Best Garage Floor covering?

[peterp]

That`s a nice looking installation. I see a lot of very pleased folks using Racedeck. I don`t think it`d work for my purposes, In the winter all kinds of crud is melting on to the floor and heading for the drains and I use water in the garage year round.



TL

It`s no problem for normal snow melting since this is a common occurrence in our garage as well. Water doesn`t really seep through the tiles and there is enough ventilation so that water is never trapped under them. Racedeck does make special tiles that have drainage in them, so you could use those over the drain areas (though I don`t know if this would work for you depending on how the water is used in the garage).

[paco]

There are basically 4 options for you garage floor:



1. Leave it as is - raw concrete.



Advantage: No cost. No work.

Disadvantage: Difficult to clean, etches, unsightly after dirk and stains accumulate.



2. Non-permanent Coverings. These basically fall into subcategories.



a) RaceDeck and other plastic/rubber 2x2 like tiles that click together.

b) rollout rubber mats



Adv: Somewhat cost effective, can be taken apart when moving. Rollout is just that and can be cleaned outside.



Dis: Looks cheap when compared to well prepared and painted floors. Plastic floors can make noise. May not be easy to clean and dirt accumulates around the pucks or raised floor edges. Careful using flooring jacks. Another major disadvantage is that water and debris can get trap under the flooring. Leading mold, standing water etc.



3. Ceramic Tile or VCT



Ceramic Tile is an option but then you have to deal with grout. Plus, ceramic is pourous so constant sealing is required. Don`t go with a smooth slippery surface version as it will be very dangerous. Probably ok for a show room type garage where not a lot of driving in and out happens with dirt/snow/rain water introduction into the garage.



ADV: Can look stunning. Tiles are not expensive and can be a DIY.

DIS: Maintanence.



VCT Tile is an option commonly used by homeowners.



ADV: Cost effective. Easy application. Decent look.

DIS: Maintenance. Constant application of sealer every few months. Tiles can lift up. Tile grout lines can become dirty. Sealer coat can yellow. Basically, high maintenance.



4. Staining/Epoxy Floors



The top coat is what provides the ultimate protection. So wether you stain or put an epoxy base, doesn`t really matter. Just personally preference on the look you are after.



The problem and it`s not really a problem is 2 fold:



1. Proper prep and application. There is probably where 50% of the failures happen.

2. Cheap grade epoxy. You need a high solid content version and the stuff you pickup at Big Box stores isn`t professional enough. Probably good for basements and that`s about it. I personally would never never use the Behr system that`s at a big box store or the one that comes in grey box, has a yellow/black stripe on it from a bigbox store. Sorry, way tooo many compliants with either of those and your destined to have issues. For every happy customer, there are 10`s, 100`s complaining.



For your garage, it`s important to go with a system like UCoatIt, Wolverine or the Sherwin Williams HS line (The SW may not be easy for you to find).



Typically applied by pro`s but with proper research, meticulous prep, careful application and enough time for the product to setup before driving a vehicle into the garage with hot wheels.. you should be able to get a long long life out of your garage. Just careful with jacks etc. which could damage the top coat.



ADV: Looks amazing. Endless design choices (flake, no flake, any color, stain, can put vinyl designs into the floor etc.)

DIS: Cost, Application takes a long time. Some maintenance.



5. New professionally applied non-epoxy floors are coming into the market (saw a few of them at a local home show). Their a plastic/cement like product that isn`t finished smooth and has a rough texture a high build up of product. Suppose to be industructable. Not my cup of tea as it wasn`t smooth and had a deep texture.



ADV: Little to no maintenance, pro install so no need to break your back ;-)

DIS: COST COST COST. Not a DIY project (yet). Unproven in the hobbiest/home owner field.



After researching this topic to death for a couple of years (obviously in no hurry :shocked) I`ve basically come to the decision that for my garage when I get around to do`ing it:



Either

1. 10% chance: Concrete staining it with a very dark color. Then top coating it with a clear Wolverine epoxy.



2. 90% chance Wolverine beige with 4 colors of flake (20% white, 20% beige, 10%brown and 50% black). I`ll also be treating the 90 degree corner between the wall and floor into a rounded concave corner when fixing cracks etc before the etching etc. Adds a nice touch and prevents dust and dirt from accumlating there. Easy to clean overall as a result. The approach is used in hospitals, pharmaceutical companies .. basically anywhere that needs to maintain clean rooms etc.



Hope that helps :dance



P.S. GarageJournal rocks for flooring discussions

[matth9]

If you are going to lay epoxy, I have always cleaned with muriatic acid in the past. If/When you get a peel or two, just use a palm sander with heavy grit and spot coat it. I have also found that whatever coat you use, do at least two, if not three coats.

muriatic acid = bad idea :nono

There are basically 4 options for you garage floor:



1. Leave it as is - raw concrete.



Advantage: No cost. No work.

Disadvantage: Difficult to clean, etches, unsightly after dirk and stains accumulate.



2. Non-permanent Coverings. These basically fall into subcategories.



a) RaceDeck and other plastic/rubber 2x2 like tiles that click together.

b) rollout rubber mats



Adv: Somewhat cost effective, can be taken apart when moving. Rollout is just that and can be cleaned outside.



Dis: Looks cheap when compared to well prepared and painted floors. Plastic floors can make noise. May not be easy to clean and dirt accumulates around the pucks or raised floor edges. Careful using flooring jacks. Another major disadvantage is that water and debris can get trap under the flooring. Leading mold, standing water etc.



3. Ceramic Tile or VCT



Ceramic Tile is an option but then you have to deal with grout. Plus, ceramic is pourous so constant sealing is required. Don`t go with a smooth slippery surface version as it will be very dangerous. Probably ok for a show room type garage where not a lot of driving in and out happens with dirt/snow/rain water introduction into the garage.



ADV: Can look stunning. Tiles are not expensive and can be a DIY.

DIS: Maintanence.



VCT Tile is an option commonly used by homeowners.



ADV: Cost effective. Easy application. Decent look.

DIS: Maintenance. Constant application of sealer every few months. Tiles can lift up. Tile grout lines can become dirty. Sealer coat can yellow. Basically, high maintenance.



4. Staining/Epoxy Floors



The top coat is what provides the ultimate protection. So wether you stain or put an epoxy base, doesn`t really matter. Just personally preference on the look you are after.



The problem and it`s not really a problem is 2 fold:



1. Proper prep and application. There is probably where 50% of the failures happen.

2. Cheap grade epoxy. You need a high solid content version and the stuff you pickup at Big Box stores isn`t professional enough. Probably good for basements and that`s about it. I personally would never never use the Behr system that`s at a big box store or the one that comes in grey box, has a yellow/black stripe on it from a bigbox store. Sorry, way tooo many compliants with either of those and your destined to have issues. For every happy customer, there are 10`s, 100`s complaining.



For your garage, it`s important to go with a system like UCoatIt, Wolverine or the Sherwin Williams HS line (The SW may not be easy for you to find).



Typically applied by pro`s but with proper research, meticulous prep, careful application and enough time for the product to setup before driving a vehicle into the garage with hot wheels.. you should be able to get a long long life out of your garage. Just careful with jacks etc. which could damage the top coat.



ADV: Looks amazing. Endless design choices (flake, no flake, any color, stain, can put vinyl designs into the floor etc.)

DIS: Cost, Application takes a long time. Some maintenance.



5. New professionally applied non-epoxy floors are coming into the market (saw a few of them at a local home show). Their a plastic/cement like product that isn`t finished smooth and has a rough texture a high build up of product. Suppose to be industructable. Not my cup of tea as it wasn`t smooth and had a deep texture.



ADV: Little to no maintenance, pro install so no need to break your back ;-)

DIS: COST COST COST. Not a DIY project (yet). Unproven in the hobbiest/home owner field.



After researching this topic to death for a couple of years (obviously in no hurry :shocked) I`ve basically come to the decision that for my garage when I get around to do`ing it:



Either

1. 10% chance: Concrete staining it with a very dark color. Then top coating it with a clear Wolverine epoxy.



2. 90% chance Wolverine beige with 4 colors of flake (20% white, 20% beige, 10%brown and 50% black). I`ll also be treating the 90 degree corner between the wall and floor into a rounded concave corner when fixing cracks etc before the etching etc. Adds a nice touch and prevents dust and dirt from accumlating there. Easy to clean overall as a result. The approach is used in hospitals, pharmaceutical companies .. basically anywhere that needs to maintain clean rooms etc.



Hope that helps :dance



P.S. GarageJournal rocks for flooring discussions

Very nice paco! You are pretty much spot on with all your comments, very impressive.



One thing I would avoid,

Do not use acid on your floor to etch/prep it. This is probably the single most common error in epoxy flooring systems. The problem is, if it is not neutralized properly you will have failure. If your going through the process of installing an epoxy flooring system, rent a shot blasting machine. This is the BEST practice to use in prep. It may cost a few bucks more, but you will know that you provided the best surface prep possible.



Also, for a topcoat.

Go with a Urethane. You will have better chemical resistance and a more durable topcoat than epoxy (epoxy`s scratch much easier than urethanes).