Ferrari Garage needs a new floor. Ideas?

[tfrancis]

Just completed painting my garage. Now the floor looks horrible! It's got many cracks, stains and defects so I'm not sure what's the best option. I'd like to stay within or close to $1000. It's a 20' x 20' floor. I've heard a few things about resurfacing and then staining. I've also thought about quarry tiles. Any ideas would be appreciated. Check out the pics.

Tom

 

[bmwpower]

I see black epoxy in your future. Get some patch compound for the crack and you'll be set. You could do that for well under $1K no problem.

 

[mikeyr]

I have to disagree with bmwpower here, don't go black unless all you are looking for is looks. If you ever want to work in that garage black is the worst color you can have, it absorbs all the light and will make it dark in there no matter how many lights you put in. Yes, it looks good but that is all it does. If you are going to work on the 328 consider a light colored floor for light reflection.

Other than that, I can't help you, I doubt racedeck would be under your price target so I have to assume you will have to epoxy it yourself.

 

[BoostAddiction]

I agree with Mike.

Even the Ferrari factory uses a light grey floor to maximize light reflection.

The only place for a dark floor might be in a museum where it can combine with the right lighting for a dramatic look. All other uses, IMO, need reflective floors.

That was one of the reasons why I chose a light grey with no flecks for my own garage. It is a working garage and I'm getting to need more and more light as I mature (ahem).

 

[Ramblur]

I'm thinking some sort of Italian tile...

 

[bmwpower]

The only reason I chose black was because gray is not going to look good with the yellow walls. If the walls were any other color, I would have suggested gray.

 

[EvilEye]

there is a coffee beige ( Light Color ) Epoxy available that would work with the Color of the walls.
Just IMO

 

[wythors]

Looking at the garage, it doesn't appear that work will be done on the Ferrari there, plus very few people have knowledge or time required to work on one of those things.

 

[dboat]

I'd still get a Racedeck quote on it.. it might be close enough for ya.

Dana

 

[tfrancis]

Thanks for all the great input. Yes, I do work on it myself. I just got through tearing down the top engine and replacing gaskets, all hoses, belts, distributers, alternator, valve adjustment, etc. Plus, total brake job & powder coating. About 10K worth of work. I don't expect to have any major jobs done but will be doing normal maintenance of fluids etc. Having a lighter floor would be helpful to reflect light. I'd also like to place a Ferrari logo in the center (if possible). I could justify spending more if I can get more value from it. What to do about the cracks and damage is my first concern. What products would be best?

You can check out my work at http://www.mcicars.com (click on garages / Tom's 328 GTS major maintenance).

 

[dboat]

The Racedeck will cover all of the cracks and such.. you have a choice of colors so that lighting can be taken into consideration.. heck, you could do a checkerboard of yellow and red if you wanted to.. plus, they could do a Ferrari logo for you as well.. but thats probably gonna cost you..

Dana

 

[fordman]

if it was me i would use racedeck or swisstraxs...i think you would be the happiest with that..you could use expoy but man thats going to be alot of work to do and do it right by filling in the cracks abd tring to get rid of all the oil stains and then do all that work and find out you didn't get all of the oil stain up and then have some lift off that would ****....i myself would use swisstrax i talked to the rep last week seem very nice and seemed to know his **** about his flooring and race deck and other he is going to send me a sample he told me to compare his stuff to race deck ......you price would be over your 1k budget but i would think you will end up with a better product........

 

[mikeyr]

plus very few people have knowledge or time required to work on one of those things.

I was going to reply, its just a Ferrari and anyone can work on it, nothing special just much tighter tolerances and less tolerant of "that is good enough" types of mechanics, but I see the owner has already replied with the work he has done on his. Its just a car, ok its a special car but a motor is a motor. I had a lot of soul searching when I tore mine apart the first time, I almost felt like bowing to the motor I treated it so special, now I cuss at it just like I did my Chevy, especially when I fight those webers.

 

[wythors]

I certainly wasn't insinuating that Ferrari's are any more difficult to work on than any other car, just that they require much more work to be done and it can be very time consuming and frustrating. Having worked for a Ferrari dealership for quite some time, I speak from experience. I can't imagine that the tools required to perform regular maintenence on a 328 could be contained in a Stack-On home owner's tool box. Also, having extensive day-to-day contact with multiple Ferrari's I can safely say that I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. I much prefer a car that I can drive when I want to rather than having to visit it at the dealership service department.

 

[mikeyr]

day-to-day contact with multiple Ferrari's I can safely say that I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. I much prefer a car that I can drive when I want to rather than having to visit it at the dealership service department.

Must have never owned a 328 or even a 308QV then...

I will drive my Dino anywhere and everywhere

To each his own, I will agree some models are more troublesome than others and the 3x8 series will be a pain if not properly maintained, that means no taking them to the corner gas station to be worked on, but nothing a owner can't handle. The 3x8 series are the Hondas of Ferrari.

Anyway, we have gone way off topic, so as I said, to each his own if someone gives you a Ferrari, give it to me, it will look good next to my Dino and lets get back to the original question on floors.

I made the area under my lift all white for light reflection, boring b&w checker board pattern for the rest of the garage floor, I can tell you losing a bolt/screw/whatever is a ***** when they land on the black part but keeping the all white part clean is impossible under the lift. I have gotten into the habit of once a year scrubbing the area under the lift with a half gallon of laquer thinner to get white again, so if it was me and i were to do it again, I would go light color but not white.

 

[tfrancis]

Hmmm.... Many great points made here. I might try to get some samples of racedeck & swisstraxs first. I found this website that has plastic flooring. Any comments about this product?

http://www.hotgarageflooring.com/pages/diamond_tread/diamond_tread_flooring.html



I also found a few other websites that had some cool options too. Probably much more expensive.

http://www.concretedecor.net/All_Access/601/CD601-final_pour.cfm

As far as working on the Ferrari... I'd have to say that a motor is a motor but much harder to work on without books. You can find reference books for a price but detail is very limited. Ferrari doesn't make it easy. Special tools are also required for the valve adjustment ($1400) but if you know people you can always borrow them. Price for parts.... outrageous. Driving experience.... WOW... most fun I've ever had.

 

[dboat]

Hmmm.... Many great points made here. I might try to get some samples of racedeck & swisstraxs first. I found this website that has plastic flooring. Any comments about this product?

http://www.hotgarageflooring.com/pages/diamond_tread/diamond_tread_flooring.html
This item is a floor mat that is sold by many, including Sams at times

I also found a few other websites that had some cool options too. Probably much more expensive.

http://www.concretedecor.net/All_Access/601/CD601-final_pour.cfm
This would be perfect for a house in Las Vegas..

As far as working on the Ferrari... I'd have to say that a motor is a motor but much harder to work on without books. You can find reference books for a price but detail is very limited. Ferrari doesn't make it easy. Special tools are also required for the valve adjustment ($1400) but if you know people you can always borrow them. Price for parts.... outrageous. Driving experience.... WOW... most fun I've ever had.

see my answers above
Dana

 

[JohnZ]

My Ferrari likes light gray (they called it "taupe") epoxy.

 

[bmwpower]

My Ferrari likes light gray (they called it "taupe") epoxy.

Yea John, but what would you have done if the lower half of your walls were yellow? Would you still have gone with gray/taupe?

 

[428]

Epoxy I'd go with a Graphite gray. Dark enough to go with Yellow, light enough to not be to dark.
Maybe accent it with a yellow Ferrari logo in the middle or the white F1 start blocks on the floor in front of the car.
And maybe change your black wall stripe to graphite gray to match.

With Race deck you can put some yellow patterns in and create all kinds of looks.

But then again a Ferrari would look good on a gravel floor.

 

[boiler7904]

I would have suggested a stained concrete finish if the floor was in better shape.

 

[JohnZ]

Yea John, but what would you have done if the lower half of your walls were yellow? Would you still have gone with gray/taupe?

I chose the light "taupe" color primarily for its reflective quality; really improves the lighting effectiveness, both natural light through the windows or the ceiling fixtures; I don't think I'd want the floor any darker.

 

[Kingham]

Your floor is pretty screwed up and in poor condition. I would be concerend with the foundation. How are the walls and drywall? any movement or problems with cracked drywall or the doors not closing because of movement? If so... then you would have to stablize the foundation before any epoxy product would work. doesn't matter what brand.. if the foundation moves and cracks so will the epoxy.


I do beleive the racedeck solution will be the easiest but it will take you over budget. Plus, I personally don't like race deck because of the noise, it's loud and sounds like legos when walking across it. IT will however look 100% better that it does now.

You can epoxy the floor but be ready for alot of sweat equity...
I would recommend:

1. Beadblasting the entire garage floor to surface and bring up any lose concrete

2. Filling the cracks with a highbuild epoxy filler and grind down the high spots smooth. (fun fun fun)

3. Do a 100% colored chip floor . This will hide all the imperfections.

4. finish with a two coats of high build clear epoxy and 1 coat of polyurethane top coat.

I only use Dural mgf products in my business. it's the only product that hasn't failed. Tell Wayne I sent you.www.concrete-floor-coatings.com
Use the duraseal 400 for the base and color coats
Use 12lbs of chips per 100 sq/ft (mix to your color choice)
Use Durapoxy crack filler for large cracks, painters caulk for thin 1/16 cracks and bondo for cracks up to 1/4". (yes it works great (tricks fo the trade))
Use Durapoxy clear high build clear for top coats
Use Sunshine polyurethane for the final coat.


The $1000 diy budget is not going to be enough to make the floor look good with any system.

 

[BoCRon]

Well, you could use the Sam's club tiles. I wouldn't hesitate to use gray, gray and yellow is a classic color combination(I was the design assistant for my Mother-in-law's design for many projects) and would look great. If you are concerned about it, then do a black border and do a gray field, you could also do a black divider.
Just as an FYI, my house is yellow, and my garage walls will be painted gray and as of right now I'm doing floor tiles in light gray, charcoal and beige. Now that I think about it, my kitchen cabinets are yellow, and the countertop is beige with black, gray and white flecks.
Here's a pic of the kitchen, sorry it's kind of washed out, but a vague idea of yellow with gray and beige

Here's a pic of my house, yellow house with classic gray roof, garage doors in this pic are light gray and white.

The garage floor tiles are a different value of color and would look good with the yellow you have in your garage. Try ordering a sample from racedeck. Also, there are some nice ones on ebay. I think you can do a 20x20 garage for under $1000.00
Good luck,
Annette

 

[Fast Toys]

You can get the Fast-Flor tiles I just used to do my garage for 2.08/tile if they still have the special on. That would just about fit your budget with shipping etc. I posted some pics of my own garage in another thread.

 

[348tt]

I'd suggest getting rid of that old 328 and ignoring the floor. Dump the $$ into a nice 348 turbo and drive it like you stole it. Lie to everyone, and tell them you live in Germantown, in a big house. If they try to follow you there, you'll be able to lose them in the turbo car!
Seriously, just put a nice top coat of concrete thincoat, and epoxy the **** out of it, about 3 coats, tons of work, but you have the time..........

 

[hitek]

flexible interlocking PVC tile....hands down! Only thing is your budget but considering the shape of your floor.......................

 

[speedracer]

I am surprised no one has mentioned acid stain in a light color.. It will look nice and aged with the cracks in the concrete.

 

[348tt]

I am surprised no one has mentioned acid stain in a light color.. It will look nice and aged with the cracks in the concrete.

Great idea. I've seen the floor. An acid strain for the floor is a great idea!

 

[hitek]

Great idea. I've seen the floor. An acid strain for the floor is a great idea!

really?

 

[BoCRon]

I now have samples of at least 5 different floor tiles (Daytona, Racedeck, Big Foot plastic, Big Foot Rubber and Mataflex,Dynotile). Anyway, my favorite for the overall look and feel was the Big Foot Rubber tiles. Very quiet, sturdy and nice to walk on. The only reason I didn't use them in my garage is that they only have 1 shade of grey and I really needed 2 to execute my fabulous plan! I chose Daytona since they have the most flexible of the hard tiles, plus I like that their pattern is a little different (a tread pattern) and is fairly understated. I had to kneel on one of the Racedeck tiles when I was messing with all the samples, and yowza, that diamond pattern is a bit much!
When all is said and done, I will have 4 different brands of tiles in my house, here goes.
1. Locktile-my basement is about 1500 sqft. About 1000 of it is finished and the remaining 500sf is my husbands woodworking shop. We put Locktile brand tile in about 600 sf of it 3+ years ago. We absolutely love it. The only thing I don't like about the Locktile is that it has a "puzzle" edge. Not an issue if you are doing all one color, but looks funny to me if you have multiple colors.
2. BigFoot rubber tile from Greg Smith Equipment-I am planning on using this in the exercise room in the basement. It has a straight edge, so I can do a checkerboard or whatever pattern I want. I have compared this to the Locktile and the Locktile is slightly thicker, but just barely. I have about 300sf to do in the exercise room and the BigFoot will be a bit cheaper than the Locktile.
3. Garage-Daytona tile. Like I said I like the subtle tread pattern, it is not slick or shiny looking and is a bit more "giving" and quieter than Racedeck, BigFoot Plastic or the Mataflex.
4. Dynotile-I'm putting this over the decking on my covered porch. It has an overlapping seam which my husband feels will be a bit more resistant to water seep through. He stores some of his overflow woodworking equipment in the area under the deck and any opportunity to block water is a bonus. We also like the pattern on it, kind of a stylized honeycomb pattern, so it doesn't look as "garagy". I just ordered it this week so am hoping to install it over the Christmas break.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to explain the differences in some of the tiles.
Annette

 

[speedracer]

really?

Let me guess, your company sells pvc tiles....

 

[hitek]

Let me guess, your company sells pvc tiles....

yeah, but that has nothing to do with my response....I am here to offer some help if I can and learn if I can....I do not have any experience with stain and pretty much stay away from coatings in general....seemed to me the floor was to screwed up to put stain on and it was a perfect candidate for pvc tiles....Thats all.

 

[Hammerdown]

Epoxy coating in light color. High quality, sign grade vinyl Ferrari logo, clear, high gloss top coat. Chemical resistant, light reflective and cool looking!

 

[wrigh003]

Seriously, just put a nice top coat of concrete thincoat,

Not to go too far OT, but I want to hear more about this. I have a carport that's about 2/3 of the way to being a garage (full, shingled roof, over a post and beam structure), but the floor that's under it is a crappy exposed-aggregate concrete that will just not do for a garage floor. What's involved in pouring over top of it, and/or how thick does it have to be to hold up?

 

[Junkman]

My experience with a failed concrete floor is that it is faster, and less expensive to break it up and replace it in its entirety, than it is to try to patch it. If you remove the floor, you have the opportunity to put down a vapor barrier and insulate the floor from below. You also have the opportunity to install PEX under the floor, even if it is to hook it up at a later date. If you pour over the existing floor, you will still need at least 4" if you don't want it to crack, so there is no good reason to not remove the old floor. When you put down the new concrete, use wire in the floor and use the concrete with the fibers in it. Most contractors will say that you don't need both, but the wire is a cheap insurance that if it cracks, the crack won't open or settle. The fiber is also another cheap insurance policy to keep it from cracking. Remember, that proper preparation is the best method to make sure that the new floor doesn't crack. That is probably why the original floor failed. A good concrete floor will last indefinitely.

 

[wrigh003]

My experience with a failed concrete floor is that it is faster, and less expensive to break it up and replace it in its entirety, than it is to try to patch it. If you remove the floor, you have the opportunity to put down a vapor barrier and insulate the floor from below. You also have the opportunity to install PEX under the floor, even if it is to hook it up at a later date. If you pour over the existing floor, you will still need at least 4" if you don't want it to crack, so there is no good reason to not remove the old floor. When you put down the new concrete, use wire in the floor and use the concrete with the fibers in it. Most contractors will say that you don't need both, but the wire is a cheap insurance that if it cracks, the crack won't open or settle. The fiber is also another cheap insurance policy to keep it from cracking. Remember, that proper preparation is the best method to make sure that the new floor doesn't crack. That is probably why the original floor failed. A good concrete floor will last indefinitely.

Cool. I guess my only concern then is how to best cut the floor out from around the posts that are holding up the roof. Sounds like I'll be calling a concrete contractor when I get there, though, as I don't have a bobcat or a concrete saw to pull up/ cut up/ remove the old stuff. (sigh...) It never ends...

That'll make it easier to put in the french drain that I need to make sure this floor doesn't get water running across it like I have now, though.

 

[Junkman]

Are the posts set on top of the concrete, or set in the concrete? If they are set in the concrete, then it is a matter of breaking up the concrete around them. If they are on top of the concrete, then you will need to support the roof and pour separate piers to hold each of them prior to pouring the floor. In the end, you might find it is going to be less expensive to start from scratch, depending on the quality of the work that has already been done.

 

[wrigh003]

Are the posts set on top of the concrete, or set in the concrete? If they are set in the concrete, then it is a matter of breaking up the concrete around them. If they are on top of the concrete, then you will need to support the roof and pour separate piers to hold each of them prior to pouring the floor. In the end, you might find it is going to be less expensive to start from scratch, depending on the quality of the work that has already been done.

They appear to be set IN the concrete, but I couldn't swear to it, and if so, I don't know how deep they go. The only reason I don't want to go through tearing it off and starting over is that it's built to last already- the posts are 6x6's with 4x6's sandwiched to them on either side, bolted together with lag bolts. It's also attached to the end of the house, and roofed with the same shingles, etc. I just hate to tear it down and start over when it's about halfway done, but that may be what it comes to, specially if "halfway done" turns into "halfass done" after I get to looking at it a little closer. That takes money away from the eventual detached garage, too, having to do a major tearoff/ rebuild on the one attached to the house. I moved some stuff around and picked up under it last weekend (it's less embarrasingly junky now)- if I can remember I'll try to post a picture, since I'm already totally threadjacking the OP's post.


Speaking of which- OP, I think that a light gray or perhaps even tan/taupe colored epoxy coating for your floor would look good, and coordinate fine with what's on the walls already. I haven't ever been a fan of tile systems like Racedek. Have you considered the VCT flooring option? Since you're going for a kind of showroom look anyway, you could go with a black and white checkerboard. Might go for making the squares 24x24 instead of 12x12 if you want to have a less "busy" appearance. Just a thought.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Have you considered just puting down some nice indoor outdoor carpet over the floor.........Why not if it solves the problem for a small fraction of the other cost