I want to either paint a black and white checkerboard on my concrete garage floor or use a high grade lanolium. I have seen pictures of hot rod garages with these floors and would like tio do one myself. Any reccomendatios would be very helpful. BC
http://www.garagejournal.com/ might be the place to ask. Too much work going on in my garage to worry about keeping the floor looking nice
I did mine in VCT 12x12 tiles at .89 cents ea at Home Depot not the stick on ones but the thick VCT tiles had to order them but it was worth it, have to put them down in the summer though when its warm................a lot cheaper than the 3 buck plastic.....did a little over 300 sq ft
Call me, I sell these products for a living and run inspections for my company through south Texas. I would be glad to walk you through it. Cheers, Sam Navarro 832-618-0447
I painted a small part of my garage-floor with checkerboard tiles. I used black acryl autopaint and I recall regular housepaint white. Went about it in 2 ways, first one half with primer under the black tiles because of some light oilstains on the concrete, and the second half putting paint straight on the concrete. I started out by drawing a pencil-line grid on the floor and put marks at certain intervals. On the first half of the floor I rolled on the white tiles roughly over the lines. Redrew the lines, taped off the tile-edges for crisp edges. Tedious job, but worth it. Then applied the black paint. Second part of the floor I did the blacks first. Last I painted the edges with PolyFlex blue. Just using what I had. Later on I finished off the floor with 2 layers of clear. A few buts...! 'Fresh' tires leave yellowing thread marks on the white tiles after parking a car for awhile. On the areas where a lot of walking is done, the clear coat is gone now and the checkers are flat and wearing down fast. Also, if there's only a hint of oil(stain) on the original floor, the paint Will come loose! So if I wanted to do this again, I will just buy vinyl tiles. 20x times faster. And also more durable.
The key to floor coatings: #1-Prep floor correctly, this means degreasing and getting a good surface profile. #2- Product selection, the crap they sell at home depot for Susie soccer mom is not made to handle solvents, fuel, acid, hot tires etc...... you need to get a good industrial floor coating. #3- Proper application, it doesn't matter how good of product you buy if you don't apply it correctly. Most floors fail because of prep and lack of knowledge. #4- Proper time to cure, a lot of these coatings have a cure time that could range from 2days to 2 weeks, depending on the product. Hope this helps, if you need help feel free to call me. Cheers, Sam Navarro 832-618-0447
Vinyl Composition Tile make sure to prep the surface correctly and it will take a while to completely dry ie. don't turn steering wheel while on tile keep wheels straight
don't rule out concrete polishing instead of coating it but i guess the checker pattern wold be tough...nevemind
i've had the tile in my garage for 7 years...i wouldn't do it again unless all i did in mine was wax cars....just paint it and use the money you'll save on tools.
My bro dose this for a living he uses alot of epoxy olds up well to abuse he has done taco shop's,car dealer's,home garage's,cycle shop's ect all with custom logo's and pattern's .he's currently doing a porche dealer in chula vista. Hey if anyone here in san diego is interested in this type of stuff for business or home drop me a pm he has the best prices and stands behind his work. If there's interest ill post a thread with his work ...
yep, if you are lucky enough to have a big shop with part for just parking and part for really doing building a fancy floor is cool. But, I am always working on something that involves floor jacks, jack stands, etc. so, just used concrete paint with minimal prep and has lasted for years with a touch up now and then. being on a low budget also helps you decide which way to go.
I used the cheap stick on checker tiles in the garage at my old house and they were still lookin' pretty good when I moved 8 years later. Didn't really do any serious wrenchin' in that garage it was more of a altar just for my ride..... lol
My 2 cents on this is..... Epoxy and VCT are prone to damage from welding dropping shit ect. They look great for a bit but eventually fail. Also most garages have no moisture barrier under the slab so water vapor from the ground below travels up the through the slab gets trapped under tile or epoxy and makes it blister/bubble. In my opinion polishing is the best but really is alot of work and takes expensive specialized equipment. Read about it on the jalopyjournal.com as well. A good alternative is a high grade concrete stain followed by a sealer over plain or polished concrete. Some of the sealers actually harden the concrete down about a 1/4" so its even less prone to chipping ect. This will last the longest. Dave Hitch
If painting the floor make sure you have proper ventalation as well as a good resporator.I worked for a shop in the 80's and we had 2 high school kids paint the floor with catalized Acrylic enamel. Dispite being instucted about the proper use of equipment, they did it with the doors closed and without resporators. One got so F'd up he pissed himself and the other could'nt quit giggling. Neither was to sharp to start with so I guessing the loss of brain cells made little or no difference in life to the idiots. The automotive finish did last about 4 years in a production body shop. You can also buy checkerd vinyl that just rolls out and will not have to be glued down, I have installed it in our vending trailer and it works great but it is somewhat padded and car tires will at times leave tracks from sitting long periods and jacks will groove or tear the surface..
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