores

So, let’s see what these brands can offer you.

1. Racedeck Free-Flow Garage Tiles

These Racedeck free-flow tiles are my number 1 recommendation for you. They’re high-quality tiles made in the USA.

These tiles have a self-draining system that allows maximum drainage. Not only will the water go, but air will flow too, which will prevent molding. That’s going to leave your working area dry and clean.

Every tile has 16 PowerLocks. These power locks are used to snap the tiles together. When everything is engaged, you’ll get a very tough substructure.

Racedeck Free-Flow Tiles can support up to 80,000 pounds of rolling loads. 

These tiles are also resistant to UV and heat. If you live in warmer areas, don’t worry, they won’t fade or crack because of the sun.

There are many colors available, so you can customize your garage and get a unique look.

Size	12″x12″x0.5″
Weight	0.62 lbs per tile
Material	Copolymer
Different Colors	Yes
Warranty	15 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty

2. Swisstrax Ribtrax Modular Flooring Tile

Swisstrax is another high-quality brand for garage flooring tiles. Ribtrax is their product of vented tiles.

They’re open-profile designed tiles with drainage channels underneath. Also, they’re resistant to chemicals and are non-slip.

Every Ribtrax tile has 24 connectors (6 on each side). When snapped together, they create one solid and durable flooring.

They can withstand up to 70,000 pounds of rolling weight and a compressive pressure of 3120 PSI.

There are many different colors available, so you’re able to customize your car detailing garage look.

Size	15.75″ x 15.75″ x 0.75″
Weight	1.47 lbs per tile
Material	Copolymer
Different Colors	Yes
Warranty	Lifetime limited warranty

3. IncStores Vented Nitro Garage Tiles

The third brand I recommend is IncStores. As the first two brands, these tiles also have a self-draining system. They’re slip-resistant, leaving the flooring surface dry and clean. If you’re on a tight budget, this brand may be for you.

Each tile has 16 connectors (4 on each side), making them very easy to install.

These tiles are also resistant to most chemicals, so they’re great for washing your car where you use different soaps, acids, etc.

Also, you can choose from many different colors and customize the garage look however you want.

Size	12″ x 12″ x 3/8″
Weight	0.62 lbs per tile
Material	Copolymer
Different Colors	Yes
Warranty	3-year warranty

Frequently Asked Questions

Here I’ll put some frequently asked questions about hard plastic open-profile garage floor tiles.

Conclusion

Car detailing garage floor tiles are essential for your detailing business. Besides that, they look amazing and will improve the overall look of your garage.

I explained to you why I recommend open-profile (vented) tiles to all of you. Again, the most important reason is that water will drain through them, and you’ll have a clean and dry surface all the time.

As I already said, the Racedeck Free-flow Garage Tiles are my number 1 recommendation. You also won’t make a mistake by choosing Swisstrax. 

The reason why I recommended the third brand (IncStores) is because they’re much cheaper. So, they’re for all of you on a tight budget. IncStores tiles are also great, but not even close to the Swisstrax and Racedeck.