Porcelain tile install, thanks for the info

[Johns12]

Hi Everyone, I have been lurking on Garage Journal for years. I've gotten a lot of information here and wanted to say thanks to everyone. Just completed a porcelain tile instal. It came out great.

 

[84944Redline]

Re: Porcelain tile instal, thanks for the info

Looks great! Do you have any before pictures you can share? And did you run into any challenges or have any prepwork besides the norm? Just curious to hear about your install process, where you got your tile and what other materials you used.

I always enjoy seeing people that choose porcelain tile for their garage flooring. I, too, have read so much about it here and decided it was the right choice for my floor. I'm only about half done with my 1,000 sq. ft. space and love it so far.

 

[Munich77]

Re: Porcelain tile instal, thanks for the info

That looks great - good job .

 

[Johns12]

Re: Porcelain tile instal, thanks for the info

Of course I don't have a picture of the floor before the tile (not thinking). It was a typical concrete slab. I did prep with a diamond sander rented from HD. I also found the 12X12 tiles on closeout at HD. Not enough to do the whole floor so I used the 16X16 tiles to make a pattern. It is definitely a physical job. My wife who doesn't see the need to do any of the projects I do thinks it looks great.

 

[SapesOfIndia]

Re: Porcelain tile instal, thanks for the info

Looks awesome!
Congratulations!!

 

[Smbarron]

Re: Porcelain tile instal, thanks for the info

How did you handle the maxjak? Did you tile around it or under it? When you move the maxjack? I want to do this too.

 

[OJ Bartley]

Very nice! Did you do all the work yourself? Any experience with tiling before? I'm just trying to gauge how much pain I'm setting myself up for.

 

[Dakota00]

You'll be in pain for a few days... lmao!!

 

[Shea]

Great job! Porcelain tile garage floors are slowly gaining momentum.

 

[Johns12]

I have tiled before, but this was the biggest tile job I've done. The floor prep with the diamond thingy was probably the most work. It is not an easy job, but man does it look good when done.

I have been doing a lot of work on my cars and the floor holds up well to everything. The MaxJax sits on top of the tile. When I have some time, I'll take closeup shots of how the MaxJax installs.

 

[lksdrinker]

Looks awesome! Whats the difference in cost from this compared to something like racedeck?

 

[Johns12]

My guess is that it would depend on the price of the Porcelain tile you buy. I got mine from Home Depot on closeout so my tile cost was $450. I'm not sure what Racedeck would cost for 400sf. My total cost including rental for the surface prep was around $700.

 

[OJ Bartley]

Johns12, what condition was your floor in before you started? Was it in bad shape, and that's why you did the diamond grind? I thought doing tile was more resilient than something like epoxy that needs a very clean, fresh, uncoated floor.

 

[kamib]

How high of your ceiling?

 

[Johns12]

Johns12, what condition was your floor in before you started? Was it in bad shape, and that's why you did the diamond grind? I thought doing tile was more resilient than something like epoxy that needs a very clean, fresh, uncoated floor.

The floor was in ok but not great condition. It had stains from car work and the section near the door had to be cleaned up and surface coated. The grinding gave the thinset a good surface to grip. I did also wash it down with a grease cleaner.

 

[Johns12]

How high of your ceiling?

The ceiling is 8'6" high.

 

[MN4x4]

Where are you located? Do you get snow and ice?

 

[Johns12]

Sorry, I missed this question. I'm in Connecticut, so a lot of snow and Ice. I did the floor in December of 2013 and went through that winter. No problems with snow or ice.

 

[Track t-4]

Your floor looks terrific. I'm getting ready to do porcelain on about 620 sqft so am curious - what thinset and grout did you use? Some of those suggested on this site are not available locally.

 

[Dakota00]

Your floor looks terrific. I'm getting ready to do porcelain on about 620 sqft so am curious - what thinset and grout did you use? Some of those suggested on this site are not available locally.

Lowes or Home Depot in your area don't carry Mapei or FlexBond?

 

[motofool33]

looks good man, what grout gap did you use 1/4" or 1/8"?

 

[Track t-4]

Lowes or Home Depot in your area don't carry Mapei or FlexBond?

Lowes lists Mapei products and HD lists Flexbond products, is that what I should use? I was referring to the frequent suggestions to use karabond, keralastic, ditra, etc.

I guess after reading many of these projects I've become a bit confused on what to use and unsure where t get it. The only things I think I am decided on is to use the Schluter Renu-U ramp and Red Guard for the cracks.

 

[Dakota00]

Lowes lists Mapei products and HD lists Flexbond products, is that what I should use? I was referring to the frequent suggestions to use karabond, keralastic, ditra, etc.

I guess after reading many of these projects I've become a bit confused on what to use and unsure where t get it. The only things I think I am decided on is to use the Schluter Renu-U ramp and Red Guard for the cracks.

You could use K/K from Lowes (which is better) or FlexBond from HD. Which ever you prefer. Lowes also sells the Mapei UltraColor Plus grout too.

 

[OJ Bartley]

I had to go to Rona for the thinset (kerabond/kerelastic) and Lowes for the grout (Ultracolor Plus) ... or was it the other way around? Either way, I didn't see both listed at either store together.

 

[Johns12]

Yeah, I think I used Mapei for the grout and Flexbond for the thinset. I have spilled so much fluid on this floor and it cleans up in a second. I used regular grout in a dark gray color. Can't see any stains from the spills.