Decisions for garage flooring

[Raptor916]

Our new house is currently under construction and I have some floor decisions to be made. I live right outside of Sacramento(Roseville). I was looking at Epoxy and Race Deck. Many family members have nicely done epoxy floors. I currently have a poorly done one. We get annoyed when we park a wet car inside and the water drips on the floor and doesn’t soak into regular cement. Also, I will be working on cars occasionally and don’t know how jack friendly epoxy floors will be over time.

Love how Race Deck looks, but what’s the real purpose of it? Drainage is good and should last longer than epoxy, but what else?

Just need some guidance.

 

[Sumboodie]

What is regular cement?

 

[Raptor916]

Sorry…Bare cement floor

 

[Matty J]

Any floor coating will repel water and keep it on the surface longer than a porous, uncoated/unsealed concrete floor. And jacks are rough on any floor whether it is coated or not.

Im a big fan of grind and seals or grind, stain and seals for garage floors. They mimic the look of polished concrete, and are usually a good bit more economical than a typical epoxy flake floor.

 

[kbeefy]

If your going to work on it just seal the concrete and be done. Anything else will be adding extra work or frustrations later.
If you just want it to look pretty then I don't have any suggestions. Racedeck looks nice, but what if you spill something on/into/under it?

 

[Matty J]

If your going to work on it just seal the concrete and be done. Anything else will be adding extra work or frustrations later.
If you just want it to look pretty then I don't have any suggestions. Racedeck looks nice, but what if you spill something on/into/under it?

Yep. But you can also make it slightly pretty by staining prior to sealing!

 

[Toolfool]

Kemiko water-base acid stain and Dayton Superior TufSeal J35.

 

[kbeefy]

Yep. But you can also make it slightly pretty by staining prior to sealing!

Agreed. I have no experience with making it pretty. Pretty for me would be a solid neutral color that is easy to see hardware that I dropped, and enough texture to not be slippery when wet.

 

[drmarkr]

Ballistix....look it up. Tough, impervious to all nasty fluids, nice industrial look of the original concrete.

 

[RaceDeck1]

You can do a search within GJ forum. There are fans and haters of every style of flooring, it really comes down to what you want and your needs. When we invented modular garage flooring in the late 90's , it was out of a solution for the home garage owner and of course the DIY. RaceDeck was engineered for easy and fast install, not to peel or chip, allow moisture and liquids to flow freely under the flooring and of course, look cool

 

[Beemer]

With Sumboodle; Cement is not concrete.
Something to think about when considering finishes, the first rule to remember is that ALL concrete cracks, so would that bother your showing through the concrete finish? If so, consider something that covers the concrete. I used a chemical hardener on all my slabs so they don't dust and they resist absorbing spills (to a degree). We always used hardeners on all exposed concrete slabs in commercial/industrial buildings for the same reason.

 

[DirtyV]

A few thoughts off the top of my head:

Epoxy Pros - durable, looks great, variety of colors/patterns/designs to choose from, super easy to clean, easy to find things when they fall onto the floor such as small bolts and screws

Epoxy Cons - potential odor smells if not installed correctly, can get damaged and/or peel depending on use, expensive if done correctly (floor grind), doesn't allow water drainage (water sits on top of floor)

Racedeck (or Swisstrax, etc) Pros - durable, looks good, variety of colors/patterns/designs to choose from, easy'ish to clean surface, DIY friendly install, inexpensive compared to professional epoxy, allows water drainage / no standing water on surface - depending on style

Racedeck (or Swisstrax, etc) Cons - more difficult of a process to clean underneath tiles, if using free-flow style - bolts and zip ties/etc can get lost in the cracks, have to peel up tiles to clean up spills like coolant, oil and brake fluid, shows dust/dirt on the surface, requires peeling up 1x or 2x per year to vacuum up accumulated debris

 

[Sumboodie]

Kemiko water-base acid stain and Dayton Superior TufSeal J35.

What's the poo streaks from?

 

[Matty J]

What's the poo streaks from?

Stain sprayed without a conical tip, assuming the intent was for it to be an accent.

 

[Raptor916]

A few thoughts off the top of my head:

Epoxy Pros - durable, looks great, variety of colors/patterns/designs to choose from, super easy to clean, easy to find things when they fall onto the floor such as small bolts and screws

Epoxy Cons - potential odor smells if not installed correctly, can get damaged and/or peel depending on use, expensive if done correctly (floor grind), doesn't allow water drainage (water sits on top of floor)

Racedeck (or Swisstrax, etc) Pros - durable, looks good, variety of colors/patterns/designs to choose from, easy'ish to clean surface, DIY friendly install, inexpensive compared to professional epoxy, allows water drainage / no standing water on surface - depending on style

Racedeck (or Swisstrax, etc) Cons - more difficult of a process to clean underneath tiles, if using free-flow style - bolts and zip ties/etc can get lost in the cracks, have to peel up tiles to clean up spills like coolant, oil and brake fluid, shows dust/dirt on the surface, requires peeling up 1x or 2x per year to vacuum up accumulated debris

Thanks. I have seen your garage and I am leaning towards Racedeck. Why did you choose freeflow over the solid?

 

[WildBill]

I used this stuff because I don't care for the plastic feel, thickness, or the way stuff goes under the plastic tile type material (no offense meant Mr.Racedeck). Also was much cheaper. I got the grey in 10ft x 24ft rolls as my shop is 24ft in one dimension. Looks like sightly darker concrete but is resistant to most spills and has a tiny bit of padding when you walk or stand, but still works fine with jacks and jack stands. Not cool looking though, most people don't even notice it at first. They have different patterns but I got the mostly smooth stuff. Ironically a bunch of the reviews are from people using it to help with their epoxy floor issues. I bought it from wayfair using one of their I think 30% off coupons, they have sales and big discount coupons constantly. https://gfloor.com/products/levant

 

[Sumboodie]

Stain sprayed without a conical tip, assuming the intent was for it to be an accent.

Release the poo!

 

[dcg9381]

Im a big fan of grind and seals or grind, stain and seals for garage floors. They mimic the look of polished concrete, and are usually a good bit more economical than a typical epoxy flake floor.

This is where I'm at also. I also do it for our interior residential floors.

Even the driveways are stained and coated..

What I want is something that will repel an oil or fuel stain... And polyurea is really great for that. Shop is "natural concrete" with polyurea over it. I don't worry about that floor, I'll drag a jack across it. But if something gets spilled, it's super easy to clean up.

Downside of a coating is that if you've got a drippy wet car and don't use an anti-slip agent, you can end up with a dangerously slick floor.

 

[DirtyV]

Thanks. I have seen your garage and I am leaning towards Racedeck. Why did you choose freeflow over the solid?

Good question. I like the way it looks better than the solid tiles and I read on these forums about how the water runs through, leaving the surface dry even when it's wet underneath. Since we live in Colorado, it was a great benefit to be able to walk on the flooring in the garage in socks, which we do multiple times a day to feed the dogs and let them outside, no matter the weather outside or if a snow covered vehicle had been parked inside. That being said, I'm changing a small area of tiles underneath my 2-post lift to solid tiles to help with spill cleanup and not losing bolts, etc in the cracks. Everywhere else I'm leaving the free flow. Something to consider dependent on your intended use!

I'll add, I installed 2 or 3 box store epoxy kits prior to going with RaceDeck. Although they look great in the beginning, I'm sure as everyone is aware, they simply do not last. I looked into epoxy flooring but it ended up being about $6-7/sq ft, which put me into the $11K-12K range. This was just too much $ for me at the time. Further, I would have had to clear out everything in the garage and I have nowhere to put stuff while the epoxy cured (not to mention, I didn't feel like moving everything out since it is so much work). I love epoxy floors, but this was a fantastic compromise and I would definitely recommend. You can't go wrong either way though. Good luck!