Mom and Dad's new Garage Floor - TuffSeal Tile

Mikeyworks · Apr 1, 2007

My folks live down in Mississippi and have a wonderful house. In their detached garage/poolhouse they have a full compliment of household amenities: fridge, microwave, sink, cupboards, bathroom (full) and what-not. Now dad wants to use it for his home-office now that he's working from home every day.

The previous owner put down some el-cheapo VCT in the standard checkerboard finish. It was cracking and peeling and made the room look really small. So, dad thought about his options and went high end and bought some Tuff-Seal Tile (http://www.tuffsealtile.com/) and put it down himself.

Here's the pics (pardon the old guy, not sure who he is...(dad) :bounce:

)

Before (with some new tiles on it:

During and after install:

Thoughts? I think it looks great...I wonder if he'll loan me enough to take care of mine too.

Mikey

04 Navi · Apr 1, 2007

Beautiful.

JMURiz · Apr 2, 2007

That's one clean looking space, what did you think of the tiles?

Mikeyworks · Apr 3, 2007

Dad's very proud of this garage. This is the "accessory" garage. It doubles as the pool house, office, etc.

Dad loves his floor and is very proud of it. He's planning on using it for everything but a garage like we all would use it for. I doubt it will ever see an oil change!!! The only high temperature work to be done in there will be a heated conference call or brewing of a fine batch of homebrew.

His other garage gets the cars...

snorvet · Apr 4, 2007

looks too nice to be a garage!

73super · Apr 4, 2007

Looks pricey! That many tiles has to get expensive. Looks great!

dps · Apr 4, 2007

Maybe if I kept the bathroom scale near the beer supply it would be more effective?

V-10 Killer · Apr 4, 2007

Ok, I'll say it. I think it looked great (from 20') both ways. If the tiles were getting bad, I understand the move to the tuffseal floor. It certainly lights the room up more with those lighter colored tiles. Nice job!

itorque · Apr 4, 2007

Looks fantastic. $4.95 per square foot (ouch).

C_F · Apr 5, 2007

That looks pretty good, not as 'busy' as the angled checkerboard floor.
So he doesn't keep a car in there? what does he do with the extra space over toward the roll up door?

BoCRon · May 8, 2007

I love the tuffseal tiles. I've had a sample of them in my basement for about a year. I'm thinking for the cost I'd rather use them in my exercise room in the basement!
Annette

curlyws6 · May 8, 2007

That look awesome... I just can't get over the price

.

master_jcp · May 9, 2007

Nice work. Looks nice.

Indy300 · May 9, 2007

The new floor really opens the room up!

en2burrell · Jul 1, 2007

Thanks for sharing the pics and info regarding your Dad's Tuffseal Tile floor. I'm seriously thinking of getting this brand of tile for my three car garage. Sure would appreciate any further comments and/or suggestions that you or your Dad could provide.

Mikeyworks · Jul 1, 2007

I'll have to ask him for some feedback on the floor now that its been in a while and it has seen vehicle use and general garage use...

en2burrell · Jul 27, 2007

Hello Mikeyworks,

Any update on your Dad's garage floor? :headscrat

Mikeyworks said:
I'll have to ask him for some feedback on the floor now that its been in a while and it has seen vehicle use and general garage use...

Mikeyworks · Jul 28, 2007

Sorry for the delay.

Dad and mom both love the floor. The garage doubles as the pool house so people go in there all the time with wet feet. The old VCT on the floor was very slick when wet. This is very sturdy and rather non-slip.

I actually got to see it for the first time this morning in person. It looks great. Fit and finish is very great. One thing versus Racedeck or other floorings that I have seen is this is relatively thin. There is no hollow space as part of the floor. It's solid and therefore does not amplify sounds. In fact, it helps to keep ambient sound down.

The folks love it. Dad does some of his beer brewing in the garage and spilled some mix. The mix went across the floor, but showed no signs of weeping through the joints. The joints are extremely tight and nothing is likely to get through.

I will see if I can get a pic of the thickness of the leftover tiles today for you guys.

Mikey

en2burrell · Jul 30, 2007

Hello Mikey,

Thanks for the update! Very interesting and helpful comments. I see much Racedeck flooring feedback on various sites, but hardly nothing on the TuffSeal product. Being that the Tuffseal is not hollow, yes, I imagine it's much quieter when walking on it, than Racedeck. I also like the fact that it has a tight seal at the joints. If the TuffSeal floor is indeed durable over a long period of time, it seems like the product for me, even though it is pricey (as I have a 3 car garage floor to cover). Did your Dad have any difficulty with the installation? How long did it take him to install it? Any installation tips? Looking forward to any follow-up information you might be able to share. Thanks again. :thumbup:

-Burrell

Mikeyworks said:
Sorry for the delay.

Dad and mom both love the floor. The garage doubles as the pool house so people go in there all the time with wet feet. The old VCT on the floor was very slick when wet. This is very sturdy and rather non-slip.

I actually got to see it for the first time this morning in person. It looks great. Fit and finish is very great. One thing versus Racedeck or other floorings that I have seen is this is relatively thin. There is no hollow space as part of the floor. It's solid and therefore does not amplify sounds. In fact, it helps to keep ambient sound down.

The folks love it. Dad does some of his beer brewing in the garage and spilled some mix. The mix went across the floor, but showed no signs of weeping through the joints. The joints are extremely tight and nothing is likely to get through.

I will see if I can get a pic of the thickness of the leftover tiles today for you guys.

Mikey

Mikeyworks · Aug 27, 2007

en2burrell said:
Hello Mikey,

Thanks for the update! Very interesting and helpful comments. I see much Racedeck flooring feedback on various sites, but hardly nothing on the TuffSeal product. Being that the Tuffseal is not hollow, yes, I imagine it's much quieter when walking on it, than Racedeck. I also like the fact that it has a tight seal at the joints. If the TuffSeal floor is indeed durable over a long period of time, it seems like the product for me, even though it is pricey (as I have a 3 car garage floor to cover). Did your Dad have any difficulty with the installation? How long did it take him to install it? Any installation tips? Looking forward to any follow-up information you might be able to share. Thanks again.

-Burrell

Dad said it went in really easy. He has a nice old leather mallet and it just tapped right into place. Measure twice, cut once, you know the old adage. It's also important to figure out your pattern first. No real tips for installation otherwise.

Here's some pics of the tile itself to show how it seals, etc.:

This is the underside where the teeth fit into the other pieces. You can see th only recesses in the underside

And here's where the teeth fit into on the next piece

...and to illustrate how the pieces fit together and the channels seal the tiles even further

and here's a few more

I like the stuff, just can't afford it myself!!!!

Mikey

C_F · Aug 30, 2007

Thanks for posting that info & pics, that stuff looks pretty darn good. :thumbup:

I can see why it would be expensive, though.

en2burrell · Sep 4, 2007

Thanks Mikey !

Sure do appreciate the info and pics. One last question: Is it easy to clean?

Mikeyworks · Sep 4, 2007

en2burrell said:
Thanks Mikey !

Sure do appreciate the info and pics. One last question: Is it easy to clean?

Yeah, Dad says its as easy as using a light mop for the sticky dried on stuff or a broom for the loose stuff.

Very easy.

en2burrell · Sep 21, 2007

Thanks, again !

rob zeiger · Sep 21, 2007

I have a shipment form tuffseal being delivered to my house today

Hopefully install it tomorrow, I have to finish painting the walls red halfway up today. I'll post pics and opinions when it gets finished. :thumbup:

sr71 · Sep 22, 2007

Mikeyworks....

I am in early stages of planning a detached garage/poolhouse (40x60). Any chance you could gt a few shots of the "poolhouse" section.... at first I was thinking about a large bathroom/changeroom area but perhaps there are other ideas out there to consider.

thanks

Passat · Sep 22, 2007

rob zeiger said:
I have a shipment form tuffseal being delivered to my house today Hopefully install it tomorrow, I have to finish painting the walls red halfway up today. I'll post pics and opinions when it gets finished.

Make sure you post some pictures of the great floor. Got my sample this week and if I can get the money it surely will be my garage floor!

Mikeyworks · Sep 22, 2007

sr71 said:
Mikeyworks....

I am in early stages of planning a detached garage/poolhouse (40x60). Any chance you could gt a few shots of the "poolhouse" section.... at first I was thinking about a large bathroom/changeroom area but perhaps there are other ideas out there to consider.

thanks

I'll see if dad will snap some for me. They're 17 hours drive from here so he has to do it for me.

Mikey

rob zeiger · Sep 22, 2007

I just finished the install today, it was a snap (literally

). Just gotta glue down the transitions and I'll be good to go. This stuff looks awesome and was worth every penny that I spent. I will try and get some snapshots as soon as I can get the stuff out of the way that I had to move around during the install. My mustangs look right at home on this floor, I can't wait until I get my new workbench and cabinets in!

NSXDriver · Sep 28, 2007

I just ordered my Tuff-Seal tiles today. I also ordered PolaGard AG available from andek.com I had Motormat tiles on my previous garage floor and they had three problems: a hollow clickety sound when walking on them, permanent stains in the area where my car with high performance tires sat on and heat expansion that would warp and cause the floor to buckle up when the sun hit it directly.

I think the heat expansion will be present on these but I expect to loose the hollow sound when walking and the staining thanks to the PolaGard AG. This sealant is used to protect surfaces from graffiti. It's expensive but worth it if it is going to keep the tiles looking like new and stain free.

DeputyRob · Jan 29, 2010

I realize this is a three-year-old thread but wanted to revisit it to see if the original poster was still around to comment on how the floor is holding up.

Anyway...I got a quote from TuffSeal and it would cost an additional $1000 over Racedeck. I think that's just ridiculous. Unfortunately, Racedeck's alleged "great customer service" has yet to materialize--at least for me.

Mikeyworks · Jan 29, 2010

The folks are a bit nomadic and moved out of the house with the aforementioned tile last year. After 2 years of wear between foot traffic (chlorinated pool water included), 1 car, 1 lawn tractor, numerous homebrew batches, etc., it was doing a wonderful job with no complaints.

DeputyRob · Feb 3, 2010

Mikeyworks said:
The folks are a bit nomadic and moved out of the house with the aforementioned tile last year. After 2 years of wear between foot traffic (chlorinated pool water included), 1 car, 1 lawn tractor, numerous homebrew batches, etc., it was doing a wonderful job with no complaints.

So you'd say TuffSeal is worthy of the additional cost? I really want to go that route but I'm having a hard time justifying the significant jump in price over Racedeck. I live in Minnesota and I've heard too many complaints regarding expansion/contraction issues (and noise) with Racedeck due to weather extremes. During the course of a year, we can see temperatures from -35F to over 100F and I want a floor that will remain aesthetically pleasing AND functional.

Mikeyworks · Feb 4, 2010

Granted, it wasn't my house, but my folks were very pleased with it.

The justification of the additional cost has to be your call. This was installed in Mississippi. The south doesn't have the cold extremes like you do in Minnesota.

Cryptic1911 · Feb 4, 2010

LOL, and I thought Racedeck was overpriced!

Mom and Dad's new Garage Floor - TuffSeal Tile

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