First post: Race Deck expansion question

[Fedderman]

Greetings - I just joined this forum. After a fair amount of research, I decided to install Race Deck on my garage floor. I installed it yesterday, but have not completed the trimming at the edges yet. I have a question that one of you may be able to answer: using a coefficient of expansion, can I calculate the worst case expansion for my floor, so I can minimize the gaps without having a problem?

Details: I live in the SF Bay Area (Palo Alto), where the warmest it gets is in the 90's (let's use 100 for this exercise). The flooring area is approximately 18' x 18'. The garage opening faces Northeast, so no direct sun exposure. I drive an EV, so there will be very little added heat from the car. If I do my trimming when it is 70 degrees, how much expansion should I expect? Also, can I leave the gap on just one side, or do I need a gap on both sides? Thanks!

 

[Garage Flooring]

Greetings - I just joined this forum. After a fair amount of research, I decided to install Race Deck on my garage floor. I installed it yesterday, but have not completed the trimming at the edges yet. I have a question that one of you may be able to answer: using a coefficient of expansion, can I calculate the worst case expansion for my floor, so I can minimize the gaps without having a problem?

Details: I live in the SF Bay Area (Palo Alto), where the warmest it gets is in the 90's (let's use 100 for this exercise). The flooring area is approximately 18' x 18'. The garage opening faces Northeast, so no direct sun exposure. I drive an EV, so there will be very little added heat from the car. If I do my trimming when it is 70 degrees, how much expansion should I expect? Also, can I leave the gap on just one side, or do I need a gap on both sides? Thanks!

Theoretically, you could, but because of how unevenly garages tend to get direct sunlight, its not the way I would go. I would leave the tiles out in the sun while doing the install and leave a 1/2" gap at the door, walls and anything stationary. I would then get everything back on the floor asap.

 

[Fedderman]

After reviewing more threads, it seems that adding a baseboard is the way to go - this will cover the 1/2" gap between the walls and the Race Deck tiles, and if installed correctly will allow the Race Deck tiles to move underneath as they expand/contract. Now... on to research the type of baseboard to use - it seems Race Deck should have a product for this, but I don't see anything on their web site.

 

[piker28]

What more and more people are doing is a thin line of paint to match the tile in that location around the outer perimeter. That way even with a gap you do not really see that it is truly there. I personally did not do this and never notice the gap so either way works. Race Deck does not have a product on their site because people just usually go to Home Depot and find some type of molding to use.

 

[joel]

I just finished installing Race Deck in my garage. I got really lucky and did not have to cut the tiles to fit the 4 walls (28'-8" square). Not installing trim made for less cost/work. Virtually all the edges are hidden with cabinets and equipment. What is visible looks fine for my garage.

 

[RaceDeck1]

Greetings - I just joined this forum. After a fair amount of research, I decided to install Race Deck on my garage floor. I installed it yesterday, but have not completed the trimming at the edges yet. I have a question that one of you may be able to answer: using a coefficient of expansion, can I calculate the worst case expansion for my floor, so I can minimize the gaps without having a problem?

Details: I live in the SF Bay Area (Palo Alto), where the warmest it gets is in the 90's (let's use 100 for this exercise). The flooring area is approximately 18' x 18'. The garage opening faces Northeast, so no direct sun exposure. I drive an EV, so there will be very little added heat from the car. If I do my trimming when it is 70 degrees, how much expansion should I expect? Also, can I leave the gap on just one side, or do I need a gap on both sides? Thanks!

Hi
I saw your PM prior to your post... I sent you a message with numerous install tips and suggestions for your particular application... welcome to the forum

 

[Fedderman]

Thanks, Jorgen! As a new member here it didn't appear my PM went through, seems there was a delay.

 

[joel]

I like the baseboard idea - it will enhance the look and cover the gap

Absolutely.

In my situation I am doing a quasi-major re-do...solo. Floor, cabinets, lights. Being a certified Old Geezer, effort and budget are ever present concerns. Unpainted concrete block stem walls also influenced the decision. The Race Deck floor looks SO much better than the 12 year old concrete even with the approach I took. Happy camper here!

 

[James-W]

If the outside tiles are black you use the rubber baseboard molding and glue it to the wall so the tiles can expand and contract without issue. I have been meaning to do that in my garage, but I still haven't done it.

 

[dubber]

I've had ZERO issue with expansion in my last two garages using RaceDeck FreeFlow tiles. Plan to use the prescribed 3/4" spacing between the wall and tiles and your good. Using black tiles on the border and then painting my stem wall black, along with an extra inch has allowed me a continuous look to the flooring that really works. Check out either of my threads for pictures.

 

[Fedderman]

I finished my garage project today - thanks to everyone for your inputs . I ended up using Roppe Pinnacle rubber base board (or wall base) to cover the gap between the Race Deck edges and the walls. Here's a pic of the final solution:

 

[MBen]

Very nice, Fedderman! Can you please post a closer up picture of how you used Roppe base board with the tiles?

 

[Fedderman]

Sure! Here is a close-up picture that shows the Roppe baseboard. During installation, I used a thin, rigid material to position the baseboard slightly above the flooring, to allow the flooring to slide under the baseboard as it expands/contracts. Unfortunately, the pictures I posted seem to get converted into thumbnails - I'm new to this forum, so haven't mastered the art of posting photos yet.

 

[dubber]

Looks great! You should start a thread in the gallery section and post larger before and after pics and provide more information. We all appreciate following the progress of others. Cheers!

 

[My426hemigtx]

Thanks for the photo. How big of a gap did you leave and how wide is your installed tile floor where you used this gap? Did you use the "long toe" (1" toe molding) Roppe molding?

I see that they also make a 5/8" toe and a 1/2" toe.

I agree with your initial post and would prefer to have a gap calculation equation with variables for coefficient of expansion, tile installation temperature, installed tile dimension and expected tile temperature range.

Many thanks, Mike