VCT tile Care & Maintenance?

[erok01]

For those with vct tile garage floors, I have a few questions. What is your maintenance schedule and what kind of products do you use? What type of sealents are being used out there as well. I ask because I just got done doing my garage about two weeks ago and now I'm to the point of whanting to seal and polish the floor for that perfect shine.

TIA

Eric.

 

[erok01]

nobody here has vct on their garage floor?

I guess I'm the only one.

My plans consisted of using mineral spirits to clean up any left over adhesive. And then use a mop with and clean the floor. I got some sealer stuff from Home Depot made by Zep. Is a polish used in a garage or will that cause it to become slippery when wet.

Did I just reply to my own msg.

 

[sca037]

Sorry, no advice on your tile question.....but you've really done a nice job with the whole black & white theme in there!

Brian

 

[DARK AGE 53]

I don't even know what VCT tile is but I would just keep it mopped. BTW, Work area looks really nice.

 

[blesmess94]

your pix inspired me to look into this as well. i'm not really thrilled with having to strip and wax once or twice per year, but the look is exactly what i want and the price is right. i have a friend who works at home depot and he told me to use the zep product as well. now i just have to wait until the warmer weather to lay the floor. let me know how the zep works for you. are you parking a car on it?

 

[OzCop]

I don't have this on my current garage floor, but did it about 8 years ago at another house. I cleaned mine with regular household linoleum cleaners and it worked fine. The only problem I had was with long term parking on the stuff. My old Mustang resto project created a yellowing of the tile after sitting on it for more than 6 weeks or. Hopefully, you won't have that problem...

 

[erok01]

I'm actually in the process of letting the floor dry from my initial cleaning of the floor. Tomorrow I'm going to try to clean up all the glue spots and then hopefully I'll be able to seal it tomorrow evening.

btw the car is going to be in the garage but on engine stands. I have a few extra black tiles I'm laying under the stands as to eliminate any stand prints left in the tile.

 

[Luckydevil]

where are you guys getting the vct tiles and what do they cost?

 

[tofer76]

you guys with this type flooring probaly dont have any dogs ( cars that leave their mark with drips) do ya
in my garage this type of flooring just wouldnt work at all
i dont want to have to coat it at all
i change oils and stuff and it would **** to have to mop everyday to keep it clean

 

[Wizard600RR]

you guys with this type flooring probaly dont have any dogs ( cars that leave their mark with drips) do ya
in my garage this type of flooring just wouldnt work at all
i dont want to have to coat it at all
i change oils and stuff and it would **** to have to mop everyday to keep it clean

Actually, I have a Doberman. He runs across the tiles alright and doesn't leave any scratches at all. It's a little bit slippery for him, but he manages just fine.

But yeah, my other half parks a project Del Sol in there. She had a power steering fluid leak and it cleaned up just fine.

And FYI, I only mop once every month of so and it stays plenty clean in there. I park 2 cars and 2 bikes on it.

 

[Wizard600RR]

where are you guys getting the vct tiles and what do they cost?

You know my experience, LD.....

59 cents per square foot from Home Depot.

 

[Luckydevil]

You know my experience, LD.....

59 cents per square foot from Home Depot.

Mike, I thought yours were Armstrong tiles. Are VCT and armstrong the same thing???

 

[Wizard600RR]

Mike, I thought yours were Armstrong tiles. Are VCT and armstrong the same thing???

Yup, same thing. Vinyl Composition Tiles. VCT is the came thing as Armstrong Commercial Vinyl Tiles.

Gratuitous photo

 

[erok01]

I just got done sealing the floor with 3 coats of Zep brand floor sealer, and all I can say is WOW! I was worried at first because I don't have a commercial polisher and I wanted a nice shine to the floor and I didn't know if these redily available chemicals from Home Depot would do the trick. Now you can start to make out reflections and its a lot shinier.
I still have to put the Finish on but that will have to be tomorrow. I'm debating using the high traffic finish or the Wet-look finish.

As far as fluids and such, I have a diamond plated drip pan. Its great its 36x24 and its mobile and all i have to do is wipe it out every once and a while.


Mike, every time I see your floor I wish I would of used the silver/black instead of white/black.

 

[erok01]

Well just got done putting on the Zep Floor Finish for High Traffic Area's and the floor looks remarkable or . I opted for the High Traffic as opposed to the Wet Look finish. Next time I strip it I'll try the Wet Look and report on that.

The floor looks amazing though. For those that do use Armstrong or any other VCT tile the sealer and finish ended up costing about $35 for both of them and the outcome is more then what I expected. I'll post pics tomorrow for those interrested.

Man I just realized how much I spent on janitorial supplies:
$45 - Mop bucket/wringer
$25 - Mop and mop heads
$55 - Sripper/ Cleaner/ Sealer/ Finish

I'm going to put together a little "how to" for the How To Forum for all those interrested.


Now that the floor is finally done I can move on to finishing the garage door install and painting.

 

[Godzila]

How do it hold up to tire pressure? I have a 3200 SQ Ft garage/ and looking for some type floor treatment, normally I am jockeying cars around, and wonder about hard turning on this type of tile, For pulling stright in and out it probably is ok, just wonder about tire turning stresses??
Any thoughts, as I don't even wnna think about racedeck!
Thanks

 

[erok01]

Just last night I had a car in there and i was trying to position it on the right side of the garage so i could completly open the drivers door and I had to turn the wheel a couple of times while the car was stationary. From what I could tell after further inspection was that there were NO marks what-so-ever. Now the tires weren't super hot or anything so if they were a little warmer it might, I'll keep my eye on it for you.

 

[Wizard600RR]

I never get tire marks. I thought I would, hence the reasoning for my choice of black/grey tiles. But to this date, no marks at all. I regularly park 2 bikes and 2 cars in there.

 

[Wizard600RR]

Here's my VCT floor shine solution.

 

[Big6Dad]

erok01, please do post a discription of your project including the install. And yes I like the silver/black that Mike has. I plan on my project to begin when the weather warms up here in NJ..This is a great site........Thanks al for sharing.....

 

[ZRWON]

You know my experience, LD.....

59 cents per square foot from Home Depot.

Are the Armstrong VCT the ones with the self sticking back or do you install with a seperate tile adhesive? Thanks for the help.

 

[Wizard600RR]

Are the Armstrong VCT the ones with the self sticking back or do you install with a seperate tile adhesive? Thanks for the help.

You trowel on a seperate adhesive.

 

[2005fx4]

i lay floors for a living. i litally have layed hundreds of thousands of feet of vct. i was thinking i would put it in my garage but was worried with tearing it up by working in there. i restore old camaros i dont know how it would hold up the first time i pulled a ****** and fluid soaked it. what do you think? i may just epoxy it.