Laminate in the garage

[brats.n.harleys]

This isn't a question. I'm goin for it. Last week ripped out the carpet in the living room/hall and the laminate in the kitchen and did all new laminate. Thought about it during the week, and I have enough that was taken out of the kitchen to do the garage with. I figure I can do it after work this week. The big thing with laminate (searched this site) is water. I'll try to avoid that. Gonna caulk the edges, door closed when raining, etc.. Garage is mainly used for motorcycle fab. Bike in the pic below is mine, built from scratch over 3 years. All done in the garage. I'll have my father in laws 79' shovel as of next Tuesday to do a compete build during the winter so the laminate will get plenty of abuse, and I'll post pics after a few months. I laid some Down today and took the grinder to metal right on the floor for 2 min straight, no marks or burns. Also welded right up against it for a bit, and had one tiny burn. O well. I've done the rustolium (I know) epoxy 3 times now and it just doesn't work. I know the expensive stuff would be my best bet, but you can't beat free. Right? Here's some pics as of now.

 

[Munich77]

That looks pretty sweet actually. I am guessing for bikes you will not have to deal with as much weight as a car. I would love to see updates as to how it holds up.

 

[Kevin54]

The big thing with laminate (searched this site) is water. I'll try to avoid that.

Not so much water but humidity will affect it. Laminate is MDF with a plastic coating. I'm not gonna tell you not to do it, but when you do it, put a vapor barrier down. Get a roll of 15# felt paper for roofing and use that as an underlayment.

Worst case is, if the floor gets destroyed in a year or so, you can always pull it up and shitcan it. Post up some pics when you have it all completed.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

felt paper is a good idea. im not doing trim or anything like that, so it will be easy to remove if it ends up being an aweful idea

 

[brats.n.harleys]

Here it is so far. Should finish after work tonight

 

[z28snksknr]

i used up my excess laminate flooring from doing my laundry room on my workbench. no oil stains, easy to clean, and at $0.97/sq. ft., If I ruin it in 5-10 years I'll just replace it for $25.

 

[NitroPress]

That's beautiful, and a great option given that it's free and saves a truckload of stuff to dump... but I wouldn't bet on the longevity. Laminate is fragile stuff and every seam, scuff and scrape will expose the core material to moisture. I'd be interested to hear how it holds up both against use and environment.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

After I took the pic last night I decided to do under the fridge with the monster tv on top. Pulled it out, laid down the boards and then slid it back over. Supprisingly, didnt scratch or dent. I also dropped a piece of 1" round bar (maybe 18" long) on a scrap piece from 3'. It dented, but no chips or anything. I will update and let you guys know how it holds up. And keep in mind this is probably the cheapest laminate there is. It's 63 cents per sq ft at menards. (regular priced).

 

[brats.n.harleys]

Well I'm a bit late but finished up tonight. Shovelhead comes Tuesday so I guess I'll find out real quick how it's gonna hold up. Gonna wait to do under the work bench/welder/compressor til I see how it holds up. It would be a ***** to do under all that and just as bad to get out if this goes downhill real quick.

 

[Aspen RT]

Looks nice, Hope it holds up.

 

[SpeedCoach]

Looks great! I've had some laminate skinning a workbench surface for several years now....granted it isnt a floor - but it's held up to every bang, drop, and pound I've put it through....not to mention the oil, water, solvent, and various other fluids that have poured onto AND sat on it for a while. it hasnt missed a beat.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

So far so good. Still gotta do a rubber barrier between outside and inside before snow. And womdeing if there's any sorta mop on wax that will get in all the cracks and make it so no oops moments leak down underneath??

 

[Kevin54]

I gotta say I think this is a first. A finished laminate floor in a garage. It looks good though. Hopefuly it will hold up. If it doesn't then you're not out much, if it does hold up, then I will imagine there will be some others doing this also

Does it seem to make any difference in the noise levels in the garage? By that I mean that if you empty a house out of furniture, everything kind of echos but if you have wall to wall carpet everywhere it will absorb some of the noise. So I wonder if it makes a difference over concrete. I would think the floor would be a little warmer too.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

Mo difference in noise or anything. Did a LOT of grinding and powder coating this weekend on it. Everything swept right up. No spots, dents, or dings.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

Well about 9 weeks and still no problems. had a pretty bad one though that i was sure ruined it. made a big metal rack to hold metal stock, got done pretty late and decided i was gonna paint it real quick before bed. put it up on a cart, and sprayed it with that bed liner stuff in a can. i've never used it before and it sprays pretty hard. painted the hole thing and took a step back and my foot stuck to the ground. over spray everywhere. grabbed a rag and got going with mineral spirits on it, all came up just fine.

 

[slickgt1]

Good to hear. Yea I don't think you will have problems with it for a while. I have it in one of my rentals, the tenants are animals. **** is falling there all the time, I don't think they ever take off their shoes. When I make them pay for cleaning, then come over to check, the 2yo laminate looks like the day I installed it. I gotta say it is some tough cheap flooring. I did dent it when I dropped a paint can on it, but that was from a ladder. It also cleaned up well.

 

[Innov8tive1]

How is it for grip? I would think it would be a bit slippery for my liking in a shop. Looks good though.

 

[texasOFT]

I wonder how bamboo flooring would work in the garage - supposed to be unaffected by water and harder than oak but glues down.

 

[brucer]

you can probably wax it like vct flooring.

 

[CCMullen]

Getting ready to do the same to my shop/outbuilding. How has yours held up?

 

[brats.n.harleys]

Forgot all about this thread guys. Holding up real well, no stains, or marks. Does dent though when large steel objects fall