New garage tiles question(s)

[Overthing-R-Us]

Hello all,

I am the proud owner of a new 2 car garage and after many sleepless nights of pondering flooring options I have decided, probably...it's a definite maybe...that I will go with tiles (leaning towards Racedeck at the moment).

I have been searching and I can't find anything on these 2 questions though:

1) I have a squat-rack (the cage type) and some pads for dropping Olympic weights. Can those go safely on top of garage tiles or should I put those on the concrete and cut tiles around them? I am not worried about the weight aspect, but stability. Will my squat-rack slide on the tiles if I put a loaded bar on it (when finishing a set for example)?

2) Can you mix and match mats and tiles? Say I wanted to put something like G-floor under a car, but tiles everywhere else. If anyone has done it, I'd love to hear their experience.

 

[kram71]

Great timing. A friend asked me if I thought a weight bench and 180 pounds of weights could be temporarily stored on Racedeck tiles for a few days without damage. I told him I did not know.

 

[16again]

Search for Chuckster in NJ. Someone asked about installing a lift on the RaceDeck directly. The owner of RaceDeck responded and said many lifts are installed on the tiles, including the lift in his own garage.

 

[Shea]

RaceDeck tiles are designed to support rolling loads up to 80,000 lbs. The key factor to remember with polypropylene tiles when you think weight is a consideration is pounds per square inch. As long as the object you plan to place on the tiles has a flat surface area, you will be amazed with what you can place on them.

Yes, 2-post and 4-post lifts can be installed directly on top of the tiles. People do this all the time. Large heavy metal cabinets filled with tools and other items are regularly used on interlocking tile. They all have foot pads with at least a 1" square area to level out the cabinets and rest on.

A squat rack should pose no issues as long as it sits flat. If you are worried about it moving, just drill through the RaceDeck and bolt it to the floor. This is the same thing that is done with car lifts.

What you don't want to do is place a heavy object on the floor that has an extremely small footprint. For example, a heavy metal work bench with angle iron legs. Jacking up cars is another example. The steel wheels have an extremely small footprint and can leave indentations in the tile. You need to place the jack on small piece of plywood before you jack anything up.

However, you can place a heavy car on jack stands as long as there is a flat surface area. The image below is a 3700 lb car on RaceDeck tiles with jack stands that have flat feet.

 

[Hanszmann]

I had a squat rack over tiles, and as you thought it does slides... so I drilled the tile and bolted it in the ground with a concrete bolt. After that it was rock solid.

Regarding your tiles, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to mix it, it's a matter of planing, height considering what type of tile you want to mix.., you might need some extra layer to level it out.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I would put a permanent squat rack on the concrete and tile around it. For saftey it should be bolted down -- check with rack manufacturer for specs on that. If you ever move it or take it out replaceing a couple tiles is easy