New VCT Install

[thrytis]

Thanks to all of you that have posted your experiences here! This was a great resource for researching flooring options.

I was originally looking at epoxy for my 2 car garage used for one daily driver and woodworking. After extensive cleaning i still had small spots that i questioned if epoxy would hold, and the cost of renting a grinder or shot blaster would have pushed the cost up signficantly. I ended up going with VCT.

I thought about doing the black and white checkered pattern, but i was concerned about tire staining on the white and how dark the black would make the room. The Armstrong site had great information for picking colors for light reflection. I picked a color that is bright and hopefully will conceal tire staining and hide dirt and added some accents to keep the floor from looking too boring.

Attached before cleaning and after install shots.

Thanks!

Eric

 

[skullhead]

Looks great, can't wait to do my floor. It's amazing what a difference a nice floor makes in the garage.

 

[CJseven]

Whats something like that run a square foot?

 

[gregs]

Did you also wax it or is that just the tile?

 

[Rothaus]

Thanks to all of you that have posted your experiences here! This was a great resource for researching flooring options.

I was originally looking at epoxy for my 2 car garage used for one daily driver and woodworking. After extensive cleaning i still had small spots that i questioned if epoxy would hold, and the cost of renting a grinder or shot blaster would have pushed the cost up signficantly. I ended up going with VCT.

I thought about doing the black and white checkered pattern, but i was concerned about tire staining on the white and how dark the black would make the room. The Armstrong site had great information for picking colors for light reflection. I picked a color that is bright and hopefully will conceal tire staining and hide dirt and added some accents to keep the floor from looking too boring.

Attached before cleaning and after install shots.

Thanks!

Eric

I wish I choose the tiles ! I used the quikrete epoxy which is not holding up. I'm disappointed and would not recommend.

 

[thrytis]

Whats something like that run a square foot?

The tile at Lowes or HD is $0.68/square foot. I think they run a 20% off special order flooring sale a couple times a year, like Lowes is running at the moment. In addition to the tile, you'll need adhesive ($10-20/gallon, took me about 1.5 gallons for a little over 400 sq ft), polish (~$20/gallon, which did 5 coats for me), and a transition strip at the door (~$10 for 16' opening). For tools, you'll need a notched trowel (~$10), 100 lb roller (~$15/day rental), tile cutter (~$15/day rental), and a chalk line ($5-10). There are other ways to cut the tile besides a vinyl tile cutter, but i doubt anything nearly as easy.

That photo was right after the third coat of polish. The tiles by themselves aren't very glossy.

 

[04 Navi]

The tiles look great, I am just concerned how they would hold up to water. I like to wash my trucks in the garage and I would think that the tiles would not like that.

 

[Kong]

Seal and wax the tiles. Wash all the cars and trucks you want. If you are frequently soaking the floor make sure you seal the edges of the tiles along the walls, etc.

VCT has been used for years as the standard floor covering in commercial areas (safeway, walmart, etc. ) that require frequent cleaning and water resistance with a hard surface.

Kong

 

[Kong]

By the way, your floor looks great Thrytis!

Kong

 

[mblgjr]

Forgive my ignorance, but can you jack a car up on the VCT without it coming up/curling?

I'm trying to decide what to do with my garage floor...

 

[macmic87]

will this tile system work for an unheated garage in the northeast. i just can't convince myself that there is a good system that i can use in the enviroment i have.

 

[thrytis]

I don't think there is a concern with the tiles coming up or curling due to a car jack, but denting is a concern. I think most people using jacks on VCT use something under the jack like a piece of plywood.

If you search through the archives you'll find some reports of people with VCT installed in the north without problems. Armstrong says to keep the VCT above 55 degrees, though most people agree here that it isn't necessary. I don't have any experience on this yet, though my garage never got below mid forties even before i added insulation.

Eric

 

[SteveB]

I have now experienced my first winter with a VCT garage floor. I live in the Pacific NW, the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, unheated but insulated garage.
On a real cold day you may notice a very slight contraction of the tiles, the seams are apart in a few areas where I probably didn't **** them close together during installation. I'm talking about 3 or 4 tiles, where you can actually see a seam opening, less than 1/16". With the warmer temps the tiles have expanded and filled in these areas.

There has been no lifting, cracking or any other sort of degradation to my floor. My local dealer told me that warm temperatures are critical to a good installation but after 4-5 days the chemical process is complete and the VCT's are "melted" to the concrete.

I do have the dreaded brownish stain from car tires contacting the VCT, more so from my car and its high performance treadwear rated 200 tires, than from my wife's car and its harder compound rubber. I have been able to scrub most of it but planned on this happening so the tiles directly under our cars are a darker colour than the rest of my garage so this staining is not as apparent.

Rolling about on a creeper will leave some tracks but a periodic cleaning took care of that.

Yes, you will require some sort of thin platform under a car jack to avoid indentations in the VCT, especially in the hot weather. I use a piece of 1/4" metal sheeting about 1' X 2'.

Overall I am happy with a VCT garage floor. As I have stated before on this forum I do not weld, use heavy machinery or have vehicles that constantly leak fluids in my garage. Any fluids that have spilled, including engine and ****** fluids have wiped up easily with a paper towel and left no permanent discoloration.

My garage area is 550 sq. ft. Total cost for VCT including product, rental equipment, prep materials and cleaner was $600.

 

[Jason B]

I have now experienced my first winter with a VCT garage floor. I live in the Pacific NW, the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, unheated but insulated garage.
On a real cold day you may notice a very slight contraction of the tiles, the seams are apart in a few areas where I probably didn't **** them close together during installation. I'm talking about 3 or 4 tiles, where you can actually see a seam opening, less than 1/16". With the warmer temps the tiles have expanded and filled in these areas.

There has been no lifting, cracking or any other sort of degradation to my floor. My local dealer told me that warm temperatures are critical to a good installation but after 4-5 days the chemical process is complete and the VCT's are "melted" to the concrete.

I do have the dreaded brownish stain from car tires contacting the VCT, more so from my car and its high performance treadwear rated 200 tires, than from my wife's car and its harder compound rubber. I have been able to scrub most of it but planned on this happening so the tiles directly under our cars are a darker colour than the rest of my garage so this staining is not as apparent.

Rolling about on a creeper will leave some tracks but a periodic cleaning took care of that.

Yes, you will require some sort of thin platform under a car jack to avoid indentations in the VCT, especially in the hot weather. I use a piece of 1/4" metal sheeting about 1' X 2'.

Overall I am happy with a VCT garage floor. As I have stated before on this forum I do not weld, use heavy machinery or have vehicles that constantly leak fluids in my garage. Any fluids that have spilled, including engine and ****** fluids have wiped up easily with a paper towel and left no permanent discoloration.

My garage area is 550 sq. ft. Total cost for VCT including product, rental equipment, prep materials and cleaner was $600.

Can we see some pics? Also, I read some "mop on the clear coat", and some use a "buffer". Does the mop on way work well too?

 

[SteveB]

Jason, I have previously posted photos of my garage so to save the rest of y'all from terminal boredom I'll include this link to my Cardomain site instead.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/281382/14


I was thinking of renting one of those professional buffing machines and go for that super-shine but my garage isn't that large and I'm happy with the finish I achieve from sponge mopping on the Armstrong Polish.

 

[curlyws6]

I wish I had never seen this thread... I was ready to do epoxy (probably rustoleum brand) but the VCT looks really good . Irregularities in the floor will make the installation of VCT more difficult, correct? I know there are some 'low' places in my slab that would possibly become very pronounced with VCT .

I hope that anyone with a VCT floor will post up their experiences (good or bad) and pictures. Decisions, decisions!

 

[boiler7904]

I wish I had never seen this thread... I was ready to do epoxy (probably rustoleum brand) but the VCT looks really good . Irregularities in the floor will make the installation of VCT more difficult, correct? I know there are some 'low' places in my slab that would possibly become very pronounced with VCT .

I hope that anyone with a VCT floor will post up their experiences (good or bad) and pictures. Decisions, decisions!

How low are the places that you mentioned? Every commercial VCT install I've ever seen (50 or 60) required some amount of leveling compound to allow the VCT to be installed. Find a cement based leveling compound and apply as directed. Self-levelers won't work because your floor is pitched (at least it should be) and all of the material would pool at one end of the garage. I would think that Home Depot, Lowes, or a flooring distributor will have it in stock. There are acrylics out there that have one major problem. Should water penetrate the VCT and get to the leveling compound, it will re-emulsify (sp?) and start to soften. No real way to fix that but pull it up and start over.

As long as you eliminate large ridges, chunks, and pits, VCT will go on the floor without a problem as long as the slab is within tolerance. If you are within 1/8" of level in a 10' radius, you should be ok.

 

[curlyws6]

Thanks for the information... I'll have to look around this weekend for my options of making sure the floor is level.

 

[thrytis]

I think one advantage of using a mop to apply the polish rather than a buffer is that it is less slick. I've had saw dust and water on my floor so far and haven't noticed it being slippery. It isn't as shiny as using a buffer though.

My garage had a ridge down the middle (i'm sure over 1/8" over 10') I tapered it out 18" on both sides using i think Henry 547 underlayment. It was a pain to do (i had never worked with concrete before), but it looks fine with the tiles over it so far. Of course the real test will be how it looks in five years.

Eric

 

[thrytis]

I just sold this house, so I thought I would give a 9 year update on my experience with VCT. These photos are just after stripping, resealing, and polishing the floor. I had done some scrubbing with a scotch pad and did some light sanding with a random orbit sander, though it probably would have cleaned up some more with some additional work.

The car tires did leave some marks. They don't stand out like a sore thumb, but you can see them.

I ended up putting clear mats under the tires to park on so I'm not sure what it would have looked like long term without them.

There are a some other stains on the floor, likely caused by plastic/rubber feet from tools. There are a few of tiles with small cracks in them, with the one below probably being the worst. A small gap developed down the center of the garage where there was the expansion joint and ridge also shown in the picture.

As the temperature changed slight gaps between some tiles would appear/disappear, but nothing that really bothered me. I never had a tile come loose though.

The feet of some heavy tools (e.g. 400 lb. table saw) did leave temporary dents in the floor, but I didn't notice anything after I had everything out for a couple of weeks and was dowe on my hands and knees cleaning the floor.

Probably the biggest problem I had with the tiles is adhesive oozing up through the floor in a few places. I think this was probably due to moisture from the slab coming up, dissolving the adhesive, and pushing it up between the tiles. This occurred periodically over years. I might clean up one spot and have it come back a year later. I had tested for moisture prior to putting the floor down, but moisture levels change based on the weather so what might not have been a problem when I tested became one later. Perhaps using a different adhesive (I used a Henry VCT adhesive) might have helped.

Overall I was happy with the floor. It really transformed the feel of the space. It was nicer working on it than concrete (cleaning up, preventing/reducing damage to dropped tools, being down on it when I had get down on the floor, etc). It did take a little more work to maintain, but I really didn't mop and polish a whole lot, especially the last few years, and the only time I stripped it was at the end before I sold it. I think it held up pretty well. It wasn't pristine after all this time, but I think it still looks a lot better than your typical garage floor.

 

[Shea]

Great job on the install and maintenance. It almost looks like it was installed yesterday!