learn me tile

so id been researching the heck out of what I wanted to do with my shop floor. need to do something....

anyway, I had narrowed between u-coat-it (dad put it in his shop over a decade ago. that E36 M3 is indestructible) and VCT tiles. both were expensive options, bth have their maintenance and drawbacks.

anyway, over the weekend, I lucked into 550 sq ft of Armstrong VCT tile, and 5 gallons of adhesive for 100 bucks. couldn't turn it down at that price, so I guess I made my decision.

im not quite sure what im doing here. ive googled my butt off, and am still unsure of a few things. so I figured id need to ask.

1. what is the best way to deal with old oil spots/spills/etc? don't want to have adhesion problems in the future.

2. can I do the tiling in sections? for example, move all my crap into one bay, prep/clean/install tile, let it cure, move it all back, and the next month do the other side?

3. what do I do with the leading edge of the tile at the garage doors?

4. do I tile underneath my cabinets, or is that asking for trouble?

5. what's the best amount of wait time till I park cars and tools back on it?

applying the adhesive and setting the tiles doesn't look all that difficult. also, no grout or spacing to worry about that I know of.

thanks Michael

In reply to Dusterbd13:

1. A good cleaning with degreaser/TSP/brake cleaner should get your concrete ready for use.

2. Absolutely!

3. You'll want a transition strip for the edge. Ask your nearest big box for options.

4. Sure, it's always best to do the whole floor so if you move things later you don't have missing tile bits.

5. We wait 48 hours before waxing a new VCT floor. Don't forget to wax! After that it's good to go.

6. Rolling the new floor to ensure good adhesion is key.

7. Don't rush the glue, it should look almost dry before sticking the tiles, remember, once the tile is down it can't dry anymore (I've pulled up tiles that had been down for years and found uncured glue)

8. It's easy to cut, just use a torch on the back side for a moment until it softens and cut with utility knife.

9. Center you work so that the pieces on each side are the same size. If that will leave you a piece less than 6" wide, offset your center 6" and see what that looks like.

10. Pull from several different boxes at the same time to account for dye lot variations.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I take it you do this for a living?

What kund of sealer/wax would you reccomend?

And on the tsp/brake clean/degreaser, all three or jyst one? Im just trying to get any residue out, not spotless, correct? Any other concrete prep?

Check garagejournal.com in the Flooring section. Lotsa guys have done VCT and you could probably spend hours reading through the installs.

I may have laid a bit of it in my time.

As far as cleaning the floor, yeah, it's just getting the residue off. Spotless won't happen.

As far as wax---- actually I never did that part. Housekeeping waxes. I'd ask at the big box while getting the transition strip.