frankd
Well-known member
*Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with any of the companies below. I’m not looking to bash anyone. This is just my personal unbiased (and potentially flawed) opinion.
I had researching garage flooring for months and there was a wealth of information on this site. There’s also at least one other comparison thread out there on GJ… but I figured I’d start another thread to help with anyone else that’s interested in the same options as me.
My garage is just under 400 square feet and I’m trying to keep the price of the tile as close to $2 per s.f. as possible. I’m sure RaceDeck and Swisstrax make awesome products but they just aren’t in the budget.
I decided to go with the “coin” finish because I like the look, and narrowed it down to the following brands:
- Garagedeck by bigfloors.com ($1.99 per square foot)
- Techfloor by Weathertech ($1.99 per square foot)
- Nitrotile by garageflooringinc.com ($2.15 per square foot)
- Truelock HD Coin by Garageflooringllc.com ($2.49 per square foot)
- Trulock HDXT Extreme Coin by garageflooringllc.com ($2.59 per square foot)
I also looked into Floorjunkies after reading some positive reviews…but their website has been down and there hasn’t been a post on their FB page for years…so I’m thinking they might be out of business? Even if they aren’t, there are plenty of other options out there so I’m not taking my changes. Along with Floorjunkies I also eliminated Techfloor by Weathertech. I actually think the techfloor is the best looking of the bunch and I really like the raised squares. I’m assuming they’d provide great traction. However after doing some research, it turns out that those same raised squares make it really hard to roll stuff over. Also, apparently they’re very difficult to clean. The final nail in the coffin for me was the thickness…the Techfloor is 3/8” thick vs ½” for most of the other brands.
So I ended up ordering samples of the Garagedeck, Nitrotile, Truelock HD, and Truelock HDXT Extreme in graphite and alloy.
The first product to arrive was the Truelock from garageflooringllc. I was shocked at how fast it arrived (maybe 2 days). I was even more pleased with the fact that they offer free samples. I also had a few questions and the folks at garageflooringllc were incredibly responsive. The truelock tiles had a sticker on the corner of them which indicated the color and style/type of tile. I think this is an awesome idea considering how similar a lot of these tiles are. Now I have no prior experience with rigid floor tiles but my initial impressions of the tile were favorable. Both tiles are ½’ thick and appear to be well made. Both seem pretty similar in terms of rigidity. The only difference (as far as I could tell) between the Truelock HD and HDXT Extreme is the coin finish on top. The Extreme has smaller coins and the coins are textured for better grip. I also assume the smaller coins are better for rolling stuff over them. Garageflooringllc is a great resource on this site and the service is second to none…so I really wanted to love the Extreme tile but I just don’t like the small coin look. I actually prefer the larger coins. With that being said, if I did like the small coins, I likely would have went with the HD Extreme.
I couple of days later I received the nitrotile. It’s noticeably thinner than the Truelock (3/8” vs 1/2”). Because of that, it’s much more flexible. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Like most garages, my floor is not very smooth so I wonder if a thinner tile would actually be better at conforming to the uneven surface. However all of the other tiles are ½” and the more expensive rigid tiles (like Racedeck) are also ½” so I’m thinking that being thinner is not a good thing. The nitrotile was also significantly glossier than the other tiles, which I did not like. So I chose not to go with the nitrotile.
The last package to arrive was the garagedeck by bigfloors. When I initially checked it out I thought it looked pretty similar to the Truelock HD Tile. As I examined them closer, I could not find any discernible difference between the garagedeck and Truelock HD. The tiles appear to be EXACTLY the same (coin patter, color, locking mechanism, underside, etc). If it wasn’t for the sticker on the Truelock tiles, there is no way I would be able to tell them apart. They also appear to be made by the same manufacturer. It seems as though Snaplock makes the tile for garagedeck and truelock (as well as Racedeck). Maybe they’re made out of different raw materials but I doubt it. My hunch is that these tiles are exactly the same.
For me, the two finalists were the Garagedeck and the Truelock HDXT Exteme. Ultimately I ended up going with the Garagedeck from bigfloors.com as it appears to be the same as the truelock HD (NOT the same as the HDXT Extreme) but ~$250 cheaper.
With that being said, if I had liked the smaller coin look, and was ok with spending an extra ~$250 on the project, I would have definitely gone with the Truelock HD Extreme tile. The textured coin surface is a really good idea and I’m actually a little worried that the Garagedeck might get too slippery when it gets wet. I guess I’ll have to wait and see if I made the right choice.
I really wanted to go with some cool color pattern but in the end decided to do it all in graphite because I think it will do a better job at hiding dirt and scratches.
I had researching garage flooring for months and there was a wealth of information on this site. There’s also at least one other comparison thread out there on GJ… but I figured I’d start another thread to help with anyone else that’s interested in the same options as me.
My garage is just under 400 square feet and I’m trying to keep the price of the tile as close to $2 per s.f. as possible. I’m sure RaceDeck and Swisstrax make awesome products but they just aren’t in the budget.
I decided to go with the “coin” finish because I like the look, and narrowed it down to the following brands:
- Garagedeck by bigfloors.com ($1.99 per square foot)
- Techfloor by Weathertech ($1.99 per square foot)
- Nitrotile by garageflooringinc.com ($2.15 per square foot)
- Truelock HD Coin by Garageflooringllc.com ($2.49 per square foot)
- Trulock HDXT Extreme Coin by garageflooringllc.com ($2.59 per square foot)
I also looked into Floorjunkies after reading some positive reviews…but their website has been down and there hasn’t been a post on their FB page for years…so I’m thinking they might be out of business? Even if they aren’t, there are plenty of other options out there so I’m not taking my changes. Along with Floorjunkies I also eliminated Techfloor by Weathertech. I actually think the techfloor is the best looking of the bunch and I really like the raised squares. I’m assuming they’d provide great traction. However after doing some research, it turns out that those same raised squares make it really hard to roll stuff over. Also, apparently they’re very difficult to clean. The final nail in the coffin for me was the thickness…the Techfloor is 3/8” thick vs ½” for most of the other brands.
So I ended up ordering samples of the Garagedeck, Nitrotile, Truelock HD, and Truelock HDXT Extreme in graphite and alloy.
The first product to arrive was the Truelock from garageflooringllc. I was shocked at how fast it arrived (maybe 2 days). I was even more pleased with the fact that they offer free samples. I also had a few questions and the folks at garageflooringllc were incredibly responsive. The truelock tiles had a sticker on the corner of them which indicated the color and style/type of tile. I think this is an awesome idea considering how similar a lot of these tiles are. Now I have no prior experience with rigid floor tiles but my initial impressions of the tile were favorable. Both tiles are ½’ thick and appear to be well made. Both seem pretty similar in terms of rigidity. The only difference (as far as I could tell) between the Truelock HD and HDXT Extreme is the coin finish on top. The Extreme has smaller coins and the coins are textured for better grip. I also assume the smaller coins are better for rolling stuff over them. Garageflooringllc is a great resource on this site and the service is second to none…so I really wanted to love the Extreme tile but I just don’t like the small coin look. I actually prefer the larger coins. With that being said, if I did like the small coins, I likely would have went with the HD Extreme.
I couple of days later I received the nitrotile. It’s noticeably thinner than the Truelock (3/8” vs 1/2”). Because of that, it’s much more flexible. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Like most garages, my floor is not very smooth so I wonder if a thinner tile would actually be better at conforming to the uneven surface. However all of the other tiles are ½” and the more expensive rigid tiles (like Racedeck) are also ½” so I’m thinking that being thinner is not a good thing. The nitrotile was also significantly glossier than the other tiles, which I did not like. So I chose not to go with the nitrotile.
The last package to arrive was the garagedeck by bigfloors. When I initially checked it out I thought it looked pretty similar to the Truelock HD Tile. As I examined them closer, I could not find any discernible difference between the garagedeck and Truelock HD. The tiles appear to be EXACTLY the same (coin patter, color, locking mechanism, underside, etc). If it wasn’t for the sticker on the Truelock tiles, there is no way I would be able to tell them apart. They also appear to be made by the same manufacturer. It seems as though Snaplock makes the tile for garagedeck and truelock (as well as Racedeck). Maybe they’re made out of different raw materials but I doubt it. My hunch is that these tiles are exactly the same.
For me, the two finalists were the Garagedeck and the Truelock HDXT Exteme. Ultimately I ended up going with the Garagedeck from bigfloors.com as it appears to be the same as the truelock HD (NOT the same as the HDXT Extreme) but ~$250 cheaper.
With that being said, if I had liked the smaller coin look, and was ok with spending an extra ~$250 on the project, I would have definitely gone with the Truelock HD Extreme tile. The textured coin surface is a really good idea and I’m actually a little worried that the Garagedeck might get too slippery when it gets wet. I guess I’ll have to wait and see if I made the right choice.
I really wanted to go with some cool color pattern but in the end decided to do it all in graphite because I think it will do a better job at hiding dirt and scratches.
Last edited:
Jorgen