Epoxy or Rubber Flooring?

[Pachrat]

Long time lurker, first time poster so please be gentle.

I am finally getting the 3 car garage I have always wanted and I am debating what to do with the floor. One option is to simply have the floor epoxied. The floor is in great shape so the installation should be straight forward.

A second option, though is commercial rubber coin flooring. The company I work for purchased a former car factory and we were allowed to help ourselves to anything that was left behind by the former owner. I found about 1000 sf of this flooring new in box in a storage room:

http://www.american-biltrite.com/flooring-search-result/results/productTypes/0/brand/7

I would just have to hire out the installation so the cost would be quite a bit less than the epoxy.

Would this flooring hold up well in a garage environment? We would be parking 2 cars and the third bay would be my area to work on and store my motorcycles. We are in the Detroit area so the floor would see snow and salt in the winter.

Any thoughts?

 

[Nathan b]

Tell ya one thing ....I have tried to epoxy and paint and floor tiles..and always seemed to take them back up or get wore out if you really use ur garage...JS..those look nice though.....salt from rd will slowly eat concrete/or it did in mine in OH ...maybe seal first .....free is a good price..

 

[benwah]

Free is a damn good price! An MMA Acrylic sealer underneath that rubber mat would definitely help against chloride intrusion if anything were to get under it. Pretty affordable option. How many sq. ft. we lookin' at here?

 

[Garage Flooring]

Long time lurker, first time poster so please be gentle.

I am finally getting the 3 car garage I have always wanted and I am debating what to do with the floor. One option is to simply have the floor epoxied. The floor is in great shape so the installation should be straight forward.

A second option, though is commercial rubber coin flooring. The company I work for purchased a former car factory and we were allowed to help ourselves to anything that was left behind by the former owner. I found about 1000 sf of this flooring new in box in a storage room:

http://www.american-biltrite.com/flooring-search-result/results/productTypes/0/brand/7

I would just have to hire out the installation so the cost would be quite a bit less than the epoxy.

Would this flooring hold up well in a garage environment? We would be parking 2 cars and the third bay would be my area to work on and store my motorcycles. We are in the Detroit area so the floor would see snow and salt in the winter.

Any thoughts?

Free is a damn good price! An MMA Acrylic sealer underneath that rubber mat would definitely help against chloride intrusion if anything were to get under it. Pretty affordable option. How many sq. ft. we lookin' at here?

They are calling this rubber on the website, I would confirm that it is actual rubber vs PVC and see if you can locate a product data sheet. Most rubber products will not do well with automotive fluids, etc. If its PVC, go for it and in either case I would use an acrylic floor finish such as Hilway Direct on top of it.

Depending on the installation method an MMA may be a good idea as Benwah posted. BUT if you are gluing it down, perhaps not. If you get me specs on the glue, there are some sealers you can use still.

My professional opinion would always be not to use Rubber in the garage. If it was me and it was my garage and I had free material --and labor was cheap-- I'd likely give it a shot

 

[benwah]

Depending on the installation method an MMA may be a good idea as Benwah posted. BUT if you are gluing it down, perhaps not. If you get me specs on the glue, there are some sealers you can use still.

My professional opinion would always be not to use Rubber in the garage. If it was me and it was my garage and I had free material --and labor was cheap-- I'd likely give it a shot

Yeah I definitely wouldn't glue it down either, that seems like it would be a nightmare to remove.

 

[Pachrat]

Thank you for the replies. It would have to be glued it down as it is not a sheet product. It is 18" x 18" squares.

In looking for the specifications I did find that the manufacturer does not recommend using it around grease and oil so I guess that settles it. I guess I'll try to sell it on craigslist and use the proceeds to offset the cost of epoxy. I found a similar product on Menard's website that is $7.40 a sqare foot. Holy ****, could that be right?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Yes, that could be right. True rubber tiles are very expensive, that is why many garage tiles are made of polypropylene or PVC blends. Rubber Aldo dries out and gets brittle, hence not a great product for garages.