Show me your garage floor

I gots me a fannnnncy new garage with ma new house. How do I know it's fancy? Ain't got spiders everwhere!

Enough redneckery. I have bare concrete with a few cracks in it. I'd like to dress it up a bit. I've done epoxy in the past, but was thinking plastic tiles ala Race Deck this time around.

What do you have? Do you like it? This thread is useless without pichurs!

DaveEstey wrote: I gots me a fannnnncy new garage with ma new house. How do I know it's fancy? Ain't got spiders everwhere! yet...

Fixed that for ya!

Looks nice...

I like the race deck idea, but no personal experience.

I converted my dad's old retail shop into a garage and it had 12"x12" vinyl tile that I just removed in a certain section where my wife and I parks. Not fun when snow and ice melts and your trying to walk on it. I'm thinking of dressing it up in that section as well and will watch this thread.

We have some snap-together race tile in one of the trailers. Annoying as hell, they move around and pop up like a wave when you drive on them. One of these days I'm going to get ride of them all when the boss isn't looking. One of the other trailers has adhesive 12" linoleum tiles, which is less problematic but not durable.

My garage floor is polished concrete. Love it. Looks good, easy to clean, no chance of future failure of the epoxy or the tiles. It's 36 years old now.

I didn't buy it, but a few months back I found someone on Craigslist selling a bunch of the heavy rubber mat that they use on gym floors. It was cheaper than the tiles. I may think about some of that in the future.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Do they pop up because the trailer floor flexes some or is this an inherent problem with those tiles?

I got an estimate a few weeks ago to have the concrete floor of my 26x36 garage polished and sealed. I think it was about $4100. Needless to say, I passed.

In reply to Woody: I hope that deal would have come with a reacharound.

I'd have to find it first.

60 year old concrete in mine.... although I recently bought a few floor pads from HF

back when I was in Pa... when we bought the house our bedroom came with HORRID green carpetting... that was out in the garage within the week. The carpet lasted about 5 years and was comfy to lay on

I'm bare concrete now. I'm doing large tiles soon enough. ala Jack Olsen

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/397102-poor-mans-garage-floor.html

DaveEstey wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: Do they pop up because the trailer floor flexes some or is this an inherent problem with those tiles?

Dunno, but the floor sure feels solid. If the tiles weren't floating, it probably wouldn't be an issue. In the trailer, a screw through the middle of each one into the plywood would probably do the trick. Not so simple with concrete.

I used grey glossy U-Coat-It epoxy paint on mine about 8 years ago. Added aluminum shavings to make it less slippery. It's holding up great and is immune to oil and brake fluid, no chips, staining or peeling. You can get tons of colours and do any pattern you like.

I just poured a new garage floor and only added dark gray coloring.

I think the race-deck type tiles are OK for a display type garage, but not for any kind of a working garage. I've read they bunch up when you try to slide a floor jack on them, water and grime get underneath them, etc.

Short of a professionally applied epoxy coating, I don't think anything will stick.

The only thing I would personally consider, especially on an "older" garage floor with oil stains, nicks, etc., would be porcelain tile. If you can do the tile work yourself (If I can-anyone can) it can be surprisingly affordable. You can make a design in tile if that is what you are after. If my new floor ever needs an update, that is what I will do.

There is a ton of good info on garagejournal.com Lots of horror stories about do-it-yourself epoxy jobs. The quote I got for an epoxy floor was more than the concrete.

I did one small "upgrade"..

In reply to Woody:

Wow. That's... very costly.

Where I work a hangar floor was polished and sealed. Big hangar, can hold probably twenty ~10 passenger business jets. It's freaking gorgeous. I love the way light reflects off of it. They also had the walls and ceiling repainted, so it's all nice and clean and white in there.

I'm not afraid of tiling at all. I want light color to help brighten up the place.

Very nice floor plaque

In reply to DaveEstey:

Thanks! I've seen some killer deals on pallet-loads of tile at the Habitat Store in my town.

Read about it though. Apparently tile has a hardness rating.

PEI Ratings: From One to Five

•PEI Class 1 Rating: No foot traffic. Wall use only in residential and commercial applications.

•PEI Class 2 Rating: Light traffic. Both wall use and bathroom floor applications.

•PEI Class 3 Rating: Light to moderate traffic. Countertops, walls, and floors for normal foot traffic.

•PEI Class 4 Rating: Moderate to heavy traffic. All residential applications as well as medium commercial and light institutional.

•PEI Class 5 Rating: Heavy to extra heavy traffic. All residential and heavy commercial and institutional foot traffic.

Here is porcelain tile being installed in my garage. Did this after a LOT of research into various floorings vs. costs and a less-than-satisfactory experience with Rustoleum epoxy floor in a previous garage.

Got the tile on close-out via Craigslist at about $1 per square foot. The labor was provided by the store at a little over $2 per square foot.

Your photo isn't loading for me Basil.

Looking at the local Lowes, they have PEI 4 porcelain tiles for right around a buck per square foot.

I guess I should note that the garage will ONLY be used for working on the race car and occasional maintenance on the rest of the fleet and periodic restoration work on my old Ford tractor.

It will not be used for daily in and out action.

I've got tile in mine, or at least the remnants of tile. They catch on everything, absorb spilled fluids, and are just all around terrible. I'd much prefer an epoxy floor.

I installed Industrial VCT tile in mine. I bought a leftover lot from a local school build. Same stuff used in Cafeterias and hallways. Was very cheap and easy to install.

It has held up great to just about everything but welding. However, the one tile I , UHH "melted" came up and was easily replaced.

With the waxed topcoat it can get slippery when wet. Not a problem in TX where we get rain every few months.

I can say that the white color really brightened up the garage. Makes working under the car very easy.

I could not afford epoxy and have problems in a work environment where an old floor was coated. Did not stick even with a grind and etch.

FYI, Habitat for Humanity stores are a great place to pick up random lots of tile.

Just have to make sure you get the right tile. Certain tiles will absorb fluids/stain (like standard residential tiles). You need to get ones that are suitable. There are several good threads on this at garagejournal forums.