Ribtrax flooring

[carlbeacon]

After a ton of searching around, I decided to go with the ribtrax flooring from Swisstrax and couldn't be more happy with the experience. The flooring was ridiculously easily to install and the customer service was more than I could ask for. I highly recommend that anyone looking for a garage floor solution contact Swisstrax immediately. Don't waste your time on anything else. Below are some pictures of my before and after. I went with a black and blue color combination in a 2-car garage. 90% of the garage was done in about 20 minutes. The trim work took about 2 hours, but the pieces were very easy to cut with just a table saw and jig saw, which is awesome because like most garages, mine wasn't anywhere near straight!

 

[CheckeredFlag]

looks great !

congrats !!

 

[Track t-4]

Looks good. Cost?

 

[Rod N]

Sharp!

 

[RaceDeck1]

Nice looking garage and welcome to the forum

 

[72Tunaboat]

After a ton of searching around, I decided to go with the ribtrax flooring from Swisstrax and couldn't be more happy with the experience. The flooring was ridiculously easily to install and the customer service was more than I could ask for. I highly recommend that anyone looking for a garage floor solution contact Swisstrax immediately. Don't waste your time on anything else. Below are some pictures of my before and after. I went with a black and blue color combination in a 2-car garage. 90% of the garage was done in about 20 minutes. The trim work took about 2 hours, but the pieces were very easy to cut with just a table saw and jig saw, which is awesome because like most garages, mine wasn't anywhere near straight!

Are you a real customer or another fake sent here by SwissTrax? Hate to be rude... but, there has been a rash of publicity efforts by the company and your post sounds a bit like an infomercial.

 

[dubber]

/\ Also wondering that. We shall see what his second post is.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Are you a real customer or another fake sent here by SwissTrax? Hate to be rude... but, there has been a rash of publicity efforts by the company and your post sounds a bit like an infomercial.

I am sure I am in the minority here, but I have been privy to information that is not part of the public thread(s). I do not work for the forum or Swisstrax and this is my opinion and my opinion alone.

No one posted a 'FAKE' thread or even a 'FAKE' garage. There are other manufacturers on the forum whose customers post frequently. That other manufacturer is very active and does a very good job servicing his customers. This forum has a great presence and I believe Jesse respected that and wanted to have a presence here too.

I believe what actually happened is they encouraged their customers to talk about their garages on the forum. I think they based their efforts on a typical response rate and they found that they had a lot more customers willing to talk about their garage than they would have expected.

I have no skin in this game and I have no reason to stick my neck out there. Like I stated earlier I just happen to be privy to some of the conversation.

Personally, my goal on the forum is to answer questions that people have and provide quality information. In doing so, testimonials are the natural results of our efforts and that helps with sales -- and of course that plays into the motives of every one of us who is here.

I can't tell you the number of times I have screwed up in my efforts to promote my company. Often the difference between a major success and a major failure is the slightest course correction.

All I am saying is perhaps they did not follow the intent of the forum as well as they should of; BUT I do not believe for a second that they would stoop to falsifying testimonials. Let's not crucify them.

 

[Ryan]

/\ Also wondering that. We shall see what his second post is.

I agree... TGJ isn't a source for one-hit customer testimonials driven by the companies that supply the market... What good would that do our users? TGJ is a community.

We will keep a close eye on this after what happened a couple of weeks ago.

 

[carlbeacon]

Wow. I never would have thought I’d be put on blast for posting pictures of my project and informing other users of my experience! And if I am understanding this correctly, @Ryan you’re the administrator for the forum and you’re calling my post into question? Stating that “TGJ isn’t a source for one-hit customer testimonials…” is probably one of the more ignorant comments I have read in a long time. What good does it do for your users? Well let me see here, I only plan on installing a floor in my garage ONCE, so how many times am I supposed to post about it? Would you rather I log in and post about my floor every day? Sounds pretty ignorant to me. Posting a testimonial about a user’s experience with a product and company provides your users with independent information that can help them in their research for a quality product and company. The fact that you, as an administrator, call my post into question only calls into the question the legitimacy of this site and independence of the forum. Sounds to me like you have a personal issue against, Swisstrax, Ribtrax or you work for a competitor and are upset I’m posting positive feedback about a company you compete with.

@72tunaboat, @dubber, yes I am in fact a real customer. I thought that would be confirmed by posting both the before and after pictures. Don’t know how else I prove that to you. And please enlighten me, why should there be a need for a second post unless a quality question is raised? I installed a floor. It’s awesome. The company I purchased it from was exceptional. It was easy to work with. What else do I need to say? What’s the cost is an ignorant question? Cost varies depending upon the size of your job, you would have to check their website for the product you want and the size of your job. So I can’t tell you cost. But you can vary easily type Swisstrax into your search engine and see the cost per piece immediately.

Just to clarify, the reason for my post was because as I prepared to remodel my garage I did an enormous amount of research through internet searches, reviewed user comments on message boards, used this site, and order samples from a few companies. Through all of that, I wasn’t able to find a sample of a black and blue floor like I wanted and I still had some concerns prior to ordering. Therefore, I thought by posting my experience I would possibly provide useful information to another user that may be feel they were missing the same information I was or at least help them in their decision making process. In addition, I also felt compelled to write a glowing review of Swisstrax due to (1) the quality of product that was provided and (2) the exemplary customer service that was provided by Sarah. It is rare in this day and age to find a company or representative that was as outgoing, knowledgeable, professional and courteous as she was and made the entire process a wonderful experience. That same experience was shared by a colleague of mine, which I referred to Swisstrax after I placed my initial order. Also, I have a third colleague preparing to order his floor from Swisstrax and I cannot tell you how many individuals I have had that stop as they are driving by my house and ask where I purchase the floor from. This all confirmed to me the fact that there are other individuals out there that are just as interested in their garage as I am and the least I can do is share my experience with others. And I truly believe that companies that go out of their way and provide exceptional service combined with a quality product deserve to be recognized.

Any other question?????

 

[Garage Flooring]

Wow. I never would have thought I’d be put on blast for posting pictures of my project and informing other users of my experience! And if I am understanding this correctly, @Ryan you’re the administrator for the forum and you’re calling my post into question? Stating that “TGJ isn’t a source for one-hit customer testimonials…” is probably one of the more ignorant comments I have read in a long time. What good does it do for your users? Well let me see here, I only plan on installing a floor in my garage ONCE, so how many times am I supposed to post about it? Would you rather I log in and post about my floor every day? Sounds pretty ignorant to me. Posting a testimonial about a user’s experience with a product and company provides your users with independent information that can help them in their research for a quality product and company. The fact that you, as an administrator, call my post into question only calls into the question the legitimacy of this site and independence of the forum. Sounds to me like you have a personal issue against, Swisstrax, Ribtrax or you work for a competitor and are upset I’m posting positive feedback about a company you compete with.

@72tunaboat, @dubber, yes I am in fact a real customer. I thought that would be confirmed by posting both the before and after pictures. Don’t know how else I prove that to you. And please enlighten me, why should there be a need for a second post unless a quality question is raised? I installed a floor. It’s awesome. The company I purchased it from was exceptional. It was easy to work with. What else do I need to say? What’s the cost is an ignorant question? Cost varies depending upon the size of your job, you would have to check their website for the product you want and the size of your job. So I can’t tell you cost. But you can vary easily type Swisstrax into your search engine and see the cost per piece immediately.

Just to clarify, the reason for my post was because as I prepared to remodel my garage I did an enormous amount of research through internet searches, reviewed user comments on message boards, used this site, and order samples from a few companies. Through all of that, I wasn’t able to find a sample of a black and blue floor like I wanted and I still had some concerns prior to ordering. Therefore, I thought by posting my experience I would possibly provide useful information to another user that may be feel they were missing the same information I was or at least help them in their decision making process. In addition, I also felt compelled to write a glowing review of Swisstrax due to (1) the quality of product that was provided and (2) the exemplary customer service that was provided by Sarah. It is rare in this day and age to find a company or representative that was as outgoing, knowledgeable, professional and courteous as she was and made the entire process a wonderful experience. That same experience was shared by a colleague of mine, which I referred to Swisstrax after I placed my initial order. Also, I have a third colleague preparing to order his floor from Swisstrax and I cannot tell you how many individuals I have had that stop as they are driving by my house and ask where I purchase the floor from. This all confirmed to me the fact that there are other individuals out there that are just as interested in their garage as I am and the least I can do is share my experience with others. And I truly believe that companies that go out of their way and provide exceptional service combined with a quality product deserve to be recognized.

Any other question?????

I have a question for you that many of my customers ask me about a similar product we offer. While I have my answer, I am sure it is better to come from a customer.

What has been your experience thus far as far as ease of cleaning?

 

[Shea]

Hi Carl. First of all, let me congratulate you on your garage floor. It looks awesome.

Second, I think you deserve an explanation as to why you think you are being "blasted". As a couple of the previous posters here stated, there has been a rash of first post "infomercials" if you will, for SwissTrax on this forum. So much so that the moderators had to put a temporary end to it. Justin from Garage Flooring LLC did a good job of summing up what may have been happening with these posts.

The Garage Journal, as Ryan stated, is a community of people that are looking for good info and a good experience from the threads posted here and they shouldn't be subjected to suspected "advertising blasts" from a one time only, first post user, that never shows up again. Typically (but not always) when someone posts pics of their garage floor with the product they are proud of, they have been asking questions or been active on the forum for a while and nobody here thinks anything of it.

You didn't do anything wrong, it's just unfortunate that the timing wasn't the best and it made people suspicious. Hopefully you won't take it personally and will understand better the cause for the suspicious comments.

I'm sure people who are interested in interlocking garage floor tiles are curious about your experience so far with your floor of choice and will want to ask you questions.

 

[Skrutinizr]

I have yet to select the supplier for my floor, but I don't think I will post about it when I do. Yikes, tough room. To be honest, once my research is done and my cabinets, lighting and floor are done I don't know that I will need to post here. Like many, I am here to receive information- not so much to solicit advice and discuss the merits of particular products.

 

[carlbeacon]

Justin - the cleaning has been super easy and its almost maintenance free. For the most part debris falls through the cracks and isn't noticeable unless your standing directly on top and looking down and specifically looking for debris. Otherwise you don't notice. As you may have noticed in the pictures I did quite a bit of work in the garage with drywall and wainscoting and I noticed the drywall and mudding made a huge mess and left footprints everywhere. But I have a shark vacuum cleaner and I have a shark steam mop. A simple sweep with the steam mop and everything was as good as new in just a few minutes. And once I ran the vacuum over the top, it sucked out all the debris from the crevices. You really can't ask for anything better in a garage floor.

Shea - thank you for that and I wasn't aware of past issues and thank you for the explanation. Actually It wasn't until I saw an administrator call me out that I became agitated. Honestly, I didn't read the rules and regulations about this forum. I thought you just share experiences. But if an administrator is going to publicly call someone out on my post, then I'm going to defend myself and views. I believe there a professional way to do things and as an administrator that person can easily contact me via email or another way and simply state there has been an issue and can you please confirm something. Not publicly though as I interpreted more as bullying or trying to shame me. The only thing that approach results in is less people willing to give there opinion or testimonials because they are just going to be criticized anyways, which is the exact opposite of what you want from forum. You want people to give there opinions, experiences good or bad as that's the only was you get quality information. But that doesn't happen if you are going to call people when they do take time out of their lives to give you honest feedback.

With that being said, I'm not someone that likes asking questions or posting. I've probably been reading post on this site for 6 months and never asked a question. Just read reviews and threads. I didn't come on here looking to make friends and buddies and try to schedule a get together for drinks. I only intended to post on here once because I only installed my floor once so what more do I need to say? And going by the experience that I had with Swisstrax, if that same experience was shared by others, then I wouldn't be surprised that many others would be posting about their experiences. And yes, if they had good experiences their testimonials should sound like infomercials because a company best marketing program is its customers. Word of mouth testimonials always sound like infomercials and those individuals and there testimonials shouldn't be faulted for that. It really makes you question the integrity of the site and the integrity of all the other threads. Unless testimonials are bashing other companies or offense, then where's the fault? Personally, although I believe, I dealt with each company on here in 1 way or another, I dint go through the entire process with them. My process was through Swisstrax, it was better than I could have expected and therefore I can only share that positive experience. I wish they could have handled my entire project as it would have made my life much easier. And again if they provided the same service to others that I received, then I wouldn't be surprised if this forum was flooded with glowing reviews.

To complete my garage project I also worked with diamondlifegear.com for the slatwall and wainscoting and build.com for lighting. They were ok.

 

[dubber]

Hi Carl. First of all, let me congratulate you on your garage floor. It looks awesome.

Second, I think you deserve an explanation as to why you think you are being "blasted". As a couple of the previous posters here stated, there has been a rash of first post "infomercials" if you will, for SwissTrax on this forum. So much so that the moderators had to put a temporary end to it. Justin from Garage Flooring LLC did a good job of summing up what may have been happening with these posts.

The Garage Journal, as Ryan stated, is a community of people that are looking for good info and a good experience from the threads posted here and they shouldn't be subjected to suspected "advertising blasts" from a one time only, first post user, that never shows up again. Typically (but not always) when someone posts pics of their garage floor with the product they are proud of, they have been asking questions or been active on the forum for a while and nobody here thinks anything of it.

You didn't do anything wrong, it's just unfortunate that the timing wasn't the best and it made people suspicious. Hopefully you won't take it personally and will understand better the cause for the suspicious comments.

I'm sure people who are interested in interlocking garage floor tiles are curious about your experience so far with your floor of choice and will want to ask you questions.

Beat me to it, nicely said.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have yet to select the supplier for my floor, but I don't think I will post about it when I do. Yikes, tough room. To be honest, once my research is done and my cabinets, lighting and floor are done I don't know that I will need to post here. Like many, I am here to receive information- not so much to solicit advice and discuss the merits of particular products.

I think perhaps you are more the norm than anyone realizes. This forum offers a great learning experience for those who are new to the idea. I hope this thread has not scared you away!

 

[Skrutinizr]

I think lurkers are FAR more common than most people believe.
I just realized I may have a problem in my quest for a kickass garage, so I apparently will be posting some questions. Apparently it's not as easy as I thought, as many factors must be considered.
Seems that there are some pretty loyal users of the different brands, and that loyalty can lead to bickering like on any forum. The ones who stand out, especially among vendors, are the ones who realize that no single brand has every benefit. There are reasons to select one or the other which can vary.

 

[Ryan]

Wow. I never would have thought I’d be put on blast for posting pictures of my project and informing other users of my experience! And if I am understanding this correctly, @Ryan you’re the administrator for the forum and you’re calling my post into question? Stating that “TGJ isn’t a source for one-hit customer testimonials…” is probably one of the more ignorant comments I have read in a long time. What good does it do for your users? Well let me see here, I only plan on installing a floor in my garage ONCE, so how many times am I supposed to post about it? Would you rather I log in and post about my floor every day? Sounds pretty ignorant to me.

What I don't value:

1. Companies creating fake user accounts to promote their products.

2. Companies encouraging their customers to come on the garagejournal.com to promote their products for them.

What I do value:

1. Unbiased product reviews from real people with real world experiences.

2. Members that are here to be a part of the community and share their garage builds with no other objective in mind.

........

What you call "ignorance," I call a commitment to keeping this place pure and free of outside influence - especially the influence of big corporations with the bottom line on their minds at all times. Maybe you are are a real user... and maybe you are here to be a part of our community and share your experiences with us. If you are, you are welcomed... However, your timing (as pointed out by a number of users) was a bit shady. We have recently had a number of first post users (some sharing the same IP address and similar email addresses) create threads that come across, as another member put it, as "infomercials."

Could it be this was just bad timing and your just an regular guy wanting to show off his floors?

Or are you an employee of SwissTrax?

Or has Swisstrax asked you to post this review?

 

[72Tunaboat]

If that's the case Ryan, you could start by deleting/banning the two spammers on this thread... Seems obvious to me that Skrutinzer is just another fake account.

 

[sclancy]

Well said Ryan. A little skepticism re: new posters extolling the virtues of a particular product is not the worst thing in the world. As for the vendors posting on the board, I think we all know who the good ones are - they don't bash competitors, they admit their own shortcomings and they provide timely/thoughtful responses to hundreds of customer/potential customers Qs. Bravo!

I do wonder if any retailers or manufacturers out there are providing incentives to actual customers to post their experiences....it comes to mind that new car dealer service departments basically threaten/extort customers to give them great reviews with veiled threats (they will take better care of customers who take care of them) and make clear that "good" reviews are not ok.

I think that anyone posting on the forum needs to stand ready to defend their statements/posts without getting overly defensive. Join dates and posting history are one of the best ways for largely anonymous users to gauge the veracity of another user's posts. Defending one's posts is a small price to pay short of exposing your real identity.

What I don't value:

1. Companies creating fake user accounts to promote their products.

2. Companies encouraging their customers to come on the garagejournal.com to promote their products for them.

What I do value:

1. Unbiased product reviews from real people with real world experiences.

2. Members that are here to be a part of the community and share their garage builds with no other objective in mind.

........

What you call "ignorance," I call a commitment to keeping this place pure and free of outside influence - especially the influence of big corporations with the bottom line on their minds at all times. Maybe you are are a real user... and maybe you are here to be a part of our community and share your experiences with us. If you are, you are welcomed... However, your timing (as pointed out by a number of users) was a bit shady. We have recently had a number of first post users (some sharing the same IP address and similar email addresses) create threads that come across, as another member put it, as "infomercials."

Could it be this was just bad timing and your just an regular guy wanting to show off his floors?

Or are you an employee of SwissTrax?

Or has Swisstrax asked you to post this review?

 

[Ryan]

If that's the case Ryan, you could start by deleting/banning the two spammers on this thread... Seems obvious to me that Skrutinzer is just another fake account.

Frankly, this is another underlying problem to all of this. As far as I know, Swisstrax is a pretty good product that's comparable to Racedeck in many ways. However, all of the suspicion of fakery going around due to the sudden inundation of Swisstrax threads (by users that frankly don't come across as sincere) has created this sort of void... Like, how does a legitimate user express their opinions (both negative and positive) on Swisstrax without coming across as biased in one way or another?

The whole thing is a mess really... And not one that I or any of the users of The Garage Journal created. It's a shame...

 

[chrissu]

I've been planning to update my garage for a few months and was trying to decide on whether to re-epoxy the floor or to try plastic tiles. I've noticed that gladiator and several other companies are making ribbed floor tiles now and claim to have a no-slip surface. That caught my attention because I did the garage in my last house in checkerboard ceramic tile and that surface was very slippery when wet. When I saw a video with Jay Leno boasting how much he likes the swisstrax product, I got more interested in plastic tiles. Then I saw that the Barrett Jackson car auction uses it too and now I was even more interested.

These tiles aren't cheap and I wasn't willing to buy enough for a three car garage without at least seeing them first. Two weeks ago I found swisstrax motorcycle pads for sale on amazon and decided to buy a pad for my bike. I figured that if I liked the tiles then I would do the whole garage in these tiles. If not then I still have a decent motorcycle pad for the bike.

The product showed up in the mail. The tiles and edges attached together well and I found the material to be quite rigid. Once the pad was assembled, I ran my Tundra Crew max over it several times to see if there would be any signs of wear or damage or scuff marks and there weren't. Not that I could see anyways.

The vented pattern provides plenty of traction. I also like the look of the tiles and the boss (wife) and friends all like the look of it too. Depending on the angle that you look at it, you get a different shade of checkerboard look as each tile has 4 quarter sized tiles in alternating patterns. It's kinda hard to explain but it looks great in person.

I was originally concerned that plastic tiles might be flimsy and noisy to walk on but they aren't. They rest flat on the floor. That is a fear I had of plastic tiles in general.

One thing I learned in all of this is the difference between the two most popular ribtrax tile colors, which are Pearl Silver and Pearl Grey. These shades are very close to each other but they are indeed different colors. The motorcycle pad came in Pearl Gray with some black tiles in the center. It looks a little too dark for my tastes. I thought that I'd ordered the Pearl Silver with the motorcycle pad but I was wrong and the description fine print actually said the color was Pearl Gray. I called swisstrax and asked them to send me a sample of the Pearl Silver, which they did. I definitely like the Pearl Silver over the Pearl Gray. Apparently the Pearl Gray really hides oil stains well and I was told to consider it if any of my vehicles leak a lot of oil. That isn't the case so Pearl Silver it is.

I'm happy with the tiles so I've placed an order to tile the entire garage floor with Pearl Silver and a small amount of black. I also ordered 4 spare racing red tiles and 4 green tiles just as accents and to switch things up if I want to later. I have a three car garage that measures 658 sq. ft. and I'll be installing the tiles myself and with the help of a friend. The pictures here are before shots with the motorcycle pad in the garage. I'll get a few more pictures during and after the install for those interested.

 

[Nascar4401]

I'm sure swisstrax is a fine product...hell I think Jay Leno uses it.
I think we all have a ligament reason for questioning his post and his continued defensiveness after Shea explained it quite eloquently makes me wonder even more.

 

[Slingshot Engage]

it looks good but I feel from the website pics with all the exotic cars and such its expensive.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I'm sure swisstrax is a fine product...hell I think Jay Leno uses it.
I think we all have a ligament reason for questioning his post and his continued defensiveness after Shea explained it quite eloquently makes me wonder even more.

ligament reason

Something I would do

 

[Garage Flooring]

We do have the TrueLock Plus Ribbed Regrind available for less.... Still 3/4" thick