Garage Floor Tile Warning

[Garage Flooring]

Those of you who have read my posts know that I tend to offer advice and rarely if ever put down another product. This issue is so ugly right now, I have chosen to write about it on my personal garage blog.

https://www.garageflooringinsider.com/warning-garage-floor-tile-samples/

I am not going to name names, point fingers or show pictures of competitors products. The image I show in the blog is a sample straight from overseas. Its not someones tile -- although it could be.

What has happened is this. People like Jorgen and others have spent, I would guess, millions of dollars creating an amazing industry with quality products. They have established a brand and done a very very good job marketing it.

Truth is, companies like myself and others are always looking for a competitive edge. Material costs are relatively similar and it is difficult to be 'less expensive' on a quality American Made product.

In some cases it looks like samples of the American products are being shipped overseas and knocked off. From the pictures on the websites, it can be tough to see. There are HUGE differences in some of these tiles. I can't say for certain that the intent is to make a knock off. Thats just my opinion based on what I am seeing.

PLEASE shop around, get a deal and pick the vendor you are most comfortable with... BUT DO NOT order a full garage floor without seeing AT LEAST two FULL SIZE garage tile samples first.

What this is not: I am not saying I sell better tiles than everyone or that you should only buy tiles from me. I am not saying any specific competitor is acting in an unlawful or unethical way. I am just saying that based on what I see right now in the market, you have to get samples. Its always been the case, but now more than ever

 

[kTHREE]

As much as I hate to say it, eventually an overseas manufacturer WILL get it right. They will care just enough, to make it just the same at race to the bottom pricing.
This is when the only remaining north american standard helps, customer service.
Bite the bullet, make EVERYONE happy even if they are completely and utterly wrong to save the brand and pricing.
Just my 2 pesos.

 

[Garage Flooring]

As much as I hate to say it, eventually an overseas manufacturer WILL get it right. They will care just enough, to make it just the same at race to the bottom pricing.
This is when the only remaining north american standard helps, customer service.
Bite the bullet, make EVERYONE happy even if they are completely and utterly wrong to save the brand and pricing.
Just my 2 pesos.

The truth about overseas manufacturing is they have amazing capabilities and great people. They simply do as they are asked. When you ask for a cheaper tile, you get one!

Service and knowledge is what makes the difference long term. I don't completely agree on doing everything for anyone regardless of right or wrong. I will bend over backwards to help a reasonable person get to a reasonable solution. Sometimes..... you would be amazed.....

 

[SoCalSk8r]

Sad. I work in the electronics industry and see this stuff often.

My advice here is to buy American and stop trying to shave every last penny off each purchase. Every time I've made a quality purchase I've never looked back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gasserdan]

Bottom line, you get what you pay for!

 

[Jinks]

Good advice, well posted Justin! k3 is correct, an overseas manufacturer *will* get it right. There's nothing wrong with that, it's called competition. He's also correct, the way to stay ahead is through customer service. I've recently had dealings with several vendors over a variety of products. The ones I'm still dealing with gave the best service, but in some cases had equal or better prices. Samples & research are the answer, not all bad vendors are overseas.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Sad. I work in the electronics industry and see this stuff often.

My advice here is to buy American and stop trying to shave every last penny off each purchase. Every time I've made a quality purchase I've never looked back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bottom line, you get what you pay for!

Good advice, well posted Justin! k3 is correct, an overseas manufacturer *will* get it right. There's nothing wrong with that, it's called competition. He's also correct, the way to stay ahead is through customer service. I've recently had dealings with several vendors over a variety of products. The ones I'm still dealing with gave the best service, but in some cases had equal or better prices. Samples & research are the answer, not all bad vendors are overseas.

Service is definitely key. Closely managed production overseas can be a very good thing. Really not what I was trying to target. It is a specific group of knockoffs being made cheaply overseas. Could just as easily be made cheap here.

The real issue is the samples. So many of these look the same in the photo.

 

[Radix2]

I think it is a good service to explain the substantive differences between products.

In this case, it would be easier to understand if you posted a side by side picture of what a quality tile structure looks like vs the substandard one.

 

[66HertzClone]

I think it would have been better to show the American made tile in your blog so people could see the difference. I agree whole heartedly, I have Racedeck on the floor in my garage at home.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I think it is a good service to explain the substantive differences between products.

In this case, it would be easier to understand if you posted a side by side picture of what a quality tile structure looks like vs the substandard one.

I think it would have been better to show the American made tile in your blog so people could see the difference. I agree whole heartedly, I have Racedeck on the floor in my garage at home.

Fair enough. I added this image and some additional explanation to the post

 

[Marctrees]

One very major thing samples will not show is the difference in quality hence durability, longevity of the actual material compound.

Including stuff like resistance and nondegradation from chemicals, ozone, UV, temp extremes, effects of time like shrinking, brittleness, etc etc etc etc.

Best to stick w proven material. Marc

 

[kmacht]

How about some actual real world testing of the substandard tile. Just because the cheaper tile looks less beefy doesn't mean it doesn't work just as well. It could mean that the more expensive tiles are over-engineered.

 

[Armorpoxy]

As a note to Justin's comments, about two years ago we actually had our tiles knocked off in China and shipped in 'Armorpoxy' boxes for a government contract. When the tiles failed quickly, the Agency came to us to honor the warranty, except that we never sold them! We got samples and they were softer, thinner, flimsier and generally MUCH lower quality than ours, except they looked pretty much like ours.

Sometimes even going with a named, proven material can be an issue if you don't know your supplier or material origin.

We can't begin to tell you the problems this caused, cost of attorneys to convince the government that this was not our product, etc. The government got screwed badly for almost six figures, our reputation was damaged a bit, and we wasted countless hours of energy dealing with this issue.

So..agree, the lesson here is be wary of inexpensive things that 'look good'. Always deal with a reputable supplier you feel comfortable with. All of the regular suppliers and posters on the GJ are excellent suppliers who will do their utmost to stand behind their products and do their best to make sure purchasers are happy.

 

[Firebrick43]

I would never personally use plastic tiles in a garage as I favor other options. (I am in no way knocking tiles).

However, You handled this in the most professional and honorable way possible Justin!
Thank you for educating consumers no matter whom they eventually buy from.


And it shows how great of an enviroment this sub forum is that Amorpoxy can join in and do the same without tearing each other down.

Thank you, to the both of you!

 

[Garage Flooring]

One very major thing samples will not show is the difference in quality hence durability, longevity of the actual material compound.

Including stuff like resistance and nondegradation from chemicals, ozone, UV, temp extremes, effects of time like shrinking, brittleness, etc etc etc etc.

Best to stick w proven material. Marc

I agree for the most part. Some problems will not show up until down the road. More on the below. When you have two sets of tiles, side by side, you can actually tell a lot -- if you know what to look at. That's why we do videos etc on this stuff. Granted we don't have a high end video, but we like to show people real world what to look at.

How about some actual real world testing of the substandard tile. Just because the cheaper tile looks less beefy doesn't mean it doesn't work just as well. It could mean that the more expensive tiles are over-engineered.

There are situations where thinner does not mean it will not perform as well. For example an 1/8" PVC tile will put up with certain usage better than a polypropylene tile. A polyurea, in some cases will hold up better than a much thicker epoxy system. It is all very application specific.

There are points of diminishing return with all products. In our video we talk about when someone can get away with a 2.39 tile as opposed to a 3.79 tile or even a 1.99 tile vs a 2.39 tile.

The (immediate) real world issue will be for people who do more than park cars on that tile or for anyone who might drop something. There is just not enough support. Remember we are dealing with plastic.

Sometimes though, the problems show up down the road. I wont mention the brand.... Must be 10+ years ago. I was moving a certain brand of tile by the container. The stuff would come in and we would have 1/2 - 3/4 of it presold in backorders from the previous container. PEOPLE LOVED IT. Must have been 9 months down the road.... jobs started failing. I mean they FAILED.

I was young, optimistic and never put the stuff in my own garage. I took the manufacturers word for it and ran with it. Fortunately they were good people who made a bad mistake. They covered every bad project.

All of that to say, I am watching how quickly this stuff is coming to market and I just don't think its possible it has been fully tested.

As a note to Justin's comments, about two years ago we actually had our tiles knocked off in China and shipped in 'Armorpoxy' boxes for a government contract. When the tiles failed quickly, the Agency came to us to honor the warranty, except that we never sold them! We got samples and they were softer, thinner, flimsier and generally MUCH lower quality than ours, except they looked pretty much like ours.

Sometimes even going with a named, proven material can be an issue if you don't know your supplier or material origin.

We can't begin to tell you the problems this caused, cost of attorneys to convince the government that this was not our product, etc. The government got screwed badly for almost six figures, our reputation was damaged a bit, and we wasted countless hours of energy dealing with this issue.

So..agree, the lesson here is be wary of inexpensive things that 'look good'. Always deal with a reputable supplier you feel comfortable with. All of the regular suppliers and posters on the GJ are excellent suppliers who will do their utmost to stand behind their products and do their best to make sure purchasers are happy.

Well said.

I would never personally use plastic tiles in a garage as I favor other options. (I am in no way knocking tiles).

However, You handled this in the most professional and honorable way possible Justin!
Thank you for educating consumers no matter whom they eventually buy from.


And it shows how great of an enviroment this sub forum is that Amorpoxy can join in and do the same without tearing each other down.

Thank you, to the both of you!

Thank you. I appreciate it!