am I asking for too much? garage flooring decision.....

[cbracer]

I have a 20' x 20.5' garage which is screaming for a new floor. Problem is I can't decide what to do. When I bought the house the garage had been turned into a room with carpet and a carpet pad on the floor. After tearing it all up, here is the list of issues with the current concrete floor:

1. major cracks spread in each direction
2. patches broken up where carpet tact nails were used
3. unlevel, worst in corners up to 0.75" difference
4. some whitened areas looks like moisture damage, florescence?

I've done a bunch of research and here's the key points that have limited my selection and made deciding very hard:

• I don't want any patterns that prevent a chair from rolling nicely. Most interlocking type flooring has a pattern of coins, ribs, diamonds all of which make rolling very hard. Tile isn't bad because the grout lines are few and far between, which I can live with especially the larger 18" tiles.
• Epoxy coatings will eventually crack given the condition of my base concrete. Even if I fixed all the cracks and leveled the concrete. I've seen a neighbor that had epoxy done professionally and his ended up cracking many years later.
• I don't want to spend $3-$5 a square foot, so most high end interlocking tiles are out. My budget is no more than $2 a square foot.
• Anything that takes 3 days of skilled labor/knowledge is simply out of the question. Something that goes on in a day or two at the most. After doing all the drywall taping, mudding and texturing of my garage myself I can appreciate the reasons for hiring professionals.

So that leaves me with a few options:

1. Perhaps that polyeuea / rocksolid stuff that goes on in one day and looks like epoxy might be a good choice. It's more flexible than epoxy so it likely won't crack as easily. The only downside is the quick 20 minute set time which would require about 4 concurrent people applying it. Prep work is less and not having to hire professionals make this one choice.
2. Roll out mats. Something durable enough for jack stands? Likely done for a good price and easy to change out later on. I've seen some non rubber type mat materials that are very durable and nothing like old rubber mats.
3. I've seen smooth interlocking rubber tiles. Though rubber isn't my idea of strong enough for jack stands.
4. Porcelain tiles would be a good option. Would take two days but is something I've done before. I'd be a little worried about getting them all level. I wouldn't want to put in a workbench and find it bounces around like that dinner table set outside on uneven bricks....
5. Some sort of Armstrong Commercial flooring? Have seen some examples but there isn't too much information out there.

Are there any other options I haven't thought about?

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have a 20' x 20.5' garage which is screaming for a new floor. Problem is I can't decide what to do. When I bought the house the garage had been turned into a room with carpet and a carpet pad on the floor. After tearing it all up, here is the list of issues with the current concrete floor:

1. major cracks spread in each direction
2. patches broken up where carpet tact nails were used
3. unlevel, worst in corners up to 0.75" difference
4. some whitened areas looks like moisture damage, florescence?

I've done a bunch of research and here's the key points that have limited my selection and made deciding very hard:

• I don't want any patterns that prevent a chair from rolling nicely. Most interlocking type flooring has a pattern of coins, ribs, diamonds all of which make rolling very hard. Tile isn't bad because the grout lines are few and far between, which I can live with especially the larger 18" tiles.
• Epoxy coatings will eventually crack given the condition of my base concrete. Even if I fixed all the cracks and leveled the concrete. I've seen a neighbor that had epoxy done professionally and his ended up cracking many years later.
• I don't want to spend $3-$5 a square foot, so most high end interlocking tiles are out. My budget is no more than $2 a square foot.
• Anything that takes 3 days of skilled labor/knowledge is simply out of the question. Something that goes on in a day or two at the most. After doing all the drywall taping, mudding and texturing of my garage myself I can appreciate the reasons for hiring professionals.

So that leaves me with a few options:

1. Perhaps that polyeuea / rocksolid stuff that goes on in one day and looks like epoxy might be a good choice. It's more flexible than epoxy so it likely won't crack as easily. The only downside is the quick 20 minute set time which would require about 4 concurrent people applying it. Prep work is less and not having to hire professionals make this one choice.
2. Roll out mats. Something durable enough for jack stands? Likely done for a good price and easy to change out later on. I've seen some non rubber type mat materials that are very durable and nothing like old rubber mats.
3. I've seen smooth interlocking rubber tiles. Though rubber isn't my idea of strong enough for jack stands.
4. Porcelain tiles would be a good option. Would take two days but is something I've done before. I'd be a little worried about getting them all level. I wouldn't want to put in a workbench and find it bounces around like that dinner table set outside on uneven bricks....

Are there any other options I haven't thought about?

We sell Polyurea products and they are great, but they are not a silver bullet. You will still need to grind that floor, repair the cracks, do a moisture test and likely apply a liquid moisture barrier. That's without seeing what else is wrong with the floor.

The BLT Levant pattern fits the bill from a price per square foot standpoint but they do not make it in 10' widths yet. you would wind up with three seams and a lot of waste.

The BLT Coin pattern would work well. There is some pattern to it, but we have it in many offices and alike. I would go with two 10x24 and cut it down. It works out less than the custom size. Your going to be at about $1100 which is over your budget.

AutoDeck makes a completely flat tile, but there is no way I would use it in a garage and our Premium product or a swisstrax product is out of your budget. Our inexpensive garage floor tile has a very light diamond pattern to it and runs about $2.49/sf. You can roll things around very easily and its an American made product.

Rubber flooring should not be used for automotive traffic in the garage. Another option if you want to do the repair work would be to talk to some of they guys here who have done VCT. We do not sell it and it is not "approved" for the garage but many folks here have great floors with the product.

 

[RaceDeck1]

If you really want a smooth tile...We have three smooth ( flat) style modular surfaces that we manufacture, both in 12"x12" and 18"x18" modules that are all very durable and within your budget. I will send you a message with full details on each and I am also happy to send you free samples.

 

[slickgt1]

Tile, level, knee pads, and get to work. Just reading your post makes it sound like that is a winner.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Tile, level, knee pads, and get to work. Just reading your post makes it sound like that is a winner.

I agree. VCT requires a pretty smooth surface, so that may not be a good candidate.

You can fill some imperfections with the thinset as you lay porcelain tile, and in the end have a very durable floor for less than $1.5 a sq foot if you look around for a good deal on tile.

Jim