Porcelain Tile Project

[deezee]

After lurking for a while I decided to take on a Porcelain Tile project for my garage. It's a 24 x 24 with a single double garage door with a heated floor. I do minor detailing and wanted a floor that was easy to keep clean. I built the garage in 1997 and used a gray floor sealer that held up well with no peeling but did wear off with time.

Sorry I did not take alot of before photos but I did take some progress shots.



An example of what the floor looked like before.


Used the refurbished Concrete Surfacing Grinder with Dedicated Dust Collection Shroud 1773AK I bought on Ebay with a diamond blade.


This NSS PIG took a beating. Leaked allot of concrete dust and filled two bags.


Another shot from a different angle.


I started grinding the floor May 1st and completed it around the middle of May.

More progress photos to follow.....

 

[deezee]

Started the layout as per the experts on here.


Then the setting of tile.










Cleaned up




I completed the floor around the second week of June.

 

[deezee]

I had never placed tile before. Would I do this project again? Yes on a smaller scale like a bathroom. Some of you will recognize the layout from here before. Yes Dakota00, thanks! Thanks to bdamico, Jack Olsen, slickgt1, SapesofIndia also. Lots of advice on GJ!

 

[Rubber_Duc]

Wow, nice, I got to do something like this in my garage, but I think i'm going the CVT tile route.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Looks great! It's been so long for me that I think I tend to forget what an intense job it was.

My arms were a little bigger when the job was finished, and I was glad I'd gotten a pair of cheap knee pads.

 

[deezee]

Thanks, I thought about VCT Rubber Duc, but I didn't like the maintenance issues with it.

I know Jack the knee pads saved me. Another item that helped me was a a Back Butter Buddy. I had to order from the USA as no one up here carried it.

 

[Dakota00]

Deezee, love the pattern

Floor looks great, it'll serve you well for many years to come!

 

[deezee]

First winter and almost a year since I did this project and I have no regrets. I went from this:

to this in less than an hour. Swept up the dirt and mopped with general cleaner. I highly suggest porcelain.

 

[duneslider]

Looks great, I even noticed you went with a urethane grout. Nice job. Looks like quality materials were used and you didn't just cheap out, it should last you forever.

In all my years doing tile I have never seen or heard of the back butter buddy.

As a DIY'er, what did you think of the quartzlock grout? How did you feel the install process went with it? I have used it a number of times and I like it, actually have some on my backsplash, but it is a little different than normal stuff.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I see you used Quartz lock grout. How stained is the grout? We put a color called silver gray Quartzlock in our kitchen and after 6 months, the grout is much darker , dirtier than side areas put of traffic patterns. I'm not super thrilled with it. I will be reaching out to Bostik, but for the cost, I expected "no seal" no stain grout to hold up under residential foot traffic in a single family home. Granted, I have been renovating, so a little more dirt than normal, but it's dark grey now. Thanks!

 

[duneslider]

I see you used Quartz lock grout. How stained is the grout? We put a color called silver gray Quartzlock in our kitchen and after 6 months, the grout is much darker , dirtier than side areas put of traffic patterns. I'm not super thrilled with it. I will be reaching out to Bostik, but for the cost, I expected "no seal" no stain grout to hold up under residential foot traffic in a single family home. Granted, I have been renovating, so a little more dirt than normal, but it's dark grey now. Thanks!

No stain doesn't mean no clean. You still have to clean grout. I have not heard of this issue with this grout. How are you cleaning the floor, particularly the grout? Most of my grout is standard grout that hasn't been sealed but I clean it appropriately and it looks good after nearly 10 years. I have found that most people don't really get it clean and the grout will discolor with time. Even stain proof grouts can get dirty, but they are cleanable.

Does your grout not get clean if you scrub it with a brush and appropriate grout cleaner?

 

[deezee]

Looks great, I even noticed you went with a urethane grout. Nice job. Looks like quality materials were used and you didn't just cheap out, it should last you forever.

In all my years doing tile I have never seen or heard of the back butter buddy.

As a DIY'er, what did you think of the quartzlock grout? How did you feel the install process went with it? I have used it a number of times and I like it, actually have some on my backsplash, but it is a little different than normal stuff.

It took me a number of tiles to get the hang of using the BBB but it would have taken allot more tiles to get the hang of it by hand.

It wasn't cheap, you have to keep your work area and time to a minimum but I was okay with that. I also liked that it came premixed so prep time and clean up was perfect. I would recommend it

 

[deezee]

I see you used Quartz lock grout. How stained is the grout? We put a color called silver gray Quartzlock in our kitchen and after 6 months, the grout is much darker , dirtier than side areas put of traffic patterns. I'm not super thrilled with it. I will be reaching out to Bostik, but for the cost, I expected "no seal" no stain grout to hold up under residential foot traffic in a single family home. Granted, I have been renovating, so a little more dirt than normal, but it's dark grey now. Thanks!

I'm glad I did go with the darker color. Honestly I cannot tell if it's stained or not and that's a good thing for a garage, but I would feel the same way as you if I had the same issues in our house that you do.

I used a general cleaner for the first wipe then vinegar and water for the rinse.

 

[Todd.Brock]

All fair questions. We are using a standard swifter type cleaner. While there have been heavy boots and remodeling work, the grout looks like it's been down for years and not sealed. Not four months. I have not used a grout specific cleaner. I just finished getting all the haze off with a product called Blaze.

Either way, just spoke with tech support, really nice folks. They recommended soft scrub and a tooth brush to gitr dun. It may be we expected too much from a stain resistant grout and not giving the grout a good special scrubbing. We had epoxy grout in our last house that was dark brown to match slate tile. I loved that stuff. I knew a light gray would be more maintenance, so I sprung for Quartz lock. I will try the soft scrub , and give it a few months to see how it goes. They recommended 50% water / vinegar mix, or miracle sealant line at Menards, stone tech at lowes or aquamix line at HD. Basically any cleaner that is ph balanced. No steam shark mop type things.

 

[duneslider]

That's what I assumed. What you have is build up on the grout. Think of it this way, how clean would your teeth be if you just swished some mouth wash now and then over 6 months but never brushed them?

What is happening with your swiffer is you are picking up some(most?) of the dirt but the bit that isn't picked up is getting wet. What is wet dirt? Mud, so you are making mud every time you "clean" and the mud is staying on the grout and building up.

I recommend vacuuming the floor, this will pick up most of the dust and dirt. Then mop with a good ph balanced floor cleaner. I use a microfiber flat floor mop. We used to use a dry swiffer in between normal cleanings but now just vacuum. However, it is still good practice to give the grout a good cleaning a few times a year. I generally use the same floor cleaner but use a scrub brush and go to town.

Stain proof doesn't mean clean proof. It still gets dirty but it is cleanable and dropping some spaghetti sauce won't stain it. Darker grout (closer to the color of mud) doesn't show the buildup as quickly but it is still there if it isn't cleaned up.

 

[duneslider]

Not to be a jerk but the haze is a result of improper installation. Haze can happen with all types of grouts but it tends to be more difficult to get off when using urethane/epoxy grouts, especially after it dries. It is a result of insufficient cleaning in the grouting process.

I think if you fine tune your cleaning process you will find you are much happier with the look of the floor.

 

[BIGSHOT]

What size are those tiles ?

 

[deezee]

What size are those tiles ?

12 x 12.

 

[Dakota00]

deezee,

thanks for posting an update!! That floor still looks awesome (as it should) after winter's aftermath was removed!

 

[duneslider]

Okay, I gotta ask. I spy a Sigma pull cutter in one of those pictures. Where did you come up with that? That is not what the typical DIY'er picks up to do a tile job? Those are fairly difficult to find in the USA and very expensive, I suspect they might be a little easier to track down in Canada but I doubt it. I do not see Sigma's very often.

 

[Dakota00]

^^^ LOL I noticed the same, and it's the big version as well. In Canada you can track them down, but you just need to know where to look!

 

[mnavillus]

i'm impressed you did a great job! thanks for the great photos

 

[deezee]

Thanks for the kind words. As for the tile cutter the local store let me use it for the month I did the work. Where I live we don't not have any big box stores, what that means is I paid a premium for the tiles but it also came with good advice and they let me borrow some tools along with it.

 

[duneslider]

Thanks for the kind words. As for the tile cutter the local store let me use it for the month I did the work. Where I live we don't not have any big box stores, what that means is I paid a premium for the tiles but it also came with good advice and they let me borrow some tools along with it.

That sounds like a pretty good tile place. Those cutters are in the $400-500 range and not something I have ever seen as a "loaner" tool.

I will always say that a real tile store will beat the big box stores in every way, unless you are only worried about the lowest price.

Floor looks fantastic though!

 

[Sylquebec]

Really nice floor, much water resistant than vct. Hard as a rock! Is this possible to let me know where you get your tiles? How much did you pay and what is the exact color and brand? I'm doing a porcelain floor this summer and i really like yours. Maybe i can source the same tile since i'm in canada too. thanks.

 

[OJ Bartley]

deezee, floor looks great after a hard winter! I can't wait to give mine a much deserved cleaning too.

Also... Back Butter Buddy?

If only I'd known.

 

[deezee]

Sylquebec: Maxcasa is the tile I have it's Mustang and Cottonball. It was discontinued and I paid around 4 buck a square foot.

Thanks OJ Bartley, unfortunately it's dirty again lol.

 

[deezee]

Update: Floor is holding out well. I have some hairline cracks in a couple tiles but no separation at all. If I recall when I installed them, there was a crack in the floor in that area. Also the edging I have around the pit has taken a beating from driving on it. To be expected as it never was meant to take the kind of abuse.

NewAge discontinued the color shortly after I purchased my cabinets. It always bothered me that I could not replace the red cabinets to match my existing taupe ones. So after a few trial and error color matching I found a color that is close and I recently finished the project. Color is close enough for me.
Before:
View media item 106450
After:
View media item 106451 View media item 106448

 

[larry4406]

Thanks for the 6 year update on the floor!

Still looks great!

 

[Dakota00]

The floor and cabinets look great!! Thanks for the update.