What type of Garage floor coating is best and why?

[pbonsalb]

I like the porcelain tile! That is the ultimate in my opinion. I would go small tiles though, for less likelihood of breakage. That is what my local BMW dealership uses—small red/brown rectangular tiles sort of like a brick.

[leo95se]

I drop tools all day long. You’re not worried about cracking the porcelain?

[delirium330]

I went epoxy. Here is my garage build thread with pictures.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1174095

2. Floor: The floor is a 3 layer U.V Resistant Urethane. The first step was to machine diamond-etch the entire surface then fill and seal random cracks here and there. Then cut in border lines with a hand grinder so epoxy wouldn’t bleed. Followed that by a primer first layer, then primary urethane layer with colored chips put down to refusal (dumped over 100 pounds of chips until the urethane couldn't stick to any more chips, i.e. "to refusal" then let it dry and scraped off the chips that didn't stick. Then finally put down a clear coat top for a slick and reflective gloss look (and extra UV protection). This floor will won’t degrade for ~20 years or get hot tire peel up like your typical big box store DIY kits.

The floor is 4 years old now and still looks like it did on day 1.

Also, someone asked me about my floor DIY, and this was my experience:
Oh man, where to begin... let me be the first to say that properly tackling a garage floor is a huge undertaking. While I won't post a formal DIY, I'll offer up a few tips.

1. It is much easier to do a new floor versus an existing floor because surface preparation is EVERYTHING. Anybody can lay down some epoxy in a day, but 2 years later when it start peeling from hot tires it will be because the floor wasn't prepped properly.

2. You need to etch the surface, sort of like scoring it with sandpaper. You can do that with acid or a diamond grinder. I'll admit I got professional help here. My floor had some hardening agent applied by the previous owner so I couldn't acid etch. You can rent a diamond grinder, but I wouldn't advise it. Big, bulky, expensive and grinding it flat and even across the whole garage isn't done easily. It also creates a HUGE amount of dust. You can fashion your own dust vacuum, but the pro I had help me arrived with a special dust vacuum that was 6 feet tall and ran off a gas engine.

3. Invest in a professional product. I'd recommend Legacy Industrial but there are a few other consumer friendly outlets of industrial strength products out there. http://www.legacyindustrial.net/prod...-coating-kits/

4. Depending on square footage, you need to budget some significant hours if you decide to DIY. For a 3 car garage like mine, I'd estimate solo labor hours with trips to the store for supplies, research and product preparation, etching, etc. is around 40 hours. I would also get a second helper when you are ready to lay down the coats.

5. Bottom line, if you have $1500-$2500 to spend on a pro, do it. DIY is not for the faint of heart. By the time you add in cost of good materials, supplies (you will need to buy buckets, applicators, spike shoe attachments, squeegees, etc.), labor, disposal time, research time you'll find the money spent on a pro is probably worth it.

[MaximusB]

Epoxy. It is very durable and versatile floor finish system, but go with a high quality product. I would recommend Sika. My firm (I'm an Architect) almost always use Sika epoxy floor systems. They have a wide range of selections from high chemical/acid resistant to decorative finish. We put them in hospitals, fire halls, research facilities, trade schools...etc and never have problem in terms of durability and wear resistant. Many years ago I've used epoxy floor for a local university's automotive program. With heavy use and high traffic that floor still looks new.

One thing to consider with epoxy floor is the top coat. It looks good with a smooth and high gloss finish (assuming your floor is extremely even) and it will also be slippery. You can add anti-slip coating or texture but such coating will eventually wear off and texture might be too abrasive in some situation, such as if you walk bare feet on it or if you have kids that might fall on it. Texture will also makes spill clean up harder compared to a smooth finish.

[cae93]

Has anyone tried any of the "mat" solutions for a floor? I just got the new Griotts catalog and they are selling some "floor on a roll" solutions that look very convenient but I'm not sure about longevity

[brettcp]

I did GarageTrac several years ago, been happy with it. I put a layer of weed-barrier fabric down underneath it to prevent it from clacking, works great. I think I've had it installed for 9-10 years now without any issues.. nice thing is that if I move, I can take it with me.

https://www.bigfloors.com/product-ca...ng/garagetrac/

[Bemo]

I'm finally looking into BigFloors and Weathertech, both sell tiles for $1.99/sq.ft.

If anyone has gotten any, can you post your impressions?

[SAMM3Y]

Not any epoxy you can buy OTC in California, it's shite..

[bmwpower603]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

I did race deck + "epoxy" from Premiere Garage. One thing to keep in mind about flat epoxy is it gets extremely slippery during the rainy seasons. Mine is textured and I still almost slipped a few times with wet soles.

I like the way you set up your boxes.

Looks clean.

[bmwpower603]

Originally Posted by kskpsu

I had race deck in a previous home, but in my last two homes, I went porcelain tile. If you get the tile on clearance, it is actually comparable in price. That said, not remotely close on install time....you’ll be measuring time in days or weeks instead of hours. Still really happy with the tile results and is definitely my preferred solution.

Nice collection.

Is that a 1m that I see?

[Staszek]

I am going to go polished in my next garage, although I love the idea of the time in the pic above me thats pretty nice!

I have had epoxy before and it was really nice if done well, I have seen epoxy where people are not preparing their garage floor correctly and it just peels up.

My current garage the floor wasnt in great shape so I didnt want to fix it just to epoxy it and went with interlocking vinyl tiles.

The house we are looking to buy I will probably go polished although man those floor tiles above look awesome!!

[brettcp]

Originally Posted by Bemo

I'm finally looking into BigFloors and Weathertech, both sell tiles for $1.99/sq.ft.

If anyone has gotten any, can you post your impressions?

I've done two garages (my own and my neighbors - both are 3 car garages) with GarageTrac from Bigfloors.. they shipped quick, never had an issue with them. I seem to recall they shipped from Utah, so shipping down here to so cal was fairly quick.

If you use a jack, just put down a flat piece of wood first, otherwise you may put a dent in one of the floor tiles. Fortunately the tiles area easy to replace (even if its a tile in the middle, you can pry up and easily replace a single tile).

I use a quick jack regularly and it does not dent the GarageTrac tiles at all.

I'll try to grab a photo later today.

[Bemo]

Originally Posted by brettcp

I've done two garages (my own and my neighbors - both are 3 car garages) with GarageTrac from Bigfloors.. they shipped quick, never had an issue with them. I seem to recall they shipped from Utah, so shipping down here to so cal was fairly quick.

If you use a jack, just put down a flat piece of wood first, otherwise you may put a dent in one of the floor tiles. Fortunately the tiles area easy to replace (even if its a tile in the middle, you can pry up and easily replace a single tile).

I use a quick jack regularly and it does not dent the GarageTrac tiles at all.

I'll try to grab a photo later today.

Thanks for responding, great feedback! BigFloors it is , I like their colors better, anyway.

[cae93]

Anyone come across "coin flex nitro tiles"? they seem like an interesting alternative to the racedeck/garagetrack options, claiming less noise and able to use a jack on them without damage. Not cheap , but interesting if the quality is OK.