Garage floor tiles

I just got a 1000 sq. ft garage and am considering putting a checkerboard tiled floor.
Anyone have any recommendations on a quality product, good price, vendor and ease of build?
Thank you,
Charlie

 

garage floor finishs? this thread has some good info. Use the search function (***le only) will bring up alot more threads.

 

By tile, do you mean VCT (vinyl composition tile)? If you do use them, place a piece of carpet or extra tile under your tires when you park, or it will permanently stain the tile...
Armstrong 1/8" tile is still the best (squarest). Ceramic tile will be about five times the cost.

 

I know there are commercial grade tiles that are a lot more durable than "regular" tiles. They are either not vinyl, or not purely vinyl, as "regular" tiles are.

 

Are you thinking of Race Deck to lay over an existing concrete floor or are you intending to tile the floor?

 

And when wet is slicker than owl s#it when wet! HRP

 

If you work in your garage....epoxy the floor and use it....I would guess you'd get tired of having to protect that tile floor all the time and end up cursing it!!

 

Some people can't stand a plain concrete floor, or one with cosmetic imperfections. Those people aside, for a shop that is actually being worked in a bare concrete floor is better in almost every way.

 

Concrete only here My$.02

 

My father epoxies (and re-epoxies) his garage on a pretty regular basis. Salt from the roads always leads to tire lift. And then he's got to do it again. I don't understand it.

Tile is much stronger than epoxy. You can spill solvents on it. Drag stuff over it -- it doesn't scratch. You can get porcelain tile from places like Lowe's for $1/sf, which is also cheaper than a lot of the better epoxy systems. In many ways, ceramic or porcelain tiles will be stronger than the concrete they're sitting on.

I tiled my garage on impulse, since my local Home Depot had ceramic tiles on sale for .59/sf. I didn't know porcelain existed at the time (it's even stronger than ceramic), and I'd never set a tile in my life. My concrete had no vapor barrier, had been extended once in its lifetime by someone who didn't know what they were doing, had seen 83 years of earthguakes and heaving from my location on top of the La Brea Tar Pit deposits. It was in pretty terrible shape.

I hit the old floor with a cheap pressure washer to get the worst of the surface oil off. Then I used some vinyl patching concrete to address drop offs that were as much as 1-1/2". At the time, I didn't know what self-leveling concrete was. If I had, my garage floor wouldn't be wavy anymore. Still, I addressed the worst of the problems:



I started setting tiles right away. Like I said, this was all new to me. I did the tiles that didn't need cutting in one day, then the ones around the perimeter and other irregular features the next. I used the basic thinset and grout. I bought a cheap tile saw at Home Depot.



My shoulders still remember pushing in all that grout. I used a dark brown color so that oil stains would never be an issue.



Here's how it came out.



That was four and a half years ago. Since then, I've dropped lots of tools, dragged heavy stuff all over the place, dropped the engine from my car twice, rolling it around on a floor jack. The car gets jacked up right on the tiles. I never even think about it braking.

HERE'S A SHORT VIDEO CLIP of me hitting the tile with a four-pound sledge. See what I mean?

Here's my father and a good friend moving the engine into position while I take the picture:



Four and a half years later, the tile is fine. Since then, I put a lift into the garage, and I tiled the steel top to match the floor around it. The car gets lifted directly on the tile. Even on the steel top (which isn't as stout as four inches of concrete), nothing cracks.







Here it is all cleaned up. Lots has changed in the garage in the past four and a half years -- but not the tile. Working on the old car leaves engine and gear oil all over the place and it wipes up with a paper towel or shop rag. The tile doesn't fade, stain or shift around (like VCT can). Even dried-on oil paint comes up with a razor blade.



Full disclosure: I've got nothing to sell, here. But with almost five years on the clock, I have to say that tiling the garage was one of the smartest things I ever did for the place. It cleans up easier, sweeps easier, doesn't absorb oil, doesn't dent and doesn't scratch. The only thing that leaves a mark is welding slag, which leaves pinhole-like burns if I don't put down a welding blanket. Sometimes I remember the blanket, sometimes I don't. It's a garage, after all. It should show some use.

 

Go over to GARAGE JOURNAL and they go deep into the garage floor tiles.

 

Sorry to disagree but I tiled my workshop floor 10 years ago with some cheap black and white tiles, it's got a few chips here and there but I regularly jack up on them and use stands on them, they have stayed great and they are the easiest thing in the world to clean.
The trick is to use industrial tile cement and cover the tile completely, no gaps.


.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Looks nice Jack.

I have cracked tiles in my kitchen form kids dropping pans, I cannot imagine tile holding up in the garage.

Do you ever use a standard rolling floor jack.

 

I'm planning to put whatever that stuff is that prevents the concrete from "dusting off" then I am going to stain it. Whatever happens to it after that, aside from cleaning, will just add character I guess.

 

Yep, http://www.garagejournal.com

 

Thanks.

Ceramic or porcelain tile is a lot like concrete in that it's very strong in compression, but weak in tension. If you ask a tile to span any kind of open space underneath it, it will crack very easily. When you do residential tile installation, this isn't a concern -- so installers dab on enough adhesive to hold the tiles in place, and there are huge gaps/voids underneath the tiles. Tap one with a hammer, and it'll crack. But that's fine, because no one is using a hammer in their powder room or kitchen.

With this kind of install, you simply double-****er the thinset, which means you put it on the floor and the back surface of the tile. It's not as fast as using a caulk gun to dab out a row of dots. But if there are no voids under the tiles, then the tile will hold up to the kind of hammer blows you see in my video clip. They'll hold up to pretty much anything concrete will hold up to.

 

You're using the wrong people to do your tile if that's what they're doing.

 

I prefer light gray stain on my shop floors like you used to see in machine shops for a number of reasons.

It inexpensive for about five gallons and ever few years I apply another coat and it always looks good.

I do mop the floors because I like a clean shop.

In 21 years the hot car tires have never pulled up any of it the way they would if I had used paint.

I have friends hear in Florida who used the Home Depot floor kits and spent a few hundred dollars doing it only to have the hot tires pull it right off the floor.

For me stain is the least expensive way to have a nice looking shop floor.

Jimbo

 

Ya dont do it

 

Diverse group here, either you like it or you don't. I'm a Gen. Bldg. Cont. by trade and have done my share of residential and commercial tile jobs but never a garage. The products are many and the prices are too.
I was hoping someone had experience with the advertised garage tile products like Racedeck and others. Paint or similar is not an option. The space has 1 1/2" flooring with metal joist on 32" centers. It's got glue down carpet presently which is trashed, ugly and ****s for my purposes.
The link from 17Harv was helpful, thank you.

 

I used the VCT commercial grade. They come in many colors. Has Mint green and black checkered. Bout a heavy duty commercial coating, and no problems.

I worked at Ikea and we would drive the forklifts over there on the tile at times. The battery alone was over 2 tons, I used the same products they had.
I forget now.

 

Thanks for the tip I found many others who seem to like the stuff also, and the price is right and it's readily available.
I have samples coming from Armstrong.

 

I know this is an older post but I was looking for some custom garage examples for a refresh of my garage. I personally chose to order my tiles from https://modmyfloor.com because of the value. The quality of their samples and the price was stellar. I chose the Drain thru tiles because they would allow spills and debris to be hidden but had a flat surface for my creeper. They also have great sales on the major holidays!