New concrete and RaceDeck/VCT

[46MGTC]

Hi all,

When I had the garage floor poured I asked that they not use a sealer as I was thinking about epoxy. Now I'm thinking about RaceDeck or VCT. If I put down the RaceDeck should I seal the concrete first or just leave it alone? If I understand correctly, if I go with VCT I should leave it unsealed. Correct?

Thanks.

 

[BerBer5985]

The VCT is probably goingto be the cheapest way to go and from what I've seen, it makes a nice looking, durable floor that's easy to replace a tile if one does happen to get cracked. I would seal it with the floor polish they make for it. It would create a nice looking floor that would resist spills and such much better than unsealed and it's easy to do. Just mop some on after the job is done.

 

[Shocker]

It all depends. I was in the same quandary. I love the look of epoxy, VCT and Racedeck. The things that helped me make the decision were the temps, the newness of the slab and time to install.

If your slab is new, you might have trouble getting epoxy or VCT tile adhesive to stick. Mine had some moisture in it for quite a while, so I left out the epoxy. VCT tile needs some warmer temps to install it and it was just getting colder out so that was a no go.

So I ponied up the $$$ for the Racedeck (well Garage Deck) It is very similar and made by the guys at RD. It has a different under tile design and a slightly lower load rating.

My slab was not treated in anyway. I ended up putting down some of the cheap laminate floor underlayment from Lumber Liquidators. It felt it has some nice positives. It added some insulation and makes the floor warmer, it is soft so it makes it a little nicer to walk on, it protects the concrete from any stains etc (I taped all the joints) and there is no clack clack when you walk on it.

So, in short, I love it. It looks great, was easy to put down and comes with a great warranty.

 

[mikeyr]

Several people have mentioned putting something under the Racedeck, how do you clean the tiles after you do that ?

I pour laquer thinner on my tiles once or twice a year to clean up the grease and ****, then scrub and get wipe them down. That thinner will get into the underlayment and stink up the place long after the thinner has evaporated.

I have found the easiest way to clean Racedeck is a gallon of cheap laquer thinner poured all over and a scrub brush and then GET OUT quickly while it evaporates, luckily I only find the time to clean my floor once or rarely twice a year. Sometimes I can get quite a grease buildup depending on many motors/gearboxes I have done, I think the worst was a clutch I did last year, the car had huge oil leaks for decades and was one huge grease pile underneath.

 

[Shocker]

Well, I have not had to use anything like you do to clean my floor. So far it is still being setup.