Racedeck installed, transition question

[BroncoAZ]

I installed ~700 ft2 of free flow tiles in my garage yesterday. I’m very pleased with the product and the results. I ended up centering the stripes on the garage door openings rather than starting off on one wall, resulting in more cuts for both sides but really not any more tiles. I did leave a 3/8-1/2” gap all the way around. I do have a pair of double doors and will be cutting a 10’ opening for a drive through door into my shop this year. I need to figure out a transition for these areas so I can roll tool carts, pallet jack, etc from the shop into the garage as needed. I don’t want to run the tiles under the doors into the shop and use standard transition pieces, and the complete tiles are short of these openings. I could buy the male ends from Racedeck and leave some exposed concrete at the doors, or I could cut the tiles close and use something like an aluminum transition secured to the floor. Anyone have experience with this?

Here’s some pictures. The transition areas are the last two pictures.



I was also thinking I might want to add tiles to the steps into the house. The steps are exactly 36” wide.

 

[Al G]

Have you looked at the Racedeck transition pieces? I think they're available for both sides.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Have you looked at the Racedeck transition pieces? I think they're available for both sides.

I have their female transition pieces at the garage doors, but in the back I’m in the middle of a cut tile so there isn’t anything to connect to. Too bad they don’t have half or quarter tiles available. I rolled the pallet jack with the garage fridge back onto the tiles last night, the floor compressed inward quite a bit when the wheels hit then returned to shape immediately, but a transition is necessary.

I saw these clips for Swiss Trax to clip the transitions to a half tile. Maybe something like this might work on the Racedeck.

Swisstrax Fasteners - 12 Pack

These little clips are used to connect edge pieces to a half-cut tile. This is useful for those with a garage with an offset for one of the doors. Adding a half tile allows you to bring the tile closer to the front of the 3rd car bay. I recommend using 4 fasteners per edge piece. Here's an...

www.obsessedgarage.com

 

[CJDave]

Call Race Deck and ask your question. CJDave.

 

[CombatNinja]

They sell all kinds of sizes of this stuff on Amazon and the big box stores. Just get the right height for the RaceDeck. It can be glued down. I'd probably do miter joints at that section where it looks like you are prepping for the upcoming drive-thru door so it looks 'finished'.

 

[LXCam]

Looks great Mitch, I like it. If none of those other solutions work out, I’d suggest a heavy duty threshold. Since about anything you’d buy at a big box store is going to have a bottom lip at the leading edge I’d rip a relief cut in the tile maybe 1/4 - 1/2” away from the edge so that lip can hold the tile in place and maybe grout under it so compression doesn’t f with you.

 

[Shea]

I installed ~700 ft2 of free flow tiles in my garage yesterday. I’m very pleased with the product and the results. I ended up centering the stripes on the garage door openings rather than starting off on one wall, resulting in more cuts for both sides but really not any more tiles. I did leave a 3/8-1/2” gap all the way around. I do have a pair of double doors and will be cutting a 10’ opening for a drive through door into my shop this year. I need to figure out a transition for these areas so I can roll tool carts, pallet jack, etc from the shop into the garage as needed. I don’t want to run the tiles under the doors into the shop and use standard transition pieces, and the complete tiles are short of these openings. I could buy the male ends from Racedeck and leave some exposed concrete at the doors, or I could cut the tiles close and use something like an aluminum transition secured to the floor. Anyone have experience with this?

Check out Tread-Ware. They make diamond plate transition strips for interlocking tiles. Their standard is a 3/4" drop, but they do custom orders for a 1/2" drop.

Transition Strip

Create a smooth and stylish transition between two different-level flooring options with our diamond plate transition strips, available in 2" widths.

www.tread-ware.com

 

[Blue XJ]

I staggered the joints between my floor tiles and edge transitions in order for them all to connect, maybe that is an option? My transition seams are centered in the floor tile edge, if that makes sense.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I staggered the joints between my floor tiles and edge transitions in order for them all to connect, maybe that is an option? My transition seams are centered in the floor tile edge, if that makes sense.

My issue is not having any transitions to clip on to where I need to cut the tile. I haven’t installed the additional garage door yet, probably in January.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

After looking at your pictures, it appears to me you have room to put another full row of tiles in the double door opening followed by the standard RD transition pieces that provide a ramp down to the concrete. Where you plan to add another garage door, it appears you have room for another row of full tiles and when you have cut your door in, there will be room for the RD transition pieces. This is what I would do. If the transition pieces would go under the door more than desired, I would apply the transition pieces without the extra row of full tiles. As for the steps, I would not apply RD tiles to them. I would use self-adhesive anti-slip on the treads and paint the rest.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I finally got this sorted out for both doors. For the transition pieces I cut down the tiles, flipped them over, made a template for the loops on the female transition pieces, and cut the template out with an exacto knife. Since these are for a man door and a rollup door between the garage and shop (not used daily) I think it will work out fine. I’ve had the man door done like this since January, no issues rolling a pallet jack or toolbox over it. I didn’t want to run full tiles under the rollup door because it would allow airflow from the climate controlled and dehumidified shop to the ambient temp/humidity garage. Full tiles would’ve covered the unfinished concrete, but when I laid some out it just didn’t look right from the shop side.

I also finished the steps with the Racedeck tiles. I was concerned just attaching the plastic to the steps might be slippery (especially for my 83 year old father who is coming to live with us full time at some point) so I ended up routing a 1/2” deep place for the tiles in a 2x6 to keep a wood lip on the front edge of the steps covered with grip tape. I used some glow in the dark grip tape to add contrast so someone doesn’t miss the steps and fall. If I were doing it again I’d have replaced the steps, these are off by half an inch left to right, so I had to modify the top step board to get the tile sitting at the correct angle. I like having the grip tape on the edges and don’t find the tiles slippery on the steps. I could also swap out the plastic tiles for their carpet tiles if dad finds them slippery. I still need to add railings for him, last summer he was using the fridge as a handhold. I used a piece of common board to secure some extra pieces of RD on the sill under the threshold. This area wasn’t finished before and there was a 1.25” gap under the sill to trip on. I plan on painting the steps and the pallets under the fridge and flammables cabinet gray at some point.

Transition

Steps