New guy here about to do my garage floor

[Shootnjunky]

New guy here.

Been trying to figure out what do do in my garage since building 5 years ago.

I have a L shaped garage, 3 cars wide with another 12ft behind the 3rd car.

Started shopping for epoxy floor solutions, but unsure of what I should do.

I live in the snow belt of northeast Ohio so for 2 of the 3 cars it is a mess in the winter. The 3rd is only my summer car and the back area has a garage door off the back for the snowblower and lawn tractor to exit.

Do I look at solid racedeck with open tiles where my drain is, or have a professional epoxy done?

I am guessing it's about 900ish square feet and I like the tile designs I have been seeing, but in looking through the pages here it appears there is no one size fits all approach.

So I figured I'd give you guys some info and look forward to some feedback.

Thanks

 

[Shootnjunky]

Ok just measured

Main is 32w x 20d = 640
Extra is 12w x 10d = 120

So 760sq'

 

[James-W]

Welcome to the forum.

You can do pretty much whatever you want to the floor, it all depends on your taste and your budget. A lot of people here did the floor themselves, others hired it done. Some of the floor coverings you can do yourself with very little problem and very little prep work, other stuff requires quite a bit of prep and some skill.

 

[Shootnjunky]

Any one better than the other in dealing with the weather where I live?

I really like the designs you can get with racedeck or it's equivalent. Just wasn't sure how they hold up, etc.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Welcome to the group.
We have a couple of garage flooring contractors/experts here on G.J. I am sure they will chime in shortly.

 

[Shootnjunky]

Thanks guys

 

[tig]

I went epoxy. I regret it every day I use my garage.

I had it professionally installed by a well known installer in 2007. I choose to do a paint chip mix.

I hate it.

It has not held up. In some places it is stained from oil and other stuff I've spilled. It has worn through where my tires rest. It is peeling up in several places.

you can see where it's worn though/pulled up in this pic:

If I drop a fastener it takes me forever to find due to the paint chips.

It looked nice originally. Now it just looks mungy.

If I ever do another workshop/garage floor it will be with porcelain tile. Indestructible, looks awesome, and stuff is easy to find. And not horribly expensive.

 

[Shootnjunky]

I went epoxy. I regret it every day I use my garage.

I had it professionally installed by a well known installer in 2007. I choose to do a paint chip mix.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/2611322811_41e0054057_b_d.jpg/IMG]

I hate it.

It has not held up. In some places it is stained from oil and other stuff I've spilled. It has worn through where my tires rest. It is peeling up in several places.

you can see where it's worn though/pulled up in this pic:
[img]https://c6.staticflickr.com/1/711/31899205285_9ca5e4a5b4_b.jpg

If I drop a fastener it takes me forever to find due to the paint chips.

It looked nice originally. Now it just looks mungy.

If I ever do another workshop/garage floor it will be with porcelain tile. Indestructible, looks awesome, and stuff is easy to find. And not horribly expensive.

Love the e30

 

[tig]

Love the e30

That's an E28.

 

[Shootnjunky]

Oops my bad. Is the red one in your profile also an e28

 

[Garage Flooring]

A good epoxy or a good garage floor tile system can both work really well. A lot depends on how the floor is used. We just got our RaceDeck for our detached garage at the new place

 

[tig]

A lot depends on how the floor is used.

True that. If you use an epoxy floor for anything other than parking cars, working on cars, cleaning cars, dropping fasteners, or otherwise interesting things you'd do in a garage then you're probably good to go.

 

[bullnerd]

True that. If you use an epoxy floor for anything other than parking cars, working on cars, cleaning cars, dropping fasteners, or otherwise interesting things you'd do in a garage then you're probably good to go.

Muhahaha! Howd I know you were going to say that.

Its looking like someone could make a killing selling cheap industrial porcelain tile!

 

[Shootnjunky]

Tig, Do you think it is just the top coat they used? or just the floor itself and the way you use it?

Although I spent some time in portland before coming to ohio I didn't make it to where you live, what are your winters like? Or is it really hot tire pickup that caused the issues, other than the one dealing with small parts on a chip floor.

 

[Shootnjunky]

oh and tig, disregard my dumb bmw questions I just scanned your thread and feel dumb since I should have picked up on the slant nose.

 

[tig]

Tig, Do you think it is just the top coat they used? or just the floor itself and the way you use it?

Although I spent some time in portland before coming to ohio I didn't make it to where you live, what are your winters like? Or is it really hot tire pickup that caused the issues, other than the one dealing with small parts on a chip floor.

I don't know what you mean about top-coat.

Winters are mild (it was 27 this morning). Summers can get hot (90 is hot).

The issues are caused by epoxy floors not being strong enough to stand up to 15 years of moderate use by an enthused car guy. Read my Garage thread to see the kinds of things I do in my garage. If you expect to do that kind of stuff and you want your floor to last more than about 5 years (when mine first started failing) don't use epoxy.

I'll take some more pictures of the stains and areas where it's come up when I get a chance.

 

[Armorpoxy]

We carry both epoxy and tiles. While the tiles cost more they are virtually failure-proof, plus they install in hours, not days. Epoxy is a much less expensive/sq ft option, but much more labor.

An epoxy floor if done properly will give many, many years of excellent service. We don't recommend fleck floors for 'working' garages since it does make the little parts hard to find when dropped.

Epoxy with primer, epoxy and topcoat runs in the $1.00/sq ft range. Our www.supratile.com run in the $3.00 range.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Should have looked at a quartz system vs. the flakes for auto-service.
Important to spell out the use to the installer/supplier so the correct products are recommended.

 

[Shootnjunky]

I have a guy coming tomorrow to tell me what he does and show some samples. Hopefully I know more about what they are offering so I can ask more informed questions

 

[dta1984]

I have a guy coming tomorrow to tell me what he does and show some samples. Hopefully I know more about what they are offering so I can ask more informed questions

I am also in the snowbelt, and plan to do a blend of Racedeck free flow tiles with the diamond tiles. Plan is for the free flow tiles to be underneath the cars, and the solid diamond tiles near the work and walk areas. Just an other option. That's the plan anyways...haha.

 

[Shootnjunky]

Ok guy came and had some great info.

However he talked about putting a polyaspartic top coat on rather than a normal epoxy.

What is the difference?

 

[509SC]

I believe it has several advantages, harder, faster curing and UV resistant. But I'm just a lurker, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

 

[Antoddio]

You can't bash an epoxy coating without knowing how the surface was prepared. Acid etching is the cause of most failures. Most contractors will diamond grind your floor but by the book that's only acceptable for a thin coating. Shot blasting is the way to prepare a floor for a reasonable epoxy. A moisture vapor barrier primer is also a very good idea.

Properly done you couldn't hurt a coating by whacking it repeatedly with a hammer. An epoxy top coat will scratch and may be affected by chemicals, poly urethane top coat will resist scratching and are strong. You can't really sand them as they will wear out the sandpaper first. Polyaspartic top coat is the most durable and chemical resistant but is the most expensive out of all. Also stinks to high heaven.

Bad installers give epoxy/resinous coatings a black eye.


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[Antoddio]

And poly urethane and polyaspartic are uv stable by nature. An epoxy needs an additive to prevent yellowing from uv light.


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[CJDave]

Shootinjunky, I am entering my third winter with my RaceDeck Free Flow floor. No complaints. Love it. Minimal surface prep and my wife and I laid our 500 sf garage in a couple of hours. Scrub it a couple of times a year with a soft broom and car wash soap. Southwest Ohio has snow and the drainage properties of the Free Flow are wonderful. Snow, ice and slush melt in the garage and run through the tiles and then follow the slope of the floor to the overhead door opening and out. Screw all of the prep and chemistry involved with epoxies. No problem with floor jacks but I do use a wooden cushion under the jack stands as a preventative measure. My avatar shows about half of my layout. Good luck. CJ Dave.

 

[Shootnjunky]

Still working on deciding on this. Have the one quote for the epoxy and now looking for pricing on the tiles.

Realized I also need to build a shed as part of this journey to clean out the garage and get the lawn stuff out there instead of where the cars are.

So one project became 2

 

[Cairo94507]

I have never seen an epoxy floor, professional or home installed, that lasted. Every single one has had lift spots, bubbles, stains, etc. I do not really care for the race deck type of floors because I just think they sound funky when walking on them and stuff falls down into them and makes a mess.

Though porcelain tile is a bit more expensive and more labor to install, I believe, in large part based upon all of the threads here and the many professional shops I have been in with porcelain tile on their floors, that is the only way to go. Do it once, do it right and never do it again.