Considering Porcelain Tile

[Onesip]

After reading some of the treads in this forum I'm considering putting down porcelain tile. My garage is roughly 820sf. It has a concrete sealer on it, I assume this will need to be ground off? I'm thinking of this tile:

http://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selec...in-x-12-in-Actual-11-81-in-x-11-81-in/3043851

I will not be doing the tile laying myself.

 

[James-W]

Welcome to the forum.

I think porcelain tile is a wonderful floor covering. It can be a bit pricey to have a professional do the job, but it will be well worth it because it will look super nice and last a very long time.

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

Try a piece at home by wetting it to check how slippery it gets. Looks like it has a grain to the surface and ought to be OK.

How long has the sealer been down? Does water still bead on the floor? If so, you will probably have to sand or grind it. You can check adhesion by gluing a 1x1x6" stick on end to the floor with wood glue and check adhesion the next day. Pull on it vertically. If you get 70-80 lbs of pull and its still stuck, you might be OK. I used this technique on my epoxy that I laid my porcelain over in my house garage. The mortar stuck great.

Ray

 

[Onesip]

Well, looks like this is happening... Tile comes in Thursday, tile guys start next week. The tile I linked to in OP dropped down to $0.67sf. Aesthetically I would have preferred 18x18 and something a little lighter, I think Pay2Plays project in another thread looks awesome, but beggars can't be choosers. The tile in a practical since is good with a hardness rating of 5 and non slippery.

Cave Creek, I don't know how long the sealer has been down. Yea, water still beads on the floor. The tile guy didn't seem worried about it, but I'm still debating renting a dimabrush for the day just to be on the safe side.

 

[509SC]

The tile guy should be worried about it! If water beads on the surface, it "must" be ground. You might want to think about a different tile guy.

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

Get some of the mortar he is using and mix up a small amount and drop a postage stamp sized dollup in five or six areas. The next morning go check bonding strength and adhesion. Mortar is a water-based glue that need to penetrate the existing floor. If its sealed, it won't penetrate. You'll get some adhesion because mortar has glue in it but, not nearly as much as open grain concrete.

If there is any doubt, scratching the floor surface up is simply insurance. I'd consider it. I buffed my epoxy floor once I was sure the epoxy was bonded to the concrete well enough. Just using a buffer and 60 grit pads keyed the epoxy enough that my mortar stuck like mad, even though the epoxy is water proof.

Better safe than sorry.

Ray

 

[Onesip]

Thanks Cave Creek, I'll try that out! And yea, I'm leaning toward renting out a buffer and either as you say buff it up with grit, or put a dimabrush on it. They'll be using Versabond, I'm suppose to grab 22 bags of the stuff.

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

There you go!

Buff out the surface and then mix up a little Versabond and put a tall 1x1" dab or six around your floor. Give it a day and then go wail on it. If it sticks really well, you can get it off easily with a 1/2" or 1" chisel and a hammer the next day or two. After that, it gets really hard.

Hit it from the side with the hammer in increasing effort to see how it bonded to the floor. If you have to hit it hard, or it breaks in pieces but some still stick, you can be pretty sure your floor will bond with the mortar. If it breaks free on the first light bump with the hammer, you have problems.

Ray

 

[Marctrees]

As above - ABSOLUTELY get two sample pieces, wet them, stand on them and check for slipping.

WITH different shoes. (sole compounds)

VERY important, specially in Garage, where you park potentially dripping vehicles. Marc

 

[Onesip]

Did the Dimabrush today. I'll try what you said Ray this evening and make sure I have a good bonding, but of course after grinding I certainly hope so

Mactrees, that's a good point. I did something similar to what you said and the tile really is non slippery, even when wet. It kinda has a texture to it. I even was going to buy another kind of tile that was a little bit more expensive, but I liked the look of it more, and it was 18x18. But it was really an indoor tile, and I felt it was a little to smooth, so I passed.

Pic of grinding today partially the way through.

 

[Pay2play]

Good luck on your project. You're going to love the look and hopefully durability of the floor when done!

 

[Richard Cranium]

Good luck with you project, and as you can guess, post pictures when you are done.

 

[Onesip]

Thanks Pay2play and Cranium. You set the hi bar on flooring Pay2Play, if mine looks half as good as yours I'll be thrilled. Pic on progress this weekend

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

Looks awesome so far!

Any major issues? SEE! What is so hard about tile?

Keep us posted.

Ray

 

[Pay2play]

Good job, that's a lot of tile laid!


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[corrado89]

Looks great. I am getting ready to start this project this weekend and plan to do it myself with the help of a couple buddies. I think I am going to go the same route as you and grind the surface before I install the tile.

Question about the grinder. Is it a floor buffer with a concrete diamabrush attached. I was looking at homedepot tool rental and wanted to make sure I could find it before the weekend.

Also is the red paint along the seams and edges some kind of moisture barrier. I haven't seen that before and wondered if its something I need to get as well.

Thanks and look forward to seeing the finished projects

Brian

 

[the GOAT]

The red paint looks like "red guard"... A roll on water proofing and crack prevention membrane. There are other brands (and colors).

 

[James-W]

I can't wait to see the final product when it is all finished.

 

[Cairo94507]

Very nice tile choice and simple, clean-looking pattern.

 

[Onesip]

So grouting was completed yesterday. Got the opportunity to put the cars back in the garage tonight, they are filthy after sitting outside for almost a week. I'll post a price list and more details about the experience, but in general I'm thrilled with it. Next phase is molding!!!

@Ray, No real issues came up. But of course it helps when paying someone to do the hard part . It was more work for myself then I antecipated, even though I should know by now that these things always are. All the running around, getting materials, etc.. No surprises though, so far...

@goat, Correct, that's Redguard. I applied it to all the seems and a couple fine cracks.

@corrado, Respect on tiling yourself! I considered it briefly myself, but after seeing nearly 2 tons of flooring material show up at my house on flat bed I knew I was kidding myself . I'm looking forward to seeing your finished garage. And yea, Rental is from Home Depot, it's a buffer and a Dimabrush. I found it all pretty straight forward to use.

Thanks Pay2Play, James and Cairo!

 

[James-W]

I have a question. I am not criticizing, it is just a question because I am curious. Why did you have them lay the tiles staggered?

 

[SiGmA_X]

Looks good. Hot price on the tile, too.

I think the stagger is a personal style choice, no other reason for it, right? I've seen em done both ways. I personally like the stagger with most tiles.

 

[Cairo94507]

I like the staggered pattern. Your floor look great. Enjoy.

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

If you lay any tiles, especially smaller format square tiles, in a straight square pattern it accentuates the grout lines. Aside from making them very noticeable, they also show "wander" of the grout lines as the lay progresses across the room. Staggered lay hides that a lot better.

Nice job!

Ray

 

[bdamico]

staggered was the way to go here; looks great

 

[Onesip]

No reason for the staggered pattern except for personal preference. My view with grout lines is that you either try to blend them in with the tile, or accentuate them. I like the tile I got, and as I've said it was priced well, but they are a little on the bland side compared to more expensive tile, at least in my opinion. So to compensate I went with a dark grout to bring out the lines and used a staggered arrangement to try and make it more "interesting". *Shrug*

 

[larry4406]

I like the staggered look! Beautiful floor.

 

[Dakota00]

Floor turned out great!!

 

[Pay2play]

Floor looks very nice. Good choice!

 

[Onesip]

Thanks for the compliments. I wouldn't have pursued a tile solution, or even known to consider it, without the threads on this forum. Now that it is done I'm really happy with it!

I'm curious about any suggestions about doing the floor molding. I would like to use this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/ROPPE-70...-Wall-Cove-Base-30-Pieces-60C71P100/205426809

The problem is that there is a gap between the drywall and the floor that varies between 3 inches and 5 inches. the depth also varies anywhere between 1/2 inch and 2 inches. I need something to put in the gap to act as a backing to the molding but I need something that will vary with the gap size, if that makes since.

 

[Dakota00]

Me personally I would use white PVC board about 7"-8" high to cover the exposed concrete, basically acting like a baseboard. Attach the board to the face of the drywall with glue and nails. Water wont damage it and it doesn't need painting.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/AZEK-Traditional-PVC-Board-Actual-0-75-in-x-7-25-in-x-12-ft/50414706

Like this...

 

[Onesip]

Thanks Dakota, that looks good, Would I need to put anything behind it to fill the gap?

 

[Dakota00]

Ideally it wouldn't be a bad idea to fill the void behind the baseboards, for added backing strength in case the boards receive a sharp blow to them. If your garage is more for show than for working, you should be fine as is.
That's why I recommend using a 7"-8" high baseboard, so at least you have a fair bit of material bonded to the drywall. This will reduce the chance of the baseboard coming undone, if for some reason they ever do get hit.

 

[Pay2play]

Ideally it wouldn't be a bad idea to fill the void behind the baseboards, for added backing strength in case the boards receive a sharp blow to them. If your garage is more for show than for working, you should be fine as is.
That's why I recommend using a 7"-8" high baseboard, so at least you have a fair bit of material bonded to the drywall. This will reduce the chance of the baseboard coming undone, if for some reason they ever do get hit.

Great idea for your baseboard. I think that would look great and finish off your garage well.


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[Pay2play]

How'd it turn out with the baseboard?


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[Repsolracer22]

Awesome choice. I did the same thing with the exact same tile. I 'should' have staggered them like you did.

Nice tile and very cheap price for porcelain. Just make sure for strength, you mortar the floor AND the back of the tile as well. I can put jack stands directly on tile, motorcycle kick stands, and even drive/park my 2500 diesel truck on them. No probs. Been installed for a year now

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[Steves32]

I didn’t want baseboards. Used a metal edge on top.

 

[Onesip]

Pay2Play: Sorry about the very late reply. So I bought enough 7 1/4" PVC board to trim the garage, but it has sat for the last several months I should hang out on this forum just to learn how to get this stuff done in a reasonable amount of time. Funny to think I actually considered tiling myself... that would have never of gotten done! However, I've given myself to the end of April to finish up the garage or something... That includes some painting of the walls, and I think I'm going to paint the PVC board a navy blue. I think the PVC board was a good idea though, I think it will come well.

Repsolracer22: Awesome! It's good to see someone else affirm my choices. Yea, I think that at less then a dollar a square foot the tile is a great garage floor covering. It's been almost six months since I put down the tile and while that's nothing for a garage flooring I'm still very happy with my choice. Honestly I haven't punished it at all by doing real work on it, but It's easy to clean and look first class!

Steves32: I really like how that looks! I would do the same thing, but the way my dry wall suspends over the flooring, and hangs out into the floor at varying distances I think it would be really difficult to pull it off. The PVC board while not looking as slick as your molding is an easy, durable solution that looks good enough for me.

Boring pic of my PVC floor molding leaning up against the wall with the naive thinking it would help motivate me to get on it!

 

[Onesip]

I said I would post a final cost for the project and here it is:

| Versabond Thin Set Mortar  | 13 50ib bags at $15 |   210 |                              
| Poleyblend sanded grout    | 5 25ib bags at $15  |    90 |                              
| Miracle Grout Shield       | 7 70oz at $27       |   200 |                              
| Red Guard Sealer           | 1 Gallon            |    50 |                              
| 12x12 Porcelain PEI 5 Tile | 900sf at $0.67/sf   |   650 |                              
| Buffer and Dimabrush       | 1 day rental (HD)   |   150 |                              
| Labor                      | 850sf at $2/sf      |  1700 |                              
|----------------------------+---------------------+-------|                              
|                            | Total               | $3050 |

I probably could have done better on Labor. I hired a company which simply contracted out a guy, and offered very little otherwise. They probably pocketed 400 bucks. The arrangement is that I did the prep work and someone would just showed up start laying tile, so I should have worked it out with a private individual! Labor took 4 full days with one tile guy. On the third day a second tile guy also worked for the day helping to cut the edge pieces. I'd say ~40 hours labor.

I got a good price on the tile from Lowes. But, home depot and Lowes both routinely run deals on tile at less than 1$/sf that's got all the right stats, PEI 5, non-slip, etc...

At first I was hesitant about grinding the concrete, I had never done it before, and it seemed like a nasty job, but there was some type of a sealer down from a prior owner and it wasn't clear to me if it needed to be grinded or not. To remove doubt I decided to go ahead and grind it down since I was investing a few thousand on the floor. However, it turned out not to be a very big deal. I went down to Homedepot and rented a floor polisher and a dimabrush, they were helpful at rentals, explaining what I needed. I think I got it all done in the half day rental period, and it really wasn't bad at all!

Thank you to the very helpful people on this forum and this thread for advice, direction, encouragement. I would never have considered porcelain tile if I had not been lurking here. Now that it is done, and I've lived with it for a few months I know that I made a great choice, and I'm really happy with it. I know the real test is 5 years+, but until then...

 

[joeyg]

That project turned out awesome.

I've had a quartz epoxy floor with built-in cove baseboard now for about ten years & other than the glossiness of it fading a bit, it's still in A1 condition. A local company did it for me because I'm not good at the DIY thing.

When I was shopping for ideas on what flooring to use, I considered tile but was worried about how the winter would affect it, but have heard that the porcelain tiles hold up very well to the winter salt etc.

If I was to do it again, I'd go the porcelain tile route with a baseboard either in the PVC board or in the tile itself.