Better Life Products garage floor mat

wifehatescar

wifehatescar

My L5-S1 is killing me!
http://www.bltllc.com/GFloor_home.htm



Anyone every use this or know much about it? I found one member here that has it (through searching), I sent him a PM.



Anyone else have an opinion? I found a 10'x22' piece for $150 + $50 shipping from Sam's Club for my 1 car garage. At that price it's hard to resist. At $200, buy a new one every couple years if you want!



I've just about given up on painting/sealing/staining my concrete floor due to durability concerns. (I will actually be *using* my garage for jackstands, spilled oil, etc.) I would be :angry if I spent $100 and 2 weeks labor for a painted floor to fall apart due to tires, jackstands, etc.

This mat seems cheap, easy, durable and obviously easily removable if damaged (say that about a peeling floor paint!)
 
More good news, I asked realllllly nicely for a sample. They are sending me a free 3"x4" square of the thinner ribbed Sam's Club style mat and the thicker, coined mat which is more expensive and not available at Sam's.



Since the coined is almost double the money, I think I'm just going to use the standard mat and put wood between anything heavy (ex jackstands).



I'll report back when I get the samples, still looking for current user comments though :)
 
The regular is .5-.6" thick, coined or industrial ribbed is .7-.8" thick.

My thought is it should hold up fine except for a relatively sharp and heavy object (such as the corner of a jackstand, thus the scrap wood in between)

Looks like for the price of the thicker one, you can get almost 2 of the thinner ones since Sam's sells them pretty cheap.
 
I'm pretty sure Auto Geek carries that stuff. I too wonder how it would hold up to a jack and jack stands.
 
dternst said:
Here's the link to Auto Geek: http://www.autogeek.net/newcopagapr.html
Click to expand...



Yup.



Standard thickness --- Autogeek 10x22 = $300 total......... Sam's 10x22 = $200 total



Extra thick --- Autogeek 10x22 $600!



btw, there are a TON of places that sell this stuff if you look around. I'm thinking it must be half way decent if BLT has so many (most are reputable) distributors.

On the standard thickness you can't beat the Sam's price though.
 
I've had BLT floor covering in my garage about a year and love. Easy to clean, no hot tire pickup and you can make it shine. Once every 6 months i'll clean it with a floor cleaner and then use a vinyl wax. :up
 
Civic, the mat is thick enough that floor jacks won't tear the material. As an alternative you could lay a piece of wood down first as someone suggested, but I don't think it's necessary.
 
jimamary-

The main reason not to paint my floor is I will be moving out in 3-4 years. I don't want to take the chance that someone wouldn't like the relatively permanent color I put on the concrete. Also, I am very wary of concrete sealers/stain in general right now (after days of research). I'm glad you got good results, unfortunately you are in the minority. If I was able to find 10 people like you who have had good luck with Aquapon I might go for it.

I think for *my* situation though, this mat looks like the better choice.
 
Is that mat the same as what is sold in the Griots Catalog? Can anyone confirm this? Looks like a good alternative to painted floors.
 
Got my samples today!

Left is the BLT coin pattern, middle is the "Griot's, right is the BLT ribbed.

Notice Groit's=same as BLT



The thin part of the mats are 1.75mm, the thicker parts are 3.15mm on the ribbed and 2.75mm on the coined.

Not sure why they bill the coined as "thicker".



I tested them out by rolling my creeper and floor jack along the mat with my body weight. They compressed some but for the most part returned to their original shape. They did look a bit white from the stress though and were deformed somewhat. I'm starting to rethink this product for my own needs. It seems like it'd be good for someone who just details, but if you are actually *working* on cars it would get beat up pretty quick I think. It is only plastic (polyvinyl). YMMV

Maybe I'll look into clear floor sealant....again...:rolleyes: :nixweiss :)

or I may just leave it as is.
 

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Thank you for the input!! What I thought would be a good solution now does sound like it would be a problem for me as well. If those mats get stressed with just body weight imagine what a 4000 pound car would do. Oh well, back to the drawing board.



I'm still considering the Aquapon Product but all the oil spots on my cement worry me.
 
I've been using the BLT mat for about 2 years in my garage. It's got some tire tracks in it (from hot tires) but it's held up to everything. Brake fluid, coolant, oil, salt, gas, etc. It serves it's purpose very well. Cleaning is very easy, just sweep it off the with the broom. For stains and dirt, just drag it out of the garage and spray it off. Comes out clean everytime. My garage floor has 2 part epoxy on the floor, but I really like this as a way to protect the floor.



Btw, I would not use a floorjack or jackstands on it without some type of wood plank under them. It CAN tear if your stands have a sharp edge, or if you put enough pressure on them.
 
Showroom-

Thanks for th input. I see you agree using wood under jackstands would be best, what do think of rolling things over it? (like a jack, a roller seat with me on it, etc?) I was trying them too and it seemed to scuff up the mat relatively easily...
 
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