rob zeiger
Member
Hello all! I recently bought a new house and moved in at the end of august. I had always wanted a black and white checkered floor for my ponies to sleep on. I had bought VCT to do the garage floor at my other house which I never got around to installing. I figured that I could install it in the new garage, but the slab is not even enough and I was afraid that it would turn out looking like garbage.
I had found this forum shortly prior to my move. After determining that VCT would not be viable for the new garage, I began looking for an alternative. I researched interlocking tiles and found a few threads on Tuff-Seal flooring system. I obtained a sample packet and determined that it was the right product for me!
Now at just under $5 a square foot the product was not cheap, but I must say that you fully get what you pay for. Installation was a snap (bad pun intended) and fitment was great. I started by putting down the first row where the garage door meets the floor, and the the right wall front to rear to form an L from which to work off of. I then filled the large space in diagonally, until all the tiles that did not require trimming filled the main floor space. This took maybe 3 hours to do, and I stopped there for the day to do other chores.
The next day I worked on finishing the floor by trimming all the left and rear wall pieces to fit. Tuff-Seal advises that you can use a utility knife, vinyl tile cutter, or roto-zip type tool for cutting. I started by trying the utility knife method. This requires making an initiall cut across your line to score the tile. You then continue to make additional scores across the same cut until you get all the way through (it helps if you bend the tile after the second cut as the tension helps to make deeper cuts with each additional pass). This yielded the cleanest cut, but takes a little bit of time. I also purchase transition strips for where the tiles end and driveway begins. They are set in place but I need to glue them down.
Looking to save time, I tried cutting the next tile with my dremel tool, cutoff type wheel mounted. This was somewhat quicker, put produced smoke from the cutting process and left an unclean, melty edge on the tile. I opted to finish the job with the utility knife. While arduous, the end result was worth the effort. I will also add that I ordered the tiles to cover my 20'x22' floor. The Tuff-Seal website has a calculator that factors in an overage for tiles that need to be cut. I finished the job with 3 unused tiles, without wasting a tile on a mis measurement. That's about as good as I can ask for when calculating a job like this.
Having been inspired by the garages of other members on this board, I opted to paint the walls ValSpar Classic Red 4' up from the floor. I will also add a checkered border strip where the red and white meet, but I need to order that still. My tool chests and other misc equipment have been put in temporary position for now, awaiting the installation of a sears workbench and cabinets (that is a nightmare in progress right now, but I will save my words until the situation has been resolved).
Here are a few crappy pics I took at night with my wifes camera, I hope you enjoy them
I will have her take some good pictures with her super duper canon slr when I get the whole thing in order.
I had found this forum shortly prior to my move. After determining that VCT would not be viable for the new garage, I began looking for an alternative. I researched interlocking tiles and found a few threads on Tuff-Seal flooring system. I obtained a sample packet and determined that it was the right product for me!
Now at just under $5 a square foot the product was not cheap, but I must say that you fully get what you pay for. Installation was a snap (bad pun intended) and fitment was great. I started by putting down the first row where the garage door meets the floor, and the the right wall front to rear to form an L from which to work off of. I then filled the large space in diagonally, until all the tiles that did not require trimming filled the main floor space. This took maybe 3 hours to do, and I stopped there for the day to do other chores.
The next day I worked on finishing the floor by trimming all the left and rear wall pieces to fit. Tuff-Seal advises that you can use a utility knife, vinyl tile cutter, or roto-zip type tool for cutting. I started by trying the utility knife method. This requires making an initiall cut across your line to score the tile. You then continue to make additional scores across the same cut until you get all the way through (it helps if you bend the tile after the second cut as the tension helps to make deeper cuts with each additional pass). This yielded the cleanest cut, but takes a little bit of time. I also purchase transition strips for where the tiles end and driveway begins. They are set in place but I need to glue them down.
Looking to save time, I tried cutting the next tile with my dremel tool, cutoff type wheel mounted. This was somewhat quicker, put produced smoke from the cutting process and left an unclean, melty edge on the tile. I opted to finish the job with the utility knife. While arduous, the end result was worth the effort. I will also add that I ordered the tiles to cover my 20'x22' floor. The Tuff-Seal website has a calculator that factors in an overage for tiles that need to be cut. I finished the job with 3 unused tiles, without wasting a tile on a mis measurement. That's about as good as I can ask for when calculating a job like this.
Having been inspired by the garages of other members on this board, I opted to paint the walls ValSpar Classic Red 4' up from the floor. I will also add a checkered border strip where the red and white meet, but I need to order that still. My tool chests and other misc equipment have been put in temporary position for now, awaiting the installation of a sears workbench and cabinets (that is a nightmare in progress right now, but I will save my words until the situation has been resolved).
Here are a few crappy pics I took at night with my wifes camera, I hope you enjoy them
I will have her take some good pictures with her super duper canon slr when I get the whole thing in order.
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