From 1 part epoxy to tile

[therest]

Hey everyone, my garage floor is fixing to be given some new and long lasting skin. Always wanted to cover my floor with tile, but considered all other types of flooring. The other alternative was just to paint it with 1 part epoxy! Yes, not everyone’s favorite but I was looking for the cheapest method, even if I had to baby it. Luckily however I was given store credit at Floor N Décor from a family member’s left over tile and the credit covered most of the tile I would need for my project. I chose ceramic because of price. Porcelain is better but thought I’d be just fine with a back buttered ceramic (PEI 4) installation. I live in Houston and it hardly freezes here so I won’t need to have the extra moisture absorption protection.


I chose this tile:

https://www.flooranddecor.com/ceram...0&start=6&shopThisStore=true&useInventory=105

It’s nothing garage type looking, but it is pretty neutral and a bit warm.


Right now I’m looking to install myself with maybe help from a family member. I’ve never installed tile anywhere but I keep reading it’s not as bad, especially with my 12x12 tile. I have a 4 day weekend starting the 16th and would love to have the floor ready by then to start setting the tile down.

My garage is 500 sq ft, and right now I’m at the prepping stage. I’m trying to get my floor flat as I reasonably can. After some research, I’m convinced I need an extra long straight edge to really determine high and low spots. (I notice I’m being a bit more picky than some other people but also not as picky as others. I’m kind of in between. ) At first I was using a long 4x6 (2 2x6 nailed together) and thought I had terrible low spots but I wasn’t convinced the lumber was straight enough. It had nails in it and didn’t think I could make it straight with my table saw so I bought a 6 ft level (again being economical as I can). I placed in a lot of spots and what I found was that my lows aren’t that low per se, but I felt I did have some noticeable high spots.

Long story short I found this video and it convinced me I need an extra long straight edge:

I’m not going to buy or make a streed, so I plan on using a 14ft 2x4 and making a straight edge with my table saw.

I’ll update as I go.

 

[trippeee]

I've been trying to get up the gumption to tile my garage as well, so I've been studying this forum a bit about it. It seems most will recommend a porcelain tile over ceramic. I do see that the tile you selected does have a PEI of 4 so that's good. It also says indoor only and I don't see a Dynamic Coefficient of Friction (DCOF) either so a couple things to think about there. Great price though and I'm no expert but I'm sure someone will chime in.

I'll be watching as I have some serious floor flatness issues as well on my old cracked up cement. Good luck!

 

[Radix2]

Hey everyone, my garage floor is fixing to be given some new and long lasting skin. Always wanted to cover my floor with tile, but considered all other types of flooring. The other alternative was just to paint it with 1 part epoxy! Yes, not everyone’s favorite but I was looking for the cheapest method, even if I had to baby it. Luckily however I was given store credit at Floor N Décor from a family member’s left over tile and the credit covered most of the tile I would need for my project. I chose ceramic because of price. Porcelain is better but thought I’d be just fine with a back buttered ceramic (PEI 4) installation. I live in Houston and it hardly freezes here so I won’t need to have the extra moisture absorption protection.


I chose this tile:

https://www.flooranddecor.com/ceram...0&start=6&shopThisStore=true&useInventory=105

It’s nothing garage type looking, but it is pretty neutral and a bit warm.


Right now I’m looking to install myself with maybe help from a family member. I’ve never installed tile anywhere but I keep reading it’s not as bad, especially with my 12x12 tile. I have a 4 day weekend starting the 16th and would love to have the floor ready by then to start setting the tile down.

My garage is 500 sq ft, and right now I’m at the prepping stage. I’m trying to get my floor flat as I reasonably can. After some research, I’m convinced I need an extra long straight edge to really determine high and low spots. (I notice I’m being a bit more picky than some other people but also not as picky as others. I’m kind of in between. ) At first I was using a long 4x6 (2 2x6 nailed together) and thought I had terrible low spots but I wasn’t convinced the lumber was straight enough. It had nails in it and didn’t think I could make it straight with my table saw so I bought a 6 ft level (again being economical as I can). I placed in a lot of spots and what I found was that my lows aren’t that low per se, but I felt I did have some noticeable high spots.

Long story short I found this video and it convinced me I need an extra long straight edge:

I’m not going to buy or make a streed, so I plan on using a 14ft 2x4 and making a straight edge with my table saw.

I’ll update as I go.

I think you are going too far with a 14' straight edge. There is no way you are going to be able to lay with that kind of accuracy anyway. That company is selling self leveling services which are helpful for large rectified tiles, but for the job you are doing, not necessary.

Definitely inspect your floor and fix any big issues, but you are going to need to float your tile basically over the surface you have. Take your time, use a big enough tooth on your trowel, and watch the lippage as you go.

Good luck, tile work is hard !

 

[therest]

I think you are going too far with a 14' straight edge. There is no way you are going to be able to lay with that kind of accuracy anyway. That company is selling self leveling services which are helpful for large rectified tiles, but for the job you are doing, not necessary.

Definitely inspect your floor and fix any big issues, but you are going to need to float your tile basically over the surface you have. Take your time, use a big enough tooth on your trowel, and watch the lippage as you go.

Good luck, tile work is hard !

Thanks Radix2, I never thought of it that way. Gives me a little more piece of mind.

 

[Dakota00]

therest,

You are over thinking this and will end up fighting yourself trying to get this floor flat, it wont happen and definitely not needed when installing 12x12 tiles. Using a 14ft-2x4, even an 8ft piece cut perfectly on a table saw will banana on you. It wont be straight, don't bother going this route. Use your 6ft level (or see if you can rent an 8ft metal straight edge) move it around on the floor mark the high and low spots. Then fill in the areas where needed.
When installing the tiles, use a 1/2"x1/2" notched trowel for setting your thinset. This will give you enough play so you can achieve a relatively flat floor as you go.
Take your time, work clean and remember to have fun! Good luck.

 

[therest]

therest,

You are over thinking this and will end up fighting yourself trying to get this floor flat, it wont happen and definitely not needed when installing 12x12 tiles. Using a 14ft-2x4, even an 8ft piece cut perfectly on a table saw will banana on you. It wont be straight, don't bother going this route. Use your 6ft level (or see if you can rent an 8ft metal straight edge) move it around on the floor mark the high and low spots. Then fill in the areas where needed.
When installing the tiles, use a 1/2"x1/2" notched trowel for setting your thinset. This will give you enough play so you can achieve a relatively flat floor as you go.
Take your time, work clean and remember to have fun! Good luck.

Dakota, thanks for the advice! I decided to not over think it so much and get going.

This weekend my brother in law came in to get me started. We leveled out some of the bad spots and started finding the center of the room. After waiting for the compound to cure, I started laying down some tile. Hard work but feels rewarding even this early on.

 

[Dakota00]

Oh you'll feel the burn for the next week or so. Nice to see some progress!
Tip for cleaning the grout joints filled with thinset while setting your tiles. Just use a regular sharpened pencil, run it through the joints and wipe clean with a damp sponge. Keep repeating until the joints and tiles are cleaned.

 

[machsnell]

Oh you'll feel the burn for the next week or so. Nice to see some progress!
Tip for cleaning the grout joints filled with thinset while setting your tiles. Just use a regular sharpened pencil, run it through the joints and wipe clean with a damp sponge. Keep repeating until the joints and tiles are cleaned.

Yeah do this. Don't do what I did and say "I am in the middle of tiling I will deal with that later" and then find yourself realizing how hard thinset gets.

Then the night you thought you were going to whip through the grout stage you found yourself cleaning thinset from tight joints for a few hours asking yourself "why can't you be smart."

As always thanks Dakota for your input on tile subjects.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Dakota00]

As always thanks Dakota for your input on tile subjects.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Glad to help out!

 

[therest]

So small update

I’ve been tiling at a very slow rate. I feel like the back buttering, and cleaning off the excess thinset adds a lot to my time. I tend to think I can be relatively quick if I didn’t have to do these things. Anyways, I’m about half or close to half way done. I have issues with lippage and it this point I’m just willing to accept it. I really just wanna get it done already but I get lazy at times. I’ve made plenty mistakes but I’m getting there. I have about 30 or so more tiles down since this picture below.

I do have a question for you guys. The main floor of my garage steps down from a small section of floor right after you walk in from inside the house. It’s visible in pictures from post #6. What do you guys recommend, do I tile the small vertical space/ledge? It’s about 3 to 4 inches tall. I am tiling the other section of floor too, where the blue tool cart is on in the first picture from post #6.

 

[Dakota00]

Yes, tile the riser part of the step up.