So what's your "If money were no object" dream floor?

BoCRon · Oct 19, 2006

Now, it still has to be a floor that is sensible for a garage/shop.
Here's mine, I love that it doesn't have a diamond track or circle pattern. I would however use the diamond track pattern in the area where my car actually drives/parks, but would use the smooth everywhere else.
I really like the quietness of a flexible floor. Not necessarily these colors.

http://www.tuffsealtile.com/index.php

Annette

JMURiz · Oct 20, 2006

Hmm, never seen that product.
Wonder if tire marks will be left on the product (like some of the mats and VCT). Might be work ordering a sample to check out.

Nevermind, just found the price, YIKES!!! Rubber/plastic tiles for $10 each, seems a bit steep for probably a material cost of $1 each.

RavinJetta · Oct 20, 2006

Looks like a nice product until I say the price as well. Makes racedeck look cheap

BoCRon · Oct 20, 2006

Yep, seems to be a popular choice for airplane hangars, so it's probably pretty tough but very pricey!
Annette

JMURiz · Oct 20, 2006

Just imagine the price to outfit an airplane hanger!
If the price were 1/2 of so I'm sure more would use them.

PAToyota · Oct 20, 2006

I think a lot of that would depend on what I was using the floor for in the space.

I really like the trowel-on epoxy systems if I were considering epoxy. I've used these professionally in commercial kitchens, processing plants, and such. Epoxy paint does not come even close to what these floors are and I think that most of you that are pleased with an epoxy paint would be ecstatic about this material. One project I did even went as far as to put patterns in it and it ended up winning some awards because quite a few people said it couldn't be done and if done wouldn't turn out well.

I also like the Kemiko stains and sealers for concrete. You can do patterns or a "sponged" finish that looks nicely rustic.

Mondo and Nora make some great rubber floor tiles that I'd use before considering VCT if that was the look I was going for.

I'm still not sure what I'm sold on for a fabrication-type area. I've found that epoxy paint just doesn't work for me. The trowel-on epoxy wouldn't be much better because grinding and welding sparks would have that much more depth to melt into. I've seen a number of "pure" fabrication areas that just go with bare concrete with a penetrating sealer to keep down the cement dust. But as soon as you'd bring the possibility of oil dripping off vehicles and such you're not going to have something that looks too nice. Of course, maybe a fabrication shop just has to accept that it isn't going to be a "showcase" area...

Just some of my thoughts...

wilbilt · Oct 20, 2006

I'd be torn between two extremes, I guess. On one hand, I would like a smooth, hard impenetrable floor that is easy to roll heavy things on without them sinking in or "squishing" the floor. A nice shine without slipperiness would be a plus.

The rest of me likes Nimrod's floor...

EdNJ · Oct 20, 2006

wilbilt said:
I'd be torn between two extremes, I guess. On one hand, I would like a smooth, hard impenetrable floor that is easy to roll heavy things on without them sinking in or "squishing" the floor. A nice shine without slipperiness would be a plus.

The rest of me likes Nimrod's floor...

Same here,but with my luck I'd set the damn garage on fire LOL.

We have ceramic tile with epoxy-based grout/mastic at work,it would be my choice for a home shop if money wasn't an object.

At first I thought it was a stupid idea to have a tile shop floor in our new facility,but I've grown to like it. Spills clean up easily. Welding and grinding doesn't hurt it. Tiles have cracked from dropped brake rotors and whatnot,but the builder (who *****,but that's another story) comes in every so often to replace them.

enginerd · Oct 20, 2006

We're going with Stamped concrete "european fan" style for the showroom/gallery area, and the shop area will be polished concrete. Pretty simple, yet should look very classy, with that european feel. Its a wide open structure design, NOT a sqaure building more of like an "artsy" P" layout, basically made to match the main house exterior. approx 3500sqrft showroom/gallery/dailyuse, and 1400sqrft shop/work/lift area, and second level lounge.

Its important to know the function of the floor, as it plays a key role in many other aspects of the garage other than looks and even feel. Obviously it has to be able to clean well, not crack/expand/contract, help lighting efforts, and not be a hazard when oil spills.

BoCRon · Oct 21, 2006

enginerd, (great screen name, by the way)
I think the stamped concret is a great idea. I was mentioning that to a friend the other day. She and her husband are building a house and I told her if I could go back, that is one thing I would add. At the time we built our house, stamped concrete was very new and I couldn't find a contractor near me that could do it, so we went with regular concrete. After we were in the house a couple of years, I started seeing signs around for contractors "specializing" in stamped concrete, grrrrr.
I ended up putting in a stamped concrete walkway and love it, it has been in for 6+ years and still looks fabulous. It is a cobblestone pattern with grey pigment.
It is a bit slick sometimes, so if I were putting it in a garage I might rough up the surface just a bit.

Annette

enginerd · Oct 21, 2006

Hehe, thanks. I can't take credit for the name, i heard it from a fellow engineer.

The slick surface depends on how its polished, since any design/tecture will still have the same surface finish characteristics.

The design we're using is european fan shape, its a deep red, with dark accents. Since this will only be in the showroom area where cars are just parked, there won't be much oil or fluids to clean up.

Similar to this:

65vetteracer · Oct 22, 2006

I think this polished aluminum tread plate floor would be awesomehttp://www.racedeck.com/pro.html

dreadman · Nov 2, 2006

To me it's simply polished concrete floor. Since I acctually do stuff like weld etc. Any rubberized floor covering is just going to hell in a matter of weeks.
BTW, we are still talking about garage floors and not outside landscaping pavers etc, right???

BoCRon · Nov 3, 2006

dreadman, if you're referring to the pics in the thread, they are of a poured concrete not pavers. It is stamped then colored with a powdered staining agent. It would be very sturdy in a "working" garage, but was cost prohibitive 8 years ago when we built our house. It is much more available now, since alot of concrete pouring companies have made the investment into the commercial grade stamps (a few thousand dollars per pattern), and the training.
I have seen it used in industrial buildings quite frequently around here.
Annette

dreadman · Nov 3, 2006

BoCRon said:
dreadman, if you're referring to the pics in the thread, they are of a poured concrete not pavers. It is stamped then colored with a powdered staining agent. It would be very sturdy in a "working" garage, but was cost prohibitive 8 years ago when we built our house. It is much more available now, since alot of concrete pouring companies have made the investment into the commercial grade stamps (a few thousand dollars per pattern), and the training.
I have seen it used in industrial buildings quite frequently around here.
Annette

Would you have this inside a garage??? How do you sweep up, roll machinery across. In a "working" shop/garage, the flatter the better.
I know it's stamped concrete, but if this is the "dream" floor, and the look, one is going for, why not use acctual stone.

maronha · Nov 4, 2006

Well for me it came down to price vs time and labor. I was thinking about doing the paint but for me it was just not as easy as putting down the flooring tile(which took a couple of hours to do) I figured i would rather sit at work for 8 hours on overtime to pay the diff for the floor tile, lol.

So with that said i went with the flooring tile from

http://www.premiersf.com/vtiles.htm

mY COST WAS $2.31 SQFT, which i thought was good. Her are ar few pictures.

BoCRon · Nov 4, 2006

Well, from what I recall around here, you have to have a solid poured surface in an attached garage to meet code. So alot of people don't want to do that and then pay for a seperate tile product.
I know the BMW place (private shop, not dealer) has the stamped concrete throughout their shop, I see carts out and about in use whenever I stop by. I'm sure you're right that rolling the carts on the pattern is probably not as easy, but they seem to be ok with it. They don't have the same pattern I have, they have a larger random squares type of thing so they do have less "cracks" to negotiate over.

maronha, great looking floor. I like the simple pattern.
Annette

maronha · Nov 4, 2006

BoCRon said:
Well, from what I recall around here, you have to have a solid poured surface in an attached garage to meet code. So alot of people don't want to do that and then pay for a seperate tile product.
I know the BMW place (private shop, not dealer) has the stamped concrete throughout their shop, I see carts out and about in use whenever I stop by. I'm sure you're right that rolling the carts on the pattern is probably not as easy, but they seem to be ok with it. They don't have the same pattern I have, they have a larger random squares type of thing so they do have less "cracks" to negotiate over.

maronha, great looking floor. I like the simple pattern.
Annette

Thanks Annette, I actually just started back trying to complete finishing the garage up after a 14 month layoff due to the new baby girl.
I recently painted the walls a gray and will be putting a black rubber base molding around floor. I have some cabinet in the one corner which i need to paint aslo. As soon as i get closer to being finished i will post new pictures.

mark

So what's your "If money were no object" dream floor?

BoCRon

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JMURiz

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RavinJetta

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BoCRon

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JMURiz

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PAToyota

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wilbilt

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EdNJ

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enginerd

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BoCRon

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enginerd

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65vetteracer

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dreadman

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BoCRon

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maronha

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