What kind of Garage Flooring/Coating for Winter/Mud/Road grit?

I looked at about 5 different brands of tiles and ended up going with a professionally applied epoxy coating from PremierGarage. http://www.premiergarage.com/flooring.html

I had it installed in my new garage last summer and so far I've been very happy with it.

It just seemed like tiles would become a goopy mess over winter. Also I work on my cars and the plastic tiles weren't sturdy enough to support jackstands without putting something underneath them. Also I have an old Pontiac that leaks oil like the Exxon Valdez and I didn't think getting that mess under the tiles would lead to anything good.

One of my neighbors has Kiwi tiles and he's happy with them but my useage is much more severe than his.

 

I've had RaceDeck flooring in my garage for about the past 2 years here in New Hampshire. I've been pretty happy with it. It looks great when clean. We get a lot of snow in the winter and there is a ton of salt and sand used here. That stuff really builds up on the floor and there really isn't an easy way to deal with it--but that's true for any flooring.

My tiles are grey with black tiles used as an accent to mark out the parking spaces within the garage. The tiles are supposed to be impervious to oil and solvents. I have found that to be true. I typically use a plastic shovel to scoop up the accumulated sand and grit that drops off the underside of our vehicles and accumulates on the floor. I then wet mop the floor with Simple Green solution diluted at 1 cup per 3 gallons of hot water. I use a commercial type string mop. I change the water for each bay (usually looks filthy after mopping just one bay) and then do a clean final mop of the whole garage with very dilute Simple Green. It looks great afterward. There is some darkening of the light gray tiles along the tire track lines in each bay that seems to be the result of slight abrasion of the tile surface with the repeated rolling of tires back and forth in a line over the same areas. I don't really mind it though as it still looks 1000% better than the old cement floor.

The key thing to remember is that RaceDeck type floors are floating floors so if you find that you don't like the slight "scrunch" feel under your feet when you walk on it or work on top of it, you will find it annoying. Also, if you choose it make sure your installer knows what he is doing and leaves at least 1/2 inch gap around the perimeter to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction of the floor with ambient temperature changes. One other consideration is the tiles are made of plastic so they will cut and gouge if something sharp is dragged across them (e.g a wooden pallet with nail tips exposed--ask me how I know!) or something heavy is dropped on them. But, if they are irreversibly damaged you can just pop that tile out and replace it with a new one. Just make sure you buy a few extras.

Hope the above helps. I can post some pictures of my floor if you want.

Good luck,

--J

 

I did the typical linoleum black & white checker board squares. The self adhesive type from Home Depot. The concrete prep was key here. When one gets damaged, I just replace it. Takes 5 minutes and has been pretty durable.

 

If you want to go the paint route--I used the Rustoleum Pro garage floor kit and the prepped the floor the right way. Been down 3 years now and still looks great...I have many different seasons living in MD with salt, snow, etc....

 

Not in a salty environment here, but the tiles from www.floorjunkies.com work good for me. It takes some time to figure out a cool pattern, but they install easy and clean up nice!

BT
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Has anyone tried the stuff they sell at Costco. I think it comes in rolls 7ft by 20 or so? I was wondering how it holds up to jack stands etc?

 

If you mean that vinyl stuff, I had that on my floor before I had the epoxy done.

It held up OK under a floor jack but jackstands cut it if they shifted even a tiny bit when the weight of the car was applied.

The biggest problem was that it was as slippery as ice if it got wet. Fell on my butt a couple times. Not a lot of fun.

 

Some sort of grey rubber/vinyl with diamond plate pattern embossed.

 

Why not have the concrete polished and sealed? It can even be stained any color...

 

If you want something that looks phenomenal, and is about as durable as coatings get, I would recommend a product called H&C Concrete Stain. It can be purchased at Sherwin Wiliams for about $20/gal, and can be mixed into any color your heart desires. It differs greatly compared to epoxy-type paints for concrete in the fact that it actually soaks into the concrete and bonds with its molecular structure, rather than just sitting on top. I have had this in on the floor in my heavily used 28' x 36' garage for 6 years now and it looks almost as good as the day I put it down. Sorry no pics at the moment.

Pros: Works best on uncoated "bare" concrete, easy to apply, inexpensive, infinite color choices, cleans up easily, impervious to oil, will not lift up from hot tires, extremely durable.

Cons: Doesn't work as well over existing paint, need at least 3 coats for garage floor use, will slightly discolor if exposed to gasoline for extended periods.