Tile flooring in SW Florida

[thedoc46]

So cutting a long story short, i was sold the wrong paint at lowes 4yrs ago to paint my garage floor after etching it with acid and a week of not driving on it. The paint immediately pulled it up the first day i had wet tires. Got my money back from Lowes, but 4 yrs on and with lots of it now pulled up it really does make my garage look ugly.

I know i have two choices... Grind it all down and do the job properly with the proper epoxy and all. Thought i'd ask the pro's. But it was ridiculous wht they're quoting... 2.6k ?? Wouldn't mind tacking the job myself... if i can rent a grinder, one that's not going to take days and days of hard graft though...

Or cheat and buy tiles (such as racedeck) and make it look really nice.. BUT !!!!! I've heard bad things about the tiles lifting in the hot humid climate i live in... Is there any truth to that ?

Also, i seem to get a lot of dust / sand in my garage. I'm not all that far from the coast, so the wind brings it in.. I sweep it almost every day... Especially as i enjoy detailing my cars in my garage, and as a pre-requisite i like to sweep in case i drop a microfiber or whatever. In other words i enjoy my floor being a dust free environment.. While my floor my look ugly, its smooth & sweeps up really nicely. Worried that these tiles, would make sweeping a nightmare, with all its diamond shaped bumps and where the tiles join each other... I may be overthinking this ? It may be fine... I dunno, but i don't want to spend nearly 2k to find out i hate the stuff.

Any opinions or advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[jhelrey]

Didn't you ask this already?

 

[Garage Flooring]

So cutting a long story short, i was sold the wrong paint at lowes 4yrs ago to paint my garage floor after etching it with acid and a week of not driving on it. The paint immediately pulled it up the first day i had wet tires. Got my money back from Lowes, but 4 yrs on and with lots of it now pulled up it really does make my garage look ugly.

I know i have two choices... Grind it all down and do the job properly with the proper epoxy and all. Thought i'd ask the pro's. But it was ridiculous wht they're quoting... 2.6k ?? Wouldn't mind tacking the job myself... if i can rent a grinder, one that's not going to take days and days of hard graft though...

Or cheat and buy tiles (such as racedeck) and make it look really nice.. BUT !!!!! I've heard bad things about the tiles lifting in the hot humid climate i live in... Is there any truth to that ?

Also, i seem to get a lot of dust / sand in my garage. I'm not all that far from the coast, so the wind brings it in.. I sweep it almost every day... Especially as i enjoy detailing my cars in my garage, and as a pre-requisite i like to sweep in case i drop a microfiber or whatever. In other words i enjoy my floor being a dust free environment.. While my floor my look ugly, its smooth & sweeps up really nicely. Worried that these tiles, would make sweeping a nightmare, with all its diamond shaped bumps and where the tiles join each other... I may be overthinking this ? It may be fine... I dunno, but i don't want to spend nearly 2k to find out i hate the stuff.

Any opinions or advice appreciated. Thanks

We can walk you through the installation so that it is done properly and so that the impact of natural expansion and contraction is minimized. I would have a look at flow through or ribbed tiles. This is one example of a project from Florida

You can find the tiles here: http://www.garageflooringllc.com/garage-floor-tiles/

 

[bdamico]

If only you were in SE Fl, the analysis would be totally different.

 

[thedoc46]

We can walk you through the installation so that it is done properly and so that the impact of natural expansion and contraction is minimized. I would have a look at flow through or ribbed tiles. This is one example of a project from Florida

You can find the tiles here: http://www.garageflooringllc.com/garage-floor-tiles/

I like the 'cosmetic' look of these, but worried that sand and dust will quickly build up in the ribbed recesses. It would involve a whole lot of vacuuming, rather than a quick sweep of a soft broom.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I like the 'cosmetic' look of these, but worried that sand and dust will quickly build up in the ribbed recesses. It would involve a whole lot of vacuuming, rather than a quick sweep of a soft broom.

At the end of the day its your floor and if that is how you feel about it then definitely go a different direction. I can tell you that we have this product installed all over the US but specifically Southern California, Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. They consistently look cleaner than a solid tile.

We offer solid tiles too as well as PVC tiles which can be installed virtually seamless. I would have some different concerns there... You can be successful here, its just a question of finding the product you want.

My suggestion for a good starting point is drop me a PM with your contact info. I'll send you a box of goodies you can play around with and see what you like. Then we can talk about how to make it work for you.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You won't have an issue in any part of Florida with these modular tiles unless you plan on leaving the door open and having the sun beat them down. If you do, you will see them expand and present a temporary wrinkle until the sun is off them.

If you live on the Eastern side of the peninsula you should have your door shut anyway.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Our Supratile has 1/4 the joints of standard tiles and cleans up very easy. We have thousands of applications in Florida with zero issues.


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[thedoc46]

At the end of the day its your floor and if that is how you feel about it then definitely go a different direction. I can tell you that we have this product installed all over the US but specifically Southern California, Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. They consistently look cleaner than a solid tile.

We offer solid tiles too as well as PVC tiles which can be installed virtually seamless. I would have some different concerns there... You can be successful here, its just a question of finding the product you want.

My suggestion for a good starting point is drop me a PM with your contact info. I'll send you a box of goodies you can play around with and see what you like. Then we can talk about how to make it work for you.

Thanks Justin, I'll send you an email with my contact details.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Wise choice.


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[Jinks]

You won't have an issue in any part of Florida with these modular tiles unless you plan on leaving the door open and having the sun beat them down. If you do, you will see them expand and present a temporary wrinkle until the sun is off them.

If you live on the Eastern side of the peninsula you should have your door shut anyway.

All true except the last sentence... I live on the east side of Florida, have two garages of these floors. I leave my doors open (why live in paradise & hide in a cave?...) & I do get a tile that bows up in the heat of the day. I get a whole quarter of an inch of bow that I simply ignore. Everything else looks great & is easy to clean. I've really enjoyed my floors for the last three years.

 

[RaceDeck1]

If you would like more information and free full size sample of our patented RaceDeck flooring, just drop me a line or give us a call.

So cutting a long story short, i was sold the wrong paint at lowes 4yrs ago to paint my garage floor after etching it with acid and a week of not driving on it. The paint immediately pulled it up the first day i had wet tires. Got my money back from Lowes, but 4 yrs on and with lots of it now pulled up it really does make my garage look ugly.

I know i have two choices... Grind it all down and do the job properly with the proper epoxy and all. Thought i'd ask the pro's. But it was ridiculous wht they're quoting... 2.6k ?? Wouldn't mind tacking the job myself... if i can rent a grinder, one that's not going to take days and days of hard graft though...

Or cheat and buy tiles (such as racedeck) and make it look really nice.. BUT !!!!! I've heard bad things about the tiles lifting in the hot humid climate i live in... Is there any truth to that ?

Also, i seem to get a lot of dust / sand in my garage. I'm not all that far from the coast, so the wind brings it in.. I sweep it almost every day... Especially as i enjoy detailing my cars in my garage, and as a pre-requisite i like to sweep in case i drop a microfiber or whatever. In other words i enjoy my floor being a dust free environment.. While my floor my look ugly, its smooth & sweeps up really nicely. Worried that these tiles, would make sweeping a nightmare, with all its diamond shaped bumps and where the tiles join each other... I may be overthinking this ? It may be fine... I dunno, but i don't want to spend nearly 2k to find out i hate the stuff.

Any opinions or advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mystic195]

If you would like free full size samples of any of the SwissTrax flooring to compare, just give us a call or let us know.

 

[thedoc46]

Also guys, what about grinding ? does it need to be done by a pro? or can the likes of a noob do it? I saw one at Taylor Rental Diamond something or another 11hp, top of their line at least, for $275 per day... Now i don't mind paying $275 as long as its for ONLY a day... If i was to pay $550 just to get my concrete floor back to concrete, then it obviously would make the floor tiles a lot more appealing.

 

[Mystic195]

The grinding of the floor is not really necessary. You can place the tiles directly on the floor. You could use a recycled rubber underlayment under the tiles if you would prefer. The rubber underlayment will help with sound deadening along with giving the floor a base color.

 

[thedoc46]

The grinding of the floor is not really necessary. You can place the tiles directly on the floor. You could use a recycled rubber underlayment under the tiles if you would prefer. The rubber underlayment will help with sound deadening along with giving the floor a base color.

No, i'm thinking that doing the grinding, so that i can paint.. Still undecided if i should grind & paint, or just go with tile.

My biggest concern on grind and paint, is

1.\ am i able to successfully grind back down to the concrete myself, or does it take a pro

2.\ am i able to successfully paint or concrete seal myself and make it look good. Don't want half measures here.

3.\ I spend all that time and money doing the above, then it peels up again.


My biggest concern on using tiles is.

1.\ Part of my garage is exposed to direct sunlight when opened as its south facing. Sometimes its nice to have the garage door open, especially when you're living in a gated community and crime is almost non-existent.

2.\ Dust and grit, how to deal with it.. LOVE the look of ribbed tiles, (and all tiles for that matter) but concerned on it becoming a challenge to get the dust and grit out. I like to be able to walk into my garage bare footed, and come back in the house with dirt and dust free feet. (hence my obsession with sweeping everyday)

3.\ How clean it'll look towards the edges.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Grind and epoxy, not paint.
Luckily, you landed in the best place to get all the information you need to be successful.
Do some searches and you will find that this is an excellent DIY project.

 

[NitroShark]

Think coating, not paint. Huge difference.

Be sure to have enough DFT (dry film thickness) - it will guarantee impact resistance and longevity.

Grinding can be an easy a DIY project with the proper equipment.

 

[techmerc]

Grinding with the diamond polisher that Taylor rents is not a grind, but a polish. Key word here is polish. They use those machines to polish terrazzo floors. My son worked for a company that was under contract to the government to polish raw concrete floors, but after they are polished they had to use a very expensive tint on the concrete. So, be careful on the equipment that you rent, you may think you are renting a grinder, but it may be a polisher.


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[Jinks]

My biggest concern on using tiles is.

1.\ Part of my garage is exposed to direct sunlight when opened as its south facing. Sometimes its nice to have the garage door open, especially when you're living in a gated community and crime is almost non-existent.

2.\ Dust and grit, how to deal with it.. LOVE the look of ribbed tiles, (and all tiles for that matter) but concerned on it becoming a challenge to get the dust and grit out. I like to be able to walk into my garage bare footed, and come back in the house with dirt and dust free feet. (hence my obsession with sweeping everyday)

3.\ How clean it'll look towards the edges.

My 2 car faces south. On really hot days it can get a little bowing if one or both of the cars stay in not allowing all the tiles to expand evenly. For me it's not enough to care about.

It's also "coin" pattern which is smoother than the "diamond" pattern. It sweeps easily enough (though I don't sweep every day) & cleans easily with an old cheap steam mop.

I've found that the light colored tiles will discolor a little under a new tire over time. Not a big problem since the parking areas are black tile, & when a tile looks bad it's only $2 or $3 to replace it. Of course in the 3+ years I've had my floors the only tiles I felt needed replacement were ones I drilled through to mount things to the floor, then moved..........

 

[Garage Flooring]

If you would like more information and free full size sample of our patented RaceDeck flooring, just drop me a line or give us a call.

Of course I sent him your stuff too

 

[Garage Flooring]

Our Supratile has 1/4 the joints of standard tiles and cleans up very easy. We have thousands of applications in Florida with zero issues.


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Careful.... PVC can do this too. You guys have a great product but it does not defy the laws of nature. The key is proper installation. I've seen an installation or two of your product have to be adjusted for these reasons. Again, its not the products fault (or yours) but it does happen.

You won't have an issue in any part of Florida with these modular tiles unless you plan on leaving the door open and having the sun beat them down. If you do, you will see them expand and present a temporary wrinkle until the sun is off them.

If you live on the Eastern side of the peninsula you should have your door shut anyway.

Wish I could say that this has NEVER happened with the products I sell, but I can't. Believe it or not its not a guaranteed occurrence. @racedeck1 has done a really good job getting different information into the market that helps avoid it.

Also, open, ribbed, tiles do better than solid tiles. Because while they still expand and contract there is room within the tile itself to absorb it.

 

[thedoc46]

A couple more questions.

Rough ball park, the ribbed tile product, how much to do a three car garage ?

Concrete grinding, will this suffice from home depot ? http://www6.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/Concrete_Grinder_10/50200-HD/index.html

 

[Garage Flooring]

A couple more questions.

Rough ball park, the ribbed tile product, how much to do a three car garage ?

Concrete grinding, will this suffice from home depot ? http://www6.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/Concrete_Grinder_10/50200-HD/index.html

We have some Garage Journal pricing on the ribbed TrueLock that I can't really post. Just give me a call