New build porcelain tile

[rg9400]

I posted in another thread but was recommended to start a new one for my usecase. I am about to start a custom home build from scratch, and I was thinking of doing porcelain tiles for my garage floor. I started this journey looking for something with a bit less VOCs/toxicity compared to epoxy, and when I found porcelain tiles as a potential option, I was very intrigued. My research seems to indicate it might be one of the best options out there even outside the VOC concerns.

You can see my garage floor plans below. 4 car garage, roughly 1300 square feet. It will be in the Chicagoland area, so lots of snow.

I had found these tiles as a potential option: https://www.msisurfaces.com/ceramic-porcelain-tile/?dynamicfriction=zeroslip+anti-slip. They have a DCOF > 0.65 and a PEI of 4.

Questions:

1. Are there any better tiles out there? I don't care about cost and am just looking for a durable, no slip option that looks as nice as possible
2. I was mainly interested in the Traktion Maven line in the attached. The Talc color is very white and I assume it would get dirty easily? Is the Gris color the safest choice if I don't want to be constantly cleaning it?
3. These come in two sizes. 12” x 24” (pressed edge) and 24” x 48” (rectified edge). I wanted to do the larger sizes for aesthetic purposes, but I had briefly seen some concerns about rectified edges. Is the larger size doable, or it will cause problems?
4. It was mentioned in the other thread in an answer, but I figured I would ask again here. What are some good grout options that limit the amount of cleaning I would need to do for salt, snow, rain, etc.?
5. My contractor has never installed porcelain tiles in a garage. He has only really done epoxy, and so he indicated a bit of discomfort with this. My takeaway is that he may not want to be blamed in case things go wrong, and he also may simply not know how to do this properly. I am not someone who understands any of the construction aspects. Does anyone know of any subcontractor or vendor that I could talk to in Illinois/Wisconsin area that would be a good choice for installation? It seems like installation quality matters a lot, and I am okay paying professionals to do it for me. I just need to find someone who can do it really well.
6. I trust my builder and think he has decades of experience in general. If I wanted to have him do it, would there be any sort of similar installation or guide that could help him figure out how to do this?

 

[duneslider]

I am just making some assumptions here but this house doesn't seem like a budget build. I am assuming a custom home with nice finishes. To me that means whoever is doing the tile inside your house knows what they are doing, they are a good tile setter that does highend work on the regular. I would be shocked if anyone doing that level of work would have concerns about doing a garage. Just because your GC hasn't tiled a garage doesn't mean his tile setter is worried about this type of work. If this were me, I would ask the gc to setup a meeting with you and the tile setter. Let them know you want a tiled garage and ask them to tell you what their plan would be to make that happen.

I would be happy to critique their plan after you meet with them if it would make you feel better.

I wouldn't get too worried about the tile selection. What you have picked is a great option. But go find a dealer and get a sample and see how it feels under foot when wet.

There literally are a ton of grout options, wait and see what your tile contractor suggests. They are most likely going to have a preferred brand.

Let's get this cleaning/dirty/staining thing out of the way. The tile itself is impervious to liquid/staining/etc. Anything on the tile is just surface stuff. Sure a lighter color will "show" dirt faster than a bit darker color but they will both be the same dirty. This is just like a white car and a grey car. The white shows dirty faster than a grey car.

Regular cement grout is porous and needs to be sealed regularly. You can use topical sealers that will work well and hold up well but they are a little more likely to get stained.

Epoxy and Urethane grouts usually don't need sealing and won't stain. ALL grouts get dirty and will need cleaning. I bet grout in the garage will hold up better than in your kitchen.

Again, I wouldn't be surprised if your GC doesn't have experience tiling a garage but I bet your tile contractor isn't too worried.

Also, those plans say you are using Pre-cast slabs, I find that to be an interesting note? Is this a suspended slab with living space below? How I am reading it is there is a precast slab with a rubber sealer over it and then a 5" poured concrete over that?

 

[rg9400]

Regarding the slabs, I'm not too sure as this is well beyond my knowledge. That said, yes, we are building underneath the garage for a home gym, and so that might be related to the specs.

Thanks for your detailed response, it was very helpful

 

[duneslider]

Rectified tile just means the tile was CUT to the size it is after firing. Non-rectified is tile that was molded and fired and you end up with what you have. Rectified should be much more uniform in size and the edges much "nicer". I love working with rectified tile, it goes in better. You will also want the concrete contractor to do a particularly "good" job with the finishing to make sure it is FLAT. The bigger the tile the FLATTER the floor needs to be.

Bigger tile is more difficult to install. 24x48 is BIG and I would charge a fair bit more to install it. The 24x48 is 4 times the size and weight of a 12x24. I did 24x48 tiles on one wall of my shower and they were a bear to work with, looks great but for sure more work and cost. If you have the money and your tile guy is fine working with that size go for it. For example, a 12x24 I can hold in one hand and back butter it. When doing 24x48 I have to setup a table to lay the tile on while I back butter it and then it takes two guys to pick it up, flip it, and set it.

Sweet on the suspended slabs, I was going to do that when I built my house but the covid lumber prices killed that for me.

 

[dcg9381]

Other can the generalized concern for substantial pressure on the tiles, which will require a very flat surface and a very professional tile installation, the downside is grout. If you go this route, 100% use epoxy grout. Costs a little more, but well worth it.

Your builder (if anything like my GCs) is not a tile expert, he's got a sub that does the tile. The sub is probably the guy you want to talk to. And I might talk to multiple subs / tile experts out there before I decided to go this route. Removing tile *****....

I like your architect/GC... Lots of very important details in there that I often see missed in other plans.

 

[logical]

I am also building new with an abnormally good size garage(s)...about 2000 total sq ft on the main level, part of it with a suspended slab and more garage underneath. I'm waaaay over budget and still unsure about epoxy, polyaspartic, tile, clear sealed, or bare floors...so I'll be following. I think there are low VOC coatings worth looking into.

One thing I'd change with your plans is the 2'6" walk/man/service door. I'd make that a full 3' opening. Sure, big stuff can come in the overhead doors but it's still nice to have a good size walk door.

 

[duneslider]

Gotta love the build budget! I started my house at the beginning of covid, my lumber budget alone jumped over 40k. We had 60k in our contingency budget and that was gone before trusses arrived. I was 100k over budget at the end of framing (so just excavation, foundation, lumber, trusses).

 

[Zpoor17]

Should ideally be using 2cm paver tile if going down this path for a car garage and not regular indoor tile.

 

[duneslider]

Should ideally be using 2cm paver tile if going down this path for a car garage and not regular indoor tile.

This makes zero sense. Regular tile will hold up just fine. That said, nothing wrong with paver tiles either but totally not necessary or really the right product in this situation.