Swisstrax in Ontario question

[tman_ca]

Hi, newbie and first time poster. I've read up as much as I can on the different types of flooring and have more or less decided upon SwissTrax RibTrax tiles.

I live just west of Toronto, Canada and we get our fair share of snow and ice, sometimes more than we would like With that in mind, I'd like to ask for feedback from Canadians as to their experiences with RibTrax.

In addition I was thinking of pre-painting the floor with just regular floor paint to minimize concrete dust etc. Is that necessary or is it just overkill?

And oh, if SwissTrax is reading this, I would love a discount code.

Thanks!

 

[tman_ca]

Bump for some feedback please.

 

[starckie]

For whatever reason the RaceDeck free-flow seems to be more popular around here (not sure why, I have samples of both and they are quality products) so that may be why you haven't gotten a response.

Off the top of my head 'Woody's Works' , "Rick's Audi" and "Dubber's Double" (search for them in the forum) are all GJ members in Canada that have extensive pages on dealing with ice/snow with RD free flow. Although they are different products they essentially accomplish the same thing and their experience may help you decide if the Swisstrax Ribtrax will work for you.

There is a guy named Matt Moreman who has a page here and just about every other car related site on the internet (google search Obsessed Garage) who has used swisstrax in multiple homes. I believe he has a video where he explains why he chose swisstrax over race deck, although he is in FL so maybe those reasons wouldn't be applicable to you.

Hope that helps you.

 

[Swissfloors]

Hello Tman,

For some reason my replies have not come through. To answer your question no you do not need to paint the floor. Our tiles are 3/4" high so you cannot see to the floor below. Just sweep or wash down the floor prior to install. Plenty of videos on YouTube to show you how to install. As for the discount code just give Casey a call at Swisstrax Canada and say you want the Randy Discount. I am sure he will sort you out. If you post the before and after on Garage Journal we will send you a surprise gift bag with some goodies. Take care and have a blessed weekend.

 

[phanttom]

I'm in Edmonton, we get a **** ton of snow, probably more than you. Also Edmonton started to use salt slurry for ice melt. So when I decided to reno my garage, I honestly looked at floor tiles, and felt it was best and easier to spend a bit more and get an epoxy/polyurea hybrid floor system. I also don't have a floor drain and didnt want to deal with moving tiles out to clean under. TO me, floor tiles are great in climates less harsh than ours for ongoing cleaning, etc.

 

[Swissfloors]

Hello Phanttom,

Thanks for the valued comment. This is a question we get a lot in areas that get a lot of snow. Our floors were designed in Switzerland specifically for wet environments including snow. I will say that salt and pebbles can be a pain no matter what flooring you use. The idea was to offer drainage below the tiles so that snow and ice can melt and drain away. Some floors have a slight pitch to them or drains. A comment I would make is that given a rough winter how much time will you spend on cleaning the floor vs. waiting till spring then popping out some of the flooring and washing it down? Many companies including Swisstrax offer solid tiles as well which will keep most of the salt above the concrete surface but you will need to clean this floor just as you would concrete or a coating for that matter. A small advantage for the perforated tiles is that they will not freeze which, in the case of a coating, could damage the surface coating. We do offer an underlay that will act as a sealing layer below the tiles to avoid any salt and/or chemicals from reaching the subsurface and damaging the surface below.

 

[Swissfloors]

I am not sure if i am allowed but here is a good article about this subject. https://allgaragefloors.com/winterizing-garage-floor/

 

[RaceDeck1]

Hi, newbie and first time poster. I've read up as much as I can on the different types of flooring and have more or less decided upon SwissTrax RibTrax tiles.

I live just west of Toronto, Canada and we get our fair share of snow and ice, sometimes more than we would like With that in mind, I'd like to ask for feedback from Canadians as to their experiences with RibTrax.

In addition I was thinking of pre-painting the floor with just regular floor paint to minimize concrete dust etc. Is that necessary or is it just overkill?



Thanks!

Welcome to the GJ Forum

 

[Rod B]

Hi, newbie and first time poster. I've read up as much as I can on the different types of flooring and have more or less decided upon SwissTrax RibTrax tiles.

I live just west of Toronto, Canada and we get our fair share of snow and ice, sometimes more than we would like With that in mind, I'd like to ask for feedback from Canadians as to their experiences with RibTrax.

In addition I was thinking of pre-painting the floor with just regular floor paint to minimize concrete dust etc. Is that necessary or is it just overkill?

And oh, if SwissTrax is reading this, I would love a discount code.

Thanks!

Hey tman_ca,

I've had Swisstrax for almost a year (I did it last summer) and I love it. I'm in Calgary. I did a mix of Ribtrax and DiamondTrax and I am happy I did. I used Ribtrax where I park and Diamond trax around the border.

Ice/Snow melts off the car and down through the RibTrax. My garage was 100 times cleaner this winter, rather than just a painted concrete floor. I sprayed down the floors and vacuumed a couple of times this winter (with a shop vac) to keep it clean. Did the same in the spring and I was done. With the old floors, I'd be dealing with piled up dirt all winter, but not with the RibTrax. I was worried about the same thing you are, and I'm happy with the results.

I posted some notes about it here:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7003318#post7003318

I found Swisstrax was a really well built product and the 3/4" tiles made a huge difference in covering up my badly pitted/paint pealing off concrete floors.

Cheers,
Rod

 

[tman_ca]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry I haven't been online as I was busy moving to a new house with my fiance and well, you can imagine the chaos surrounding moving.

Great feedback and I can't wait to install the tiles. For sure I will post before and after pics! And thanks for the "Randy Discount" tip!!

 

[tman_ca]

Hi again,

I'm happy to report that I completed the garage last September and well, I love it. I'm going to post some before and after pics soon.

I ended up going with the Swiss Trax tiles and they look fantastic. We've had some snow already and they have performed really well.

 

[Geteos]

Did you end up sealing/painting the concrete before putting on the tiles?

I'm in the middle of building my detached garage and I'm trying to narrow down my choices for flooring and Swiss Trax seems like a good option being in the GTA too.

 

[tman_ca]

No I did not. Gave it a good clean and that was it. You can't really the see the floor underneath anyway.