Your thoughts on VCT.

[ka41]

I'm new here and have been doing a lot of reading. I've read about people putting vct down but I haven't seen anything about how its holding up.
Thinking about putting down vct in my shop/garage. Size of shop is 30x30. Shop mainly used for occasional mechanic work and wood work. Right now I am planning on no stored vehicle. Possibly later. Some locals say no to vct in garage because of hot tire and yellowing. Hot tire should not be a problem with me because I will not be parking my daily driver in this shop. I looked into Wolverine coatings but the price is bumping $1.50/sf. By the time I rent a floor grinder, etc would bring the cost to around a $1.75/sf. Definitely not knocking Wolverine's product, but thats a little more than what I want to spend.
Also how will vct hold up to dragging around a floor jack, jackstands, etc.

 

[Tom2]

This seems to come up all the time. VCT is not the best choice for jack stands, jacks, everyday parking, etc.. Theres a good chance it'll dent / damage them.

But, thats really not a big deal if your careful. Just put a piece of plywood down.

Thats what I have to do when I jack up cars in my blacktop driveway.

My opinion is that VCT is probably best for the garage that isn't used for really heavy wrenching. More for the guy that just parks his show car in there and uses the garage as a hang out more than anything else.

VCT is pretty cheap though, so if a tile breaks, its not a huge deal to replace it..but with the right precautions it should last a very long time.

Ive got 10 boxes of VCT sitting in my garage Im debating whether or not to install. I may just put them in a certain area.

You can get VCT for around 70c sq/ft or less pretty easily. I'd do that before I spent that much on an epoxy.

 

[SteveB]

It isn't the fact that a tire is "hot" that causes VCT to stain. There is a chemical reaction between the various compounds in the tire and tile that cause this to happen.
I have had my VCT garage floor for nearly three years now and it works just fine for me, no welding, no heavy machinery, just routine maintenance and some precautions as mentioned above.

 

[ka41]

Thanks for your responses. Unless something changes, I will probably go with a good grade of vct.

 

[ka41]

I found out today that a flooring contractor friend of mine has some white vct and blue vct that he will give me. Left overs from other jobs. Two questions. 1) Would you guys install it in your garage instead of epoxy? 2) Have you ever seen white/blue checker pattern.Again this is free. So what do you think?

 

[35mastr]

I would go with epoxy.

 

[sctattooer]

If it's free, use it. Even if it looks like **** in 2 years, you have 2 years to save for a better floor.

Of all the choices out there, I'm going with VCT because it's a simple install, looks good and is easy to replace.

 

[dipper]

i got my VCT tile for free so that is what I am going to use. I will probably use it for a year and then sand it down and install the wolverine clear epoxy on top of the vct. There is another thread about that too. I won't do much if any welding in my shop, just mainly routine maintenance. I'll just use precautions and use plywood on jacks/jackstands. I'm hoping to install the VCT sometime this summer.

 

[ka41]

Can you epoxy over vct? Also has anyone seen a checkered board pattern other than black and white?

 

[dipper]

talk to fred aka alphagarage about the epoxy over VCT. There is a thread in here about it too. It's done all the time in commercial stores and buildings. No need to strip/wax the vct after you put the clear epoxy on.

 

[dooley t from okc]

vct is an extremly durable floor unless.you are not level or have cracks in the pad or a moisture problem and it gets brittle when cold but other than that its good flooring very tough

 

[dooley t from okc]

Can you epoxy over vct? Also has anyone seen a checkered board pattern other than black and white?

the colors are as varied as you want for checkd floors . it only depens on your taste..

 

[XR80David]

My thoughts are, I hope you never want to take it up because it will be a pain in the *** if you do!

 

[ka41]

I hope I never have to take it up. If I want something different I think I can just epoxy over it. I was really looking hard at the wolverine system but when a friend of mine offered the vct free I couldn't pass it up.