Racedeck Cutting Methods: Sheers vs. Saw

[azula]

Hello everyone,

I just received my order of racedeck flooring. Shamefully, I must admit that I have 0 experience with any type of saw, although I've read a table saw is the best method. I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with THIS product. Is it harder to make cuts with the tile cutter as opposed to a saw? If need be, I will learn. lol. Thanks!

 

[Croixboy]

Your link isn't working for me, but I found a cheap ($25) tablesaw on craigslist and a new blade ($8) at lowes that worked great for me. I think a tablesaw is tool of choice for cutting these tiles especially if you have to cut like 1" off 22 tiles going the length of your garage. Where are you located?

 

[Peters44]

If you are not interested in buying or renting a saw/hand saw and learning how to safely use them why not lay out the floor yourself and find a friend with tools or hire someone to make the cuts for you.
It may be the safest and cheapest way in the long run unless you are looking for the enjoyment/experience of doing it yourself.


Peter

 

[dubber]

Hello everyone,

I just received my order of racedeck flooring. Shamefully, I must admit that I have 0 experience with any type of saw, although I've read a table saw is the best method. I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with THIS product. Is it harder to make cuts with the tile cutter as opposed to a saw? If need be, I will learn. lol. Thanks!

I don't think that would be the best option, although it may work. Its also pretty expensive. For that price you could buy a decent table saw. I just used a skill saw. The more teeth the better for a super clean cut. However in saying that i just used the basic blade that came with my saw and it was fine. I did need to just touch up the edges with an exacto knife but it worked out great.

 

[SteveCh]

I was gonna use my table saw, but just to try one cut out the night I started my installation, just to see how it would go, I simply used my hand-held saber saw ["jig saw" some call it] with a fine-toothed metal-cutting blade. It worked so well, the next day I kept using it and never bothered with the table saw. The bade left the occasional little bit of plastic hanging from the tile, very minor, and I rubbed it off with my gloved hand or a piece of wood. I marked the tiles with a marker pen and just cut the line free-hand. Worked great. Use a fine-toothed blade to keep a nice, smooth cut.

 

[KristianS]

I used my $30 BD miter saw.. super easy.

 

[NUISANCE]

Spending $330 on a tool you will only use for this install is a waste. I would go with the other options of a jig saw, table saw or circular saw and pick the tool that will work for not only this job but other future projects. A tool that you purchase should be an investment, not just take up shelf space when you are done.

If this is the only project you are doing in the near future check tool rental places and see what they have that will let you get this done.

 

[nehog]

Hello everyone,

I just received my order of racedeck flooring... THIS product. ...

The max that (expensive) HD cutter will cut (width) is about 13" Isn't Racedeck wider? I tried to check at their web site, but that was a horrible experience!

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I was named the least handy person on the Garage Journal forum 3-years in a row. However, i borrowed my neighbors HF table saw, bought a blade for cutting plastics and it was simple to make cuts when I layed my RaceDeck floors. The guide arm on the table made it super simple to make perfectly straight cuts. See if a neoghbor has a saw or consider purchasing one at HF it will be worth the investment.

 

[firemailwv]

I just installed 1150 sq ft of Racedeck and I made every cut with a dewalt circular saw and an Irwin vinyl siding blade. I used a jig saw for the circular cuts around the hot water tank and drain for the shop sink. Very easy to cut and I see absolutely no need to purchase any type of expensive tool to cut the tile. A carpenter square, sharpie and circular saw is all you need.

 

[James-W]

I just installed 1150 sq ft of Racedeck and I made every cut with a dewalt circular saw and an Irwin vinyl siding blade. I used a jig saw for the circular cuts around the hot water tank and drain for the shop sink. Very easy to cut and I see absolutely no need to purchase any type of expensive tool to cut the tile. A carpenter square, sharpie and circular saw is all you need.

I bet a scroll saw would work super good for making curved cuts. I have a scroll saw mounted on a stand and the daughter uses it to cut out little wooden stuff for presents. I plane down some boards to 1/4 inch thick and she draws little figures on them. The she cuts them out and paints them. The scroll saw works great for that and I bet it would work great for those tiles too.

 

[risc]

Your link doesn't work but "tile" cutters aren't what you want. A jigsaw would be the cheapest option and a table saw would be best for a lot of straight cuts.

 

[CJDave]

I put down 500 sf of RaceDeck Free Flow in September. I needed to trim 20 tiles and used a circular saw with a paneling/plywood blade. The blade speed did cause some melting of the shards that wanted to stick to the edge of the cut but wiped away very easily. No damage to the tiles. If you have access to a table saw I would think that it would work just fine. Dave.

 

[Excelerater]

Jig saw or borrow the big 800.00 chopping board like I used
I used to be an installer for Swisstrax,could knock out a 3 car garage w my helper
in 4 hours

 

[BoostAddiction]

I just installed about 750 sq ft of the Swisstrax that GarageFlooringLLC sells.

I used a circular saw for the straight cuts, a jig saw for the short odd cuts, and a 3.5" hole saw for the tile that need to go where a pole was.

I used a combination of paper templates for cutting odd shapes (as around the lift columns), and painters tape stretched between two marks to aid in cutting straight lines.

The blade I used on the circular saw was a little coarse, and I chipped out a few pieces when the back of it caught. It would have been perfect if I had bothered to use a finer blade, or had better techinique.

I tried to cut a little oversize, then used a belt sander to perfect the edge and get to a perfect fit. A couple of sand-and-fit iterations, and the tile usually fit well.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Its all about blade and temperature. Plastics/laminate cutting blade on the saw of your choice. Then give it a rest when it gets hot. Next piece of advice, spend 10 minutes and set a jig. You will likely have dozens of identical cuts.

IF it is a large job, check with the manufacturer. They may lend you a sheer if you agree to ship it back

 

[azula]

Thanks for the awesome information everyone. I've decided to invest in a table saw and use that. This will be my first time using one. Is there a specific blade I should purchase that will give me the best results? Or is the stock blade okay?

 

[Garage Flooring]

Please see previous comments. Its all about the blade. Plastics/laminate cutting blade.

 

[hilld]

I know this is an old thread, but I just installed 700 sq ft of RaceDeck a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine installs siding for a living, so I borrowed his Hardie Plank Shear (very similar to the one linked in the first post). It worked great, except for the cuts I had to make around corners. I used the free flow tiles, so I cut the odd shapes using a pair of side cutters and it turned out great.

First pic has the shear in there (might be a game of I spy).



A couple more pics, sorry for the mess.