Racedeck trim?

[JackOfDiamonds]

I'm contemplating race deck but I am worried about how the edges will look.

I know they have end pieces for the garage door or places you want the race deck to stop, but what about where it butts up against a wall? Are you supposed to use normal baseboard trim there to cover up the ragged edge? In my garage, I have a concrete curb there, so it might not be easy to put a trim board down.

 

[CuriousG]

If you pay attention to your cuts it looks fine. A laminate floor cutter is a lot cleaner than a saw.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I thought you have to leave a gap to allow for expansion though? No way would my brain accept that if there's a big gap at the edges.

 

[Shea]

A 1/2" gap is required. You can't **** it up tight against immovable objects. If you can cut a board clean, then you can cut the tiles clean It's not something that stands out when looking at the floor. Some people do use baseboard, vinyl cove, etc. to tidy up the sides.

 

[larry4406]

A 1/2" gap is required. You can't **** it up tight against immovable objects. If you can cut a board clean, then you can cut the tiles clean It's not something that stands out when looking at the floor. Some people do use baseboard, vinyl cove, etc. to tidy up the sides.

I read here on GJ where folks painted a small portion of the floor adjacent the stem wall/curb black and then painted the stem wall/curb black. This makes the expansion gap “disappear”. This is my plan when I get around to installing my RaceDeck.

Alternatively, I’ve read where folks apply a trim to the stem wall/curb with a thickness greater than the expansion gap with the floor tucked under. This seems more like a PIA to me.

 

[89MustangGX]

I read here on GJ where folks painted a small portion of the floor adjacent the stem wall/curb black and then painted the stem wall/curb black. This makes the expansion gap “disappear”. This is my plan when I get around to installing my RaceDeck.

I brought a tile to Sherwin Williams and had them tint a concrete "stain" to match. After cleaning the concrete with TSP, I painted around the edges of the floor a couple inches in and the stem wall. It looked seamless and never bothered me, coming from someone who is very picky about things looking right.

 

[larry4406]

I brought a tile to Sherwin Williams and had them tint a concrete "stain" to match. After cleaning the concrete with TSP, I painted around the edges of the floor a couple inches in and the stem wall. It looked seamless and never bothered me, coming from someone who is very picky about things looking right.

I thought about that. Won’t work for me. I will have a checkerboard pattern of blue and black.

Maybe I will have SW match the black.

 

[89MustangGX]

I thought about that. Won’t work for me. I will have a checkerboard pattern of blue and black.

Maybe I will have SW match the black.

Or maybe even match the wall color? I think the key is that it looks finished and not like you missed something, so whatever you pick will look great.

 

[Doonsberry]

You probably could just glue vinyl base to the concrete with construction adhesive. You know the **** they did bathroom rooms in the 70's. I have seen it in black & gray. But you will have to be tight your cuts because you will be lucky if it will cover a half inch.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LON29D2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[CSRPenFab]

I thought about that. Won’t work for me. I will have a checkerboard pattern of blue and black.

Maybe I will have SW match the black.

I had a blue and alloy 2’x2’ checker in my prior RD garage. I still painted the curb and about 1” of floor black. I just used basic semigloss house paint since it won’t get any wear. It still looked good, and hid the exposed concrete expansion area.

 

[RaceDeck1]

I had a blue and alloy 2’x2’ checker in my prior RD garage. I still painted the curb and about 1” of floor black. I just used basic semigloss house paint since it won’t get any wear. It still looked good, and hid the exposed concrete expansion area.

Very clean installation..

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I had a blue and alloy 2’x2’ checker in my prior RD garage. I still painted the curb and about 1” of floor black. I just used basic semigloss house paint since it won’t get any wear. It still looked good, and hid the exposed concrete expansion area.

Thanks for posting this picture. I guess this shows that if you cut the edge perfectly straight, it can look finished even without trim. I have been assuming the tiles would either have the tabs still sticking out, if you use full tiles, or would have a rough jagged / fuzzy edge from being cut, if you had to cut tiles. My question is how you got those tiles cut so perfectly straight. Did you use a special cutting tool?

 

[Garage Flooring]

Hardboard siding trim board glues very nicely to cement curbing. Prepaint it and it makes awesome finish for tiles

 

[CSRPenFab]

Thanks for posting this picture. I guess this shows that if you cut the edge perfectly straight, it can look finished even without trim. I have been assuming the tiles would either have the tabs still sticking out, if you use full tiles, or would have a rough jagged / fuzzy edge from being cut, if you had to cut tiles. My question is how you got those tiles cut so perfectly straight. Did you use a special cutting tool?

Those were cut face down on a table saw. Very easy and you get a clean cut.

 

[89MustangGX]

Those were cut face down on a table saw. Very easy and you get a clean cut.

I did mine the same way. It's been a long time for me now, but I believe at the time the advice was to cut face down, using a plywood blade, and to put the blade on backwards. As I recall it gave a really smooth cut with the occasional flashing (melted plastic) that just popped off.

 

[mikeyr]

I just put cabinets, tool boxes, lathes, mill, welders, table saw, etc up against the wall and voila, I don't see the edge anymore.

 

[89MustangGX]

Not a great picture (15+ years ago now), but here you can see how I used the Sherwin Williams Concrete Stain on the stem wall and just a little on the floor, as well as how cutting the tiles with the table saw comes out.

 

[RaceDeck1]

15 years later!!!! another great DIY install!

 

[custom_garage]

I read here on GJ where folks painted a small portion of the floor adjacent the stem wall/curb black and then painted the stem wall/curb black. This makes the expansion gap “disappear”. This is my plan when I get around to installing my RaceDeck.

Alternatively, I’ve read where folks apply a trim to the stem wall/curb with a thickness greater than the expansion gap with the floor tucked under. This seems more like a PIA to me.

Exactly what I did. Just like @89MustangGX I bought a gallon of black epoxy paint from Home Depot. Painted the bottom stem/edge of the garage and out onto the garage floor about 10 inches before installing our RaceDeck floor. Since the tiles along the outsides were going to be black it came out perfectly. I started on one side so the 1/2" gap is smooth since there was no tile cutting. I used a jigsaw on the other side and it worked okay, but I knew that I'd have my tool cabinets all along that side, so no need to be perfect. On the front wall I had exactly enough room to use their trim pieces (same ones used at the entrances). I had to cut a couple to fit around the bottom of the water heater stand and such, but the look is very clean overall.

BTW, I followed other's advice here and laid down landscape fabric (weed mat) to avoid the "clacking" sound when you walk on it. It still allows for drainage and also covers up any ugly on your garage floor that might be seen through the slotted tiles. Highly recommended.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I'm starting to hate the clacking. Does it ever go away or get better?

 

[custom_garage]

I'm starting to hate the clacking. Does it ever go away or get better?

The parts without the landscape fabric did get quieter after a while, but not silent. I guess it'd be a pain to try and install some afterward though.

 

[kngelv]

I'm starting to hate the clacking. Does it ever go away or get better?

Do you have pics of your floor? Did you put fabric down? I went with the FreeFlow because it is silent even without the fabric. A guy in my sub has the regular and you could hear the clacking. I did a test section with fabric and regular and it cut the clacking by at least 50%. I’d pull it up and put the landscape fabric down.

James

 

[larry4406]

Is there a “spec” on what type of landscape fabric is best for noise mitigation?

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I decided I actually don't mind the sound. It helps prevent predators or zombies from sneaking up on me.

 

[custom_garage]

Is there a “spec” on what type of landscape fabric is best for noise mitigation?

I just bought some large rolls of black fabric from Home Depot. Works great. They have some on sale:

VEVOR 3 ft. x 300 ft. Premium Weed Barrier Fabric Heavy-Duty, Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric ZZZP3.24OZ3X300FCV0 - The Home Depot

We offer you VEVOR high quality ground cover. Strong structure of the cover itself prevents grass from going through, effectively inhibit the growth of grass and also can prevents direct Sunlight. Its

www.homedepot.com

 

[custom_garage]

Per @kngelv, the free-flow tiles don't make as much noise. I used those under the vehicle areas, but I wanted to avoid losing tiny screws and such that I accidentally dropped down in them so I used the regular tiles around the work benches. Even if you do drop something down in the open tiles you can usually retrieve it either with a small pick like this or a magnet like this. Again, worst case, you can pull them up individually.

 

[CSRPenFab]

Is there a “spec” on what type of landscape fabric is best for noise mitigation?

For my prior solid tile garage, I used the non-woven black landscape fabric that was sold at Sam's Club in 4' wide rolls. Now with my current FreeFlow floor I did not use any fabric since it's not needed. The tiles are silent.

 

[larry4406]

For my prior solid tile garage, I used the non-woven black landscape fabric that was sold at Sam's Club in 4' wide rolls. Now with my current FreeFlow floor I did not use any fabric since it's not needed. The tiles are silent.

Thank you.

I have solid tiles to install at my garage. Other projects in the way.