New Garage Flooring Options for my R

[galaxy]

Stay away from Lowe’s and Home Depot epoxy kits

Meh, I don’t know if I completely agree with this. I’ve done two garages with the Baer kits and they have served their purpose quite admirably. My current home that i got down on a new floor has lasted nine years and I am just now wanting to re-do it. Bang for the buck, I say they’re a viable option. No tire peeling or anything like that. Mine are fading because I work on them and wash/detail indoors on them year round. But they’ve been great. On a floor that didn’t get abused, it would last a decade without looking like crap.

Sponsored

 

[DrumReaper]

Obviously lower VOC content is better from a health/environmental perspective. I just objected to the blanket "carcinogen" statement. Also, specific to garage floor application, you seemed to be preferring polyurethanes, which will have significantly higher VOCs than epoxy, especially if compared to a 100% solids epoxy coating.

And for the record, I have an epoxy coated garage (didn't do it myself, the builder applied it) and so far, so good. Tho it's only been 1 year.

I think you gotta do some studying. Here’s a good recent article for you. Pay attention to the VOC statements.

https://allgaragefloors.com/polyurea-polyaspartic-coatings/

I had an “epoxy” coating installed by my home builder in one of my ost homes and there is no specific time frame per which they will have issues. I had to be very careful with my cars... if they sat on the floor without being moved for a little while I got tread imprints... if the car was pulled in after a spirited drive, and frequently during the South Carolina 93*F+ days, the tires would pull up the epoxy.

Now, mind you, I wasn’t in charge of who, when or how the epoxy floor was installed but the nice thing about polys was that I could but it down during the fall and winter months. To date, I haven’t experienced tire pulling, imprints, staining or UV deterioration, of which I had on the epoxy floor in less than 6-12 months.

Study...

 

[DrumReaper]

Meh, I don’t know if I completely agree with this. I’ve done two garages with the Baer kits and they have served their purpose quite admirably. My current home that i got down on a new floor has lasted nine years and I am just now wanting to re-do it. Bang for the buck, I say they’re a viable option. No tire peeling or anything like that. Mine are fading because I work on them and wash/detail indoors on them year round. But they’ve been great. On a floor that didn’t get abused, it would last a decade without looking like crap.

You don’t have to... I never asked you to agree.

You did say the perfect catch phrase, though - “bang for the buck”. Those kits are indeed a bang for the buck product. You could treat Kim Jong-Un with kid gloves and he may or may not bite you in the ass, but that’s your choice. I choose to invest a little more, do it right once, and appreciate its service without having to worry much about simple shit happening just cause I cut a corner. I beat my floors, and my wife loves to drag crap across them and there’s no scarring or product tear. One condition I have found with epoxy or poly floors is that the aluminum wheels on jacks can dimple or pop the bond to the floor. It’s simple to avoid by simply placing something under the wheels but I don’t want that problem on my new upcoming floor.

So, I invest a little more to have a little more. There’s nothing wrong with your choice, it’s just not mine.

 

[rick81721]

I think you gotta do some studying. Here’s a good recent article for you. Pay attention to the VOC statements.

https://allgaragefloors.com/polyurea-polyaspartic-coatings/

I had an “epoxy” coating installed by my home builder in one of my ost homes and there is no specific time frame per which they will have issues. I had to be very careful with my cars... if they sat on the floor without being moved for a little while I got tread imprints... if the car was pulled in after a spirited drive, and frequently during the South Carolina 93*F+ days, the tires would pull up the epoxy.

Now, mind you, I wasn’t in charge of who, when or how the epoxy floor was installed but the nice thing about polys was that I could but it down during the fall and winter months. To date, I haven’t experienced tire pulling, imprints, staining or UV deterioration, of which I had on the epoxy floor in less than 6-12 months.

Study...

Well yes that is one specific coating. It does look like a good option. My house is in Florida and survived one summer so far with zero issues, so like anything else it depends on who applied it and what they used.

Oh and no garage door insulation or a/c in that garage yet. I recorded temps well above 110 last summer!

 

[DrumReaper]

Beat the heat bro!

It’s my understanding that majorly across the board polys have less VOCs than epoxy. I could be wrong but that’s my understanding.

 

[rick81721]

Beat the heat bro!

Spending this summer (and future summers) in NJ - too hot down there!

 

[DrumReaper]

Spending this summer (and future summers) in NJ - too hot down there!

We purposefully heat up the South to keep northerners away.:lol:

 

[EF300]

Waiting for someone to Linex a garage floor.

 

[kskpsu]

That looks fantastic! I'm about to buy a 'forever' home, and I've been back and forth about different garage floor solutions. We're moving back to Charleston, SC in a few months, so there are various issues that I'll need to deal with, namely, humidity. I'm worried that any moisture in the garage will end up condensing on the floor and causing it to be slippery. It doesn't look like your tile has a glaze on it (so probably porous and non-slip).

Did you seal the grout and/or tile? What product did you use, if so? Did you use a mortar with any modifiers for flexibility and weather expansion? How does the tile do with fluids and staining? What kind of prep did you do to the floor - acid etch? How about the joint - did you fill that with mortar and allow to dry before applying mortar to the floor itself and tiling?

JR

For install, I used a porcelain tile thin set mortar. Rated for indoor and outdoor use and has some flexibility, should be good for changing climate conditions. Actually, I struggled with my race deck tiles in a previous home...cut too precisely along the edges of the wall and they would expand/buckle in the middle during the summer. The tile in this application is far more consistent.

I used a sanded grout and mixed it with Latricrete Grout Enhancer 1776 for better stain resistance and in lieu of water hoping it would bring color consistency...it didn’t do the latter (espresso grout looks more gray). Someone smarter than me will have a better solution...I guess I’d try distilled water next. Epoxy grout is your best play here sans haze removal after install, but sanded has worked fine for me.

No issues with fluids or staining, and I have had used oil drain in an unexpected direction out of a pan on it. I don’t let anything dwell on it. Can be a little slick when wet, but not too bad...there are solutions you can mop on to make it tacky if you want. The tile is pretty matte, and to your point, inherently less slick than polished of glazed.

No floor prep, it does not need the thoroughness you need to do for poly/epoxy bonding. Given my pattern, I went over expansion joints without doing anything different. My last garage in IL, with 18 x 18 tile, I ran to the edge of the joints since my pattern allowed for it and assumed the grout would pop with any notable shift. No issues with either application. I heat this garage to 55 or so in the winter...IL one was insulated but no heat.

Hope this helps.

 

[Gnfanatic]

For install, I used a porcelain tile thin set mortar. Rated for indoor and outdoor use and has some flexibility, should be good for changing climate conditions. Actually, I struggled with my race deck tiles in a previous home...cut too precisely along the edges of the wall and they would expand/buckle in the middle during the summer. The tile in this application is far more consistent.

I used a sanded grout and mixed it with Latricrete Grout Enhancer 1776 for better stain resistance and in lieu of water hoping it would bring color consistency...it didn’t do the latter (espresso grout looks more gray). Someone smarter than me will have a better solution...I guess I’d try distilled water next. Epoxy grout is your best play here sans haze removal after install, but sanded has worked fine for me.

No issues with fluids or staining, and I have had used oil drain in an unexpected direction out of a pan on it. I don’t let anything dwell on it. Can be a little slick when wet, but not too bad...there are solutions you can mop on to make it tacky if you want. The tile is pretty matte, and to your point, inherently less slick than polished of glazed.

No floor prep, it does not need the thoroughness you need to do for poly/epoxy bonding. Given my pattern, I went over expansion joints without doing anything different. My last garage in IL, with 18 x 18 tile, I ran to the edge of the joints since my pattern allowed for it and assumed the grout would pop with any notable shift. No issues with either application. I heat this garage to 55 or so in the winter...IL one was insulated but no heat.

Hope this helps.

Yeah but how do you use a jack and jack stands on that tile?

 

[kskpsu]

Yeah but how do you use a jack and jack stands on that tile?

Directly on it. PEI 4+ porcelain is extremely durable. I dropped a hammer on it off a ladder...nothing.

 

[snaproll]

Over tens of thousands of square feet of hangar, I have had great results with the nastiest two part epoxy you can find. Wear a respirator, no big deal. My last garage floor I did mysel and it was fantastic but takes acid etching of new concrete at the very least. If you do it right, it works. If you use some environmentally friendly water based Home Depot stuff, don’t expect much IMHO. But at least you’ll help stop global warming.

My new garages are all glossy finish race deck. Also nice but you can’t weld on it and the Florida sun attacks it. Leave enough expansion room at the edges and it won’t warp. Probably a good 1/4” where the sun hits it. Race deck replaced my faded tiles for 1/2 price after 2 or 3 years so fixing up the sun damage wasn’t too bad. Someone had used cheap floor paint on my garages previously which would have required diamond grinding to fix right and I just didn’t want to go through that deal.

 

[DrumReaper]

Over tens of thousands of square feet of hangar, I have had great results with the nastiest two part epoxy you can find. Wear a respirator, no big deal. My last garage floor I did mysel and it was fantastic but takes acid etching of new concrete at the very least. If you do it right, it works. If you use some environmentally friendly water based Home Depot stuff, don’t expect much IMHO. But at least you’ll help stop global warming.

My new garages are all glossy finish race deck. Also nice but you can’t weld on it and the Florida sun attacks it. Leave enough expansion room at the edges and it won’t warp. Probably a good 1/4” where the sun hits it. Race deck replaced my faded tiles for 1/2 price after 2 or 3 years so fixing up the sun damage wasn’t too bad. Someone had used cheap floor paint on my garages previously which would have required diamond grinding to fix right and I just didn’t want to go through that deal.

Good post. Good info.

 

[sublime1996525]

Damn. Now I want to do tile in mine.

 

[carcinoid]

I'm having quotes done this week to have my floor done. I want a diamond-grind prep and a thick epoxy laid down. It's a three stall garage in a new construction home so there shouldn't be much repair/prep aside from the standard. I'll let y'all know how much I get quoted.

Sponsored