Interlocking Garage Tile Flooring (Vented or Solid Tiles?)

[FreePenguin]

Physics I guess but I promise you if you park a year round daily driver on the tiles you will get dirt, debris, dust or anything you wanna call it under those tiles, is it a big deal? no but it won’t be as clean as when you put them down. If you live in a winter climate area there is a strong chance you will get salt crystal build up at the seams from the daily driver, I have picture proof that it happens, the salt/water will go between the cracks and crystalize. If I didn’t have a daily driver to park on the tiles I would do it again all day every day. My garage wasn’t a “working” garage but my OCD was working overtime with the tiles.

I mean I get it. Just didn’t think it could be much. I don’t want a dirty garage so my cars that are daily stay outside unless hail is in weather prediction. Just never liked idea of opening closing garage door a billion times a week personally.

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[JOKER M1]

I mean I get it. Just didn’t think it could be much. I don’t want a dirty garage so my cars that are daily stay outside unless hail is in weather prediction. Just never liked idea of opening closing garage door a billion times a week personally.

I agree, I was surprised as well. Mine was down for about 4 years. I’m with you on not wanting a dirty garage, I mop my epoxy floor at least twice a week since we have 2 daily’s in there until the M1 shows up.

 

[Doolin64]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to install garage tiles in my double garage. Costco has a hell of a deal on them, and I'm trying to decide on whether I should go with vented or solid? I live in Canada, although my mustang is parked and stored under it's cover all winter, the other side of the garage is used for my daily driver (CX9). In the winter snow, sand, salt and debris come into the garage and collect on the concrete floor. Come spring I need to sweep this mess out, which is like setting off a dust bomb.

I thought it was just me. I have the same issue. I'm always amazed at the pictures of spotless garages. Just when you get most of the salt and dirt gone it's pollen season. It just never ends. My garage is always dusty.

 

[FreePenguin]

I leaf blow mine couple times a year then I mop it after. Solid tiles are easy. I couldn’t have slotted. Unless I had a drain system then I’d rock it

mines dirty, havnt mopped, will on a nice warm day, I leave door open, dries in like 10 mins

 

[2morrow]

I went with solid. However a couple things to think about.

Etching. I would recommend etching and sealing your floor surface before laying the tiles down.

2 layers of non-woven cloth. I've read that it takes down the "clacking" noise.

Using a jack on your tiles. I have a jack with wheels and when I use the jack on the tiles it leaves a dent on the tile surface. I also experiences a lack of triangulation that the jack naturally does when changing geometry as the car is lowered. I have to be careful when lowering the car so that the jack stand doesn't slip and drop the car. Because of that I have made jacking tiles for both jack and jack stands but it's not as carefree as originally hoped.

There are several options out there and some of the vented tiles seems like the jacking issue would be worse.

Just something to think about...

Currently my garage is a little cluttered and dirty. When it's clean it's everyone's favorite watering hole lol.
hole/

 

[JOKER M1]

@2morrow is 100% right with the jack & jack stand issue and glad he mentioned it. I used OSB (not plywood) under my jack and stands. Plywood is soft and will dent/crease and the jack won’t roll on it. Also if you just use the jack stands right on the tiles the jack stands with the car on them CAN/WILL slide, ask me how I know this and it was a very unsettling experience.

EDIT: Let me clarify something, the jack stands were on spare tiles that were on the tile floor when the car slid. I was installing the cradle lockout and we were using a pry bar for alignment with our feet against the wall for leverage and we slid the car about 2” across the floor

 

[TeeLew]

@2morrow is 100% right with the jack & jack stand issue ....

...we were using a pry bar for alignment with our feet against the wall for leverage and we slid the car about 2” across the floor

Did we have to change our underwear after that one?

 

[FreePenguin]

Did we have to change our underwear after that one?

I Jack up on the tiles, it doesn’t make any damage really. It did leave some damage when I left mustnwg up in air for a few weeks on the stands.

but for me, my Jack spots are always in the same line 3 areas, so one day I could spend like 15 bucks and swap the 3-4 damaged tiles if I wanted.

can you just use a piece of plywood? All you need is the weight distributed off the little wheels or feet if doing legit real work.

that’s crazy. Car sliding.

 

[2morrow]

can you just use a piece of plywood? All you need is the weight distributed off the little wheels or feet if doing legit real work.

that’s crazy. Car sliding.

Yeah, I made "Pads" out of plywood but again, the feet/wheels of the jack dent the wood so the jack doesn't move when raising/lowering the car. I am in the process of making a thick steel pad just for the jack. It also will help at track days with rough asphalt.

 

[FreePenguin]

Yeah, I made "Pads" out of plywood but again, the feet/wheels of the jack dent the wood so the jack doesn't move when raising/lowering the car. I am in the process of making a thick steel pad just for the jack. It also will help at track days with rough asphalt.

Oreillys parts store
They have a oil pan. Lol it’s metal and 13 bucks. It’s large. Idk if it would be strong enough though for a Jack

 

[2morrow]

Oreillys parts store
They have a oil pan. Lol it’s metal and 13 bucks. It’s large. Idk if it would be strong enough though for a Jack

I'll look into that. Thx

 

[FreePenguin]

I'll look into that. Thx

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...f6/hopkins-flotool-drip-tray/hop5/11430?pos=3

 

[TeeLew]

My latest Craig's List purchase was a pair of Quick-Jack lifts. It's really not all that much faster to use them over my jack and jack stand routine, but it's a whole lot less trouble and the car is perfectly stable. It's not as nice as a 2-post, but it's a whole lot better than nothing.

 

[JOKER M1]

Did we have to change our underwear after that one?

Eye popping but no pooping

 

[DFB5.0]

I spent two years procrastinating on what to do with my garage floor before deciding to do Swisstrax.

The floor was painted concrete, a solution that never works and not my choice. I would sweep/blow/vacuum it weekly but was always dirty pretty soon afterwards. I looked into a variety of options but favored the interlocking tiles as they suited what I do in my garage. I also liked how I could do it myself and control the whole process. (I store 4 cars in this garage, a bit of a logistical issue at times.)

Now the controversial bit. I looked at both solid and grooved tiles. I did not like the idea of the dirt being under the floor, but I preferred the look of the grooved tiles better, and that is important for someone who is very much a visual person. The dirt aspect really concerned me, especially considering when I'm detailing, dirt and dust are always a worry. In the end, the look of the floor won the argument and I ordered a very expensive amount of Swisstrax Ribtrax tiles to cover my entire garage.

This was a Christmas holiday project that was completed in about 8 hours by my Dad and myself. I went ahead exactly how I planned. I laid, cut and fitted the tiles and my Dad kept the tiles flowing to me. I obviously moved the cars all out, however I only moved the rest as we went along, sliding things like cabinets onto the freshly laid tiles, finished the fit then moved everything back. This meant I didn't have to completely gut the garage.

The result was transformational!

I could not be happier with how it looks, or how it has transformed the space. I use the garage for detailing, for that job it's brilliant. I probably would not have chosen Ribtrax if I was doing wood or metal work, or even heavy mechanical work.

But what about the dirt? As I said, I was hesitant about the fact dirt, dust and debris falls through the tile and sits underneath. The floor has been down for just over two months now and in terms of how I treat the Swisstrax, it's no different to how I was dealing with the bare concrete beforehand. I blow and vacuum it once a week, the same as the concrete.

The thing is, the actual floor surface I stand or work on is always clean. There may be some underneath but it's not being blown around or tracked in and out of the house or cars. On smooth surfaces, concrete/epoxy/smooth tiles, dust and debris that blows into the garage moves as far as the wind will take it. On Ribtrax, that debris generally stops within the first few rows of tiles and falls to the bottom, where it stays until vacuumed.

What I would say from here is, don't rule out a grooved tile based on how you think the dirt will be an issue. I would also consider how you intend on using your garage and make a decision that will suit that requirement. As it stands, I walk out into my garage every day and think "oh yeah, I did that!".

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