Racedeck Questions

[Rainier]

Greetings all, am new to this forum ...

Am in the process of converting a new, 2-car garage into a home automotive workshop. Wife is great and has said to have at it ... whatever makes me happy. :thumb up:

For flooring, have been looking at the Racedeck tile system but do have a few concerns/questions:

1. With the raised surfaces (e.g., Diamond, CircleTrac, etc) do floor jacks, tool chests get hung up when you roll them around?

2. How easy is it to keep the floor clean ... I can see where dirt/grease could get in the edges of the raised surfaces.

3. How resistant to oil, gas, etc. is Racedeck?

Thanks all!

 

[Garage Flooring]

Greetings all, am new to this forum ...

Am in the process of converting a new, 2-car garage into a home automotive workshop. Wife is great and has said to have at it ... whatever makes me happy. :thumb up:

For flooring, have been looking at the Racedeck tile system but do have a few concerns/questions:

1. With the raised surfaces (e.g., Diamond, CircleTrac, etc) do floor jacks, tool chests get hung up when you roll them around?

2. How easy is it to keep the floor clean ... I can see where dirt/grease could get in the edges of the raised surfaces.

3. How resistant to oil, gas, etc. is Racedeck?

Thanks all!

We sell Race deck
http://www.garageflooringllc.com/racedeck/ As well
As our TrueLock brand, coatings, mats etc.

They did a good job with the diamond. Things roll over it well. Sti I would go coin.

The tiles are great to clean up but yes some stuff might get between them. It does not pour down there but it can get under. If your floor has never been sealed I would use TrueLock B4 first.

It's pretty hard to stain one of their tiles. I'm sure it's done but it's tough. You would have to leave **** on it for a while.

A lot of guys for a working shop want a flor they can squeegee clean and tiles are not that floor. Rust Bullet or epoxy serves that purpose. With tile it's quick, easy and looks awesome. Very little chance of screwing it up and very functional --but not seamless.

 

[RaceDeck1]

Hi - Thanks for your interested in RaceDeck, I have answered your questions below

Greetings all, am new to this forum ...

Am in the process of converting a new, 2-car garage into a home automotive workshop. Wife is great and has said to have at it ... whatever makes me happy. :thumb up:

For flooring, have been looking at the Racedeck tile system but do have a few concerns/questions:

1. With the raised surfaces (e.g., Diamond, CircleTrac, etc) do floor jacks, tool chests get hung up when you roll them around? We engineered RaceDeck to allow toolboxes, creepers, rolling cars, etc to easily roll across and also give a good amount of slip resistance

2. How easy is it to keep the floor clean ... I can see where dirt/grease could get in the edges of the raised surfaces. The patent DiamondTread and CircleTrac patterns are radiused to keep dirt from getting trapped

3. How resistant to oil, gas, etc. is Racedeck? RaceDeck will resist most all house-hold chemicals , petro products, anti-freeze, brake fluid, etc.

Thanks all!

 

[cp64]

Racedeck FreeFlow is working perfectly for my situation. I would not put floorjacks on the free flow without some something to spread the shape.

 

[dubber]

Racedeck FreeFlow is working perfectly for my situation. I would not put floorjacks on the free flow without some something to spread the shape.

Agreed.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Racedeck FreeFlow is working perfectly for my situation. I would not put floorjacks on the free flow without some something to spread the shape.

Agreed.

I have a question for the two of you. We are a distributor of the RaceDeck® product. We've been competing for years and one thing just lead to another. Anyway we also have our TrueLock ribbed tiles. I have found that some people 'get it' and some people don't when it comes to ribbed tiles and trying to explain that they are cleaner, safer and dryer is a challenge. How would you explain it after using it -- to someone who just does not 'get it' and wants to go with a solid tile?

 

[DocRock]

Justin - I'd like to "get it". Please give me your take on why ribbed is "cleaner, safer and dryer" than solid. I have no problem with regular cleaning - I retire August 3rd so time isn't a significant factor. I'm expecting to sweep/mop once a month or so and mopping up snow melt as needed.

Solid seems a win in many ways; I prefer the look, cleaning off the solid surface seems easier than less work than getting everything up that drops into the ribbed tiles, fewer issues with jacks, dollies ...

 

[Garage Flooring]

Justin - I'd like to "get it". Please give me your take on why ribbed is "cleaner, safer and dryer" than solid. I have no problem with regular cleaning - I retire August 3rd so time isn't a significant factor. I'm expecting to sweep/mop once a month or so and mopping up snow melt as needed.

Solid seems a win in many ways; I prefer the look, cleaning off the solid surface seems easier than less work than getting everything up that drops into the ribbed tiles, fewer issues with jacks, dollies ...

I hope you know that was not meant towards you.

The situation:

Its the middle of winter. You've been out driving all day; perhaps parked at the office for a while and a few trips here and there. You've got this muddy black ice/snow build up behind the tires and snow and grime on the car itself. Its stinking cold outside and the last thought that enters your mind is to clean your car off before you enter the garage. You pull into the garage, go into the house, grab a beer, eat some dinner and retire for the evening. The next morning:

Solid Surface tiles: You have a messy puddle on them and obviously some of the water has gone through and evaporates and works its way out of the system. Your pretty garage floor got real dirty real quick and your a little worried about slipping on a plastic tile covered in moisture....

Ribbed tiles: The moisture goes straight through taking most of the dirt and grime with it. The moisture will work its way out of the system and evaporate. The angle of the ribs you really don't see what's below unless your trying to. If you get a sunny day you can hose the floor out through the tiles or vac right through them. Meanwhile your pretty garage floor stays pretty, the top surface is dry and you don't need to worry about it on a day to day basis.

The one thing that the industry does not stress enough: Regardless of if you have a solid tile, a ribbed tile, or not tile at all, if you have unsealed concrete and you live in a freeze thaw area, you have to protect your concrete. For the average two car garage we are talking less than an hour and a $100. We suggest TrueLock B4 or a basic densifer and waterproofer

 

[DocRock]

I should add, my garage is heated and for 30+ years the floor was unprotected. Floor is spalded (sp?) from salt and has pops from same. Snow met hasn't been a problem and most all the water evaporates by morning. I'm not sure sealing is of much value now especially if I'm putting in tiles.

I'm planning on solid tiles unless I get convinced to go with ribbed tiles.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I should add, my garage is heated and for 30+ years the floor was unprotected. Floor is spalded (sp?) from salt and has pops from same. Snow met hasn't been a problem and most all the water evaporates by morning. I'm not sure sealing is of much value now especially if I'm putting in tiles.

I'm planning on solid tiles unless I get convinced to go with ribbed tiles.

Do yourself a favor and make sure you put some landscape fabric down then... if the floor is in poor condition the solid tiles will be a little noisy and the landscape fabric will fix that....

 

[DocRock]

Justin, Thanks for the landscape fabric recommendation. It's in the plan.

 

[mikeyr]

a freeflow tile to ME is just a way to loose small parts under the floor.

I want a solid tile that I can see the small parts on and that is what I got near 15 years ago now. But my shop is a working shop, I don't park the daily drivers in the garage so I don't get much water in the shop. My old shop got flooded twice does that count as water ? the Racedeck's floated on top of the water and then let the water drain.

As for cleaning, simple dirt come off the diamond pattern quite easily. If you change a gearbox and work under the car for a few days, the oil will get everywhere and then the diamond pattern made it hard to clean the oil off...I finally got frustrated bought a gallon or lacquer thinner and poured it on the floor and used a broom to get them clean. I used to clean my floor monthly, now its yearly maybe. Its a shock how great it looks after a cleaning after 15 years and all the oil filthy jobs I have done on the tiles.

 

[Garage Flooring]

a freeflow tile to ME is just a way to loose small parts under the floor.

I want a solid tile that I can see the small parts on and that is what I got near 15 years ago now. But my shop is a working shop, I don't park the daily drivers in the garage so I don't get much water in the shop. My old shop got flooded twice does that count as water ? the Racedeck's floated on top of the water and then let the water drain.

As for cleaning, simple dirt come off the diamond pattern quite easily. If you change a gearbox and work under the car for a few days, the oil will get everywhere and then the diamond pattern made it hard to clean the oil off...I finally got frustrated bought a gallon or lacquer thinner and poured it on the floor and used a broom to get them clean. I used to clean my floor monthly, now its yearly maybe. Its a shock how great it looks after a cleaning after 15 years and all the oil filthy jobs I have done on the tiles.

RaceDeck cleans up incredibly well. No question about it. No tile is perfect for every application. Small parts is a concern, but not as much as you think. I decided to do a quick unscientific test

Samples is key. Touch it, feel it and try and destroy it. Well at least test it. Then decide what is best for you.

The first picture is what stayed on top and the second picture is what fell through

 

[SteveCh]

I've had the RD "ribbed" tiles for a couple years now. Maybe 3? Anyhow, I also have a smaller section off to one side of the garage with coin-pattern solid tiles where I use a table saw and bench grinder and chainsaw-chain grinder and a few other things. My theory in that solid-tile section was it would probably be easier to clean up sawdust and metal shavings and etc. It is, slightly, in that if I'm doing a lot of wood cutting, the sawdust does not become compacted beneath the tiles as I walk or stand on it.

But the FreeFlow [ribbed] tiles are great and I would not change them [and this is where my vehicles park and/or are worked on. Tractor, pickups, etc.] I have dropped a few items that fell through, such as a small nut or washer. Usually I can easily pick them out, couple times I used a magnetic pick-up tool.

Grunge from the cars falls or migrates through [if it's partially slushy or frozen, might sit there for a short while before melting through].

Maybe once a year I use the shop vac to pick up whatever's beneath the tiles.

Maybe once a year, I use the spray from a garden hose to rinse off the tiles.

I feel no noticeable difference in rolling resistance from anything that rolls across the FreeFlow. I move jacks, table saw, anything with wheels. As the table saw rolls from the solid tile to FreeFlow, the thing rolls just the same. No hassle. On my creeper: probably rolls even more easily than it did previously on bare concrete.

The ribbed tiles are, I find, much more comfortable to lie or kneel on than concrete.

I put down a little square of plywood scrap beneath jack stands [mine have the sharp edges on the legs] but that is common sense. I mean, tiles are plastic. I have not found the need to put ply beneath the jacks. No damage to any tiles of either solid or FreeFlow after using the jacks.

 

[azula]

Greetings all, am new to this forum ...

Am in the process of converting a new, 2-car garage into a home automotive workshop. Wife is great and has said to have at it ... whatever makes me happy. :thumb up:

For flooring, have been looking at the Racedeck tile system but do have a few concerns/questions:

1. With the raised surfaces (e.g., Diamond, CircleTrac, etc) do floor jacks, tool chests get hung up when you roll them around?

2. How easy is it to keep the floor clean ... I can see where dirt/grease could get in the edges of the raised surfaces.

3. How resistant to oil, gas, etc. is Racedeck?

Thanks all!

I can't answer number 1 as I have freeflow. The floor is very easy clean. I usually take a hose to mine every other week to wash out the dirt and grime. As far as oil, my tiles are very resistant to it. I take a towel and wipe up a spill then hose it down. The tiles are as good as new. I don't have any experience with gas leaks however. Good luck!