Commercial shop floor going PROCELAIN

[Repsolracer22]

hey guys, I have a shop that im leasing. So I didn't want to invest a ton of money into it. the area that I want to make look good, is 1100sq ft. Very square and open.

The floor currently is concrete and is several decades old. The building is from late 60s and may be the original floor. Over the years this has been mostly used for car and body shops. I would like to own it one day as the owner is 82 and has no children. So we'll see. But for now, I have a 10yr lease that I started a year ago. So im going to be here for a little while regardless.

So ive been through all the research etc etc etc with floor options. I want a nice showroom-esk floor. I sell motorcycles here. The floor is dingy and dirty and would cost about $10-$12000 for a real good quality epoxy multi-coat with grinding the floor included. That's way too expensive and a mess. I have an amazingly **** tile guy who has done work at my house and does great work. He quoted me $1000 labor for doing tile. 18x18 double mortar, etc. The Porcelin tile are apparently the way to go bc they are much harder, etc. I got some good tiles for $2000 for the amount I need. So seems much more reasonable.

My question is, what prep work on the floor is recommended for this? I know with epoxy and painted floors its really important to be super clean, but with mortar I think its not "as" important? Im hoping to just sweep out the shop as is and be good. thoughts?

 

[12ozd]

cost about $10-$12000 for a real good quality epoxy multi-coat with grinding the floor included.

Damn, that is $10.00 sq.ft. seems awfully high.

He quoted me $1000 labor for doing tile. 18x18 double mortar, etc.

That seems awfully low.

My question is, what prep work on the floor is recommended for this?

I would do whatever the amazingly **** tile guy suggests, he would know.

I would really double check those figures,
Don't forget the pics !

 

[Repsolracer22]

figures are accurate. hes a good dude and he can knock it out in 1.5 days. so he only charges me $35/hr. not by sq ft. he's done multiple tile projects at my house and they turned out awesome.

I of course would defer to whatever he suggests as far as prepping, but he does 100% tile jobs where the concrete underneath is new or very good looking. my floor is old as hell and has oil stains, lots of dirt/dust, etc. So of course ill broom it out and sweep as best I can, but wondering if that's good enough for the mortar to do its thing or if it needs to be grinded or professionally degreased etc etc?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

The going rate for a 100% Solids full broadcast with (2) Polyaspartic topcoats is 5.25 psqft in Orlando. That is a dandy floor for the money. Is he laying gold or silver epoxy for 10.00 psqft?

 

[Repsolracer22]

regardless. ive moved on to Porcelain tile. Because even aat $5-$6/sq ft for epoxy, that's still well into $6000+. The tile is gonna cost me like $2500-$3000.

so im just wondering if anyone out there has specific experience with doing tile work and if the floor has to be grinded first or will mortar stick to older/dingy concrete?

 

[pgilmore7]

The going rate for a 100% Solids full broadcast with (2) Polyaspartic topcoats is 5.25 psqft in Orlando. That is a dandy floor for the money. Is he laying gold or silver epoxy for 10.00 psqft?

You guys are in Orlando, do you come to Tampa to do floors?

 

[wbrian63]

Not to sidetrack your thread back onto the original question, but here's what I'd suggest.

Pressure wash the entire thing, then treat it with a commercial concrete cleaner, maybe even resort to acid etching. Pay extra attention to the areas that have bad oil/chemical saturation.

Pick the worst section of the floor and have your tile guy lay one or 2 tiles as a test.

Let the thinset cure for the recommended time, plus a couple of days.

Then, take a rubber mallet and see if you can break the tile loose. Don't hit from the sides - that's not how life would be once the entire floor is down. Just whack around the face of the tile and see if it stays bonded to the floor.

I would expect the tile guy to use a latex modifier in the tile to add bonding strength. If the tile comes loose from the floor (I wouldn't expect the tile to come loose from the thinset), then your only option is probably to grind the floor with a really rough stone to provide some "key" to the surface.

 

[Angelfire]

There are a few pros on here that may check in and give advice. If not, you may want to check out the John Bridge tile forum....lots of expertise there and very helpful. Don't have a link handy but a search will no doubt bring it up as it's quite popular.
Cheers.

 

[Repsolracer22]

Ok here's what I did:

Swept floor, then pressure washed it and pushed all the dust/dirt outside. Room temp water no heat, no chemicals/degreasers. That's it. I got regular/average mortar and 18" porcelain tiles from Home Depot. Tiles were $1.25 sqft. The space I'm doing in the shop is 1100 sqft and I bought 1200 for waste and to have some extras.

So today 11/9/15, I started at 7-8am & went until about 3. Took a couple breaks, mixed up mortar, etc. Pics below are the progress so far today. About 450sq ft done at this point. Mortar seems to be sticking well. No real issues except some of these tiles are an 1/8" bigger then the others. Actually an entire pallet (20 boxes which is 160 tiles) are too big or cut wrong. So I gotta swap those out as they will not work. So that *****. But hey, these tiles were pretty cheap in cost so whatever.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Repsolracer22]

More pics from today 11/9/15




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Repsolracer22]

After the floor is done, I'd love to find some glass panels for the bigger garage door instead of what's currently there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[duneslider]

Tiles come in dye lots and graded by size. Some will actually be marked with a dye lot number and a size number. You bought two different dye lots and chances are very good you won't find another pallet of matching dye lot. Your **** tile guy should have caught that. Color of dye lots is generally different too, slightly usually but still. Big box stores generally sell grade 2 tile, this is the stuff that is culled out when they are boxing the stuff they sell at the pro tile stores, hence the cheap prices and multiple dye lots and such.

I also hope you are planning to put in "soft" joints for expansion, yes tile expands and contracts like all other materials. It even absorbs water and expands, crazy huh!

IF there really were oil stains on the floor they should have been treated with a degreaser at the very least, the bond may or may not be compromised but you won't know that until some future date. I would say your **** tile guy should have known that too but...

Looks like you are using versabond which is actually okay for the price but not the best choice for an outdoor install (I consider garages outdoor) if you are keeping this climate controlled and it won't see swings in temp you probably will be okay.

In order for porcelain to hold up in this sort of environment you need to get 100% coverage under the tile, that means if you pull up a tile you should not see ANY trowel marks.

I won't even mention the cracks in the floor but I am sure the **** tile setter has a plan for those...

Man I am glad I don't do this professionally anymore, for less than a buck a foot labor I certainly couldn't be an **** tile setter.