[csc71]

Well I am finally buying a house. Thank God I bought my 968 last May or I probably could never afford to justify it with the big *** mortgage I am going to have. The house only has a 1 car garage, but I plan to make it the nicest room in the house, jk, but I would like to have a nice floor down.



I would love some advice and would love to see if you all have any pics of flooring in your garage. Do I paint it, or get the square blocks, astro-turf, or something else?



Any info would be appreciated.



Thanks, Steve

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[flash]

there are plusses and minues to all of them, and i've tried them all over the years



epoxy goes down easily and cleans easily, though it takes days to dry - however, it also scratches easily - there are varying degrees of quality, from the lowest (the stuff you can get at home depot) to ones that are 20 times the cost - the prep is extremely critical here



race deck looks great, goes down easily, requiring no prep, comes up easily, is impervious to almost all chemicals, and cleans up easily - you can get it under their costco name of MotoFloor for about $2/sq ft - however, it is noisy if you don't lay down a foam layer underneath, scratches fairly easily (thankfully it's easy to change out a square), and will not support the load of a jack or most jackstands without using sheet metal under them - very nice to roll around on, and warmer to lie on than concrete



what i have ended up with is a resin floor by premier garage - they came in and did everything, including etching my concrete, filling all cracks and holes, and then grinding it down - all done in one day - hard as nails - it's basically a fiberglass layer over the epoxy paint - guaranteed not to scratch, chip or ding for 5 years under the kinds of use i am going to subject it to - good for 900 lbs/sq in load - cleans up with soap and water - cannot get solvents on it though - cost is about $4/sq ft installed - very much prefer this, in spite of the coldness on the back



bottom line, you get what you pay for, and the look is up to you



hope that helps

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[csc71]

Very helpful, thanks Flash!

I can't believe we get all this info for free, love this site (and your car..wow)



Thanks again,



Steve

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[rhudeboye]

I would also like to thank you Flash.



I was looking into the epoxy to cover over some stains in my garage and didnt stop to think about a material that would cancel out some of the cold. I actually just had to run into the garage and grab something out of the car and as my socks hit the cold concrete I got an instant foot freeze.



That MotoFloor will aid me in more then just repairs.









Oh, Congrats on the house CSC <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[SILVY968]

flash,



What type of floor stands did you say that you used on the moto floor? You said that they had a base so as not to damage the floor.

What size and thickness aluminum plate did you use under the aluminum lo rise floor jack to prevent damage?

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[Cloud9...68]

Griot's Garage sells a very dense fiber carpet sold in stick-on squares which looks interesting, and would take care of the coldness issue. I'm skeptical of using any type of carpet in the garage, but Griots claims it is impervious to spills, stains, etc. Anybody have any experience with this stuff? Thanks.

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[au968]

I went for a 2-pack resinous epoxy flooring system called Durafloor HP. It's professionally applied using a surface grind and crack filling preparation, followed by 2 coats of the Durafloor product. Sets in a few hours, ready for traffic in 4-5 days. It's chemical and solvent resistant, cleanup is with normal hardfloor maintenance equipment (mop, bucket, soap and water) Sounds similar to flash's, but not effected by solvents.



I'm told that heavy impacts will chip it, and it's fairly scratch resistant (but you can scratch it if you try)



Looks a million dollars, hopefully it will stay that way, I can't stand stained concrete garage floors!



I considered ceramic tiles, but dismissed them after looking at a few installations. Some looked great, but spills are a problem, as are wear and tear around the edges and in one case, the action of steering was tearing up the floor.



Michael

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[flash]

by the way - we put the carpet from griot's into the neighbor's garage - looks great - holds up well - took some doing to get it flat though - however, it is carpet, and subject to all the things the carpet in your living room would be subject to



they said the stuff i have wouldn't hold up to solvents, but i wonder just how much - i know that epoxys and such can activate with solvents - haven't tried it yet though - au968, i'd find a corner somewhere and give it a go - i suspect yours is a lot like mine and will probably at least discolor with solvent - as to the setup time, mine was ready for traffic (car traffic) the next day - that was a key selling point to me - there is actually a very thick coat of fiberglass resin over the epoxy - i cracked up when they broght out all the bodywork stuff - bondo for the cracks and such and fiberglass for the top coat

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[gryphon]

I once saw interlocking carpet squares at Home Depot, about 24" each, and thought they might be a good choice for a garage if one had the forethought to buy enough extras pieces to allow for spills/damage etc.



Tom

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[flash]

the one thing that is tough about carpet is that you really have to take care if you are going to do any filing, sawing, cutting, grinding, etc - that dust never comes out, no matter how good your vacuum is - my neighbor didn't do any projects in his garage, so for him it worked great - i would have gone crazy

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[Ryan]

There are some cement stains that are worth looking at if you need to use your floor with jacks and stands etc. A nice look can be achieved with masking and multi color use. I have been thinking about this. Nothing that keeps the floor warm is going to work with jacks and stuff and epoxy can be slick and scratch. I guess if the floor has discoloration this could be a problem with a stain.

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[au968]

[quote name='flash' post='30217' date='Jan 27 2007, 12:53 AM']au968, i'd find a corner somewhere and give it a go - i suspect yours is a lot like mine and will probably at least discolor with solvent - as to the setup time, mine was ready for traffic (car traffic) the next day - that was a key selling point to me - there is actually a very thick coat of fiberglass resin over the epoxy - i cracked up when they broght out all the bodywork stuff - bondo for the cracks and such and fiberglass for the top coat[/quote]



Flash,



So yours is 2-pack epoxy base with polyester 2-pack clear topcoat? (I guess you mean the resin used for fibreglass, not actual fibreglass?)



Ok, doesn't sound like ours are the same. Floor preparation is probably pretty standard with a diamond grind to bring it all flat and smooth (amazing how many cracks become visible when this is done) Cracks were filled with the same 2-pack material as the topcoats, but it had talcum powder mixed in to give it more body. The next day, the first coat was rolled on, second coat a day later. It was tack-dry in about 12 hours, and although it looked like you could drive on it after a couple of days, the installers were specific at a 5 day cure before traffic. Cars went in on Christmas day. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Test in the corner sounds like a good idea...



Michael

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[flash]

components sound about right, though this dried incredibly fast - the epoxy was completely dry in about an hour (3 coats too) then down went the resin - big slurry coat (about .060" thick) - walked on it next morning - waited 24 hours to drive on it though - was hard as a rock very quickly - just like laying up fiberglass

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[csc71]

Hey Flash,

What did you mean by the racedeck is too noisy?..just curious and can you explain the type of subfloor that was used under the tiles?



Thanks, Steve

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[flash]

lol - the dog was actually scared - she would walk across it and it went "clack clack" with every step - i then put a 1/8" layer of sheet foam under it (they sell that at costco too - it's for hardwood floors i think), and it got much better, but still made noise - it was over concrete



as i said, i liked the floor, but i do too much in the garage to keep it looking good - i was constantly cleaning and wiping it, due to all of the projects - the new floor is much easier for me to keep clean

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[huskydog]

I am way on the other side. I put down 12x12 commercial floor tile, that is 1/4" thick. The kind of stuff you wouldd find on the floor of a Walmart. I actually stripped the paint off of the old floor, and put in the new one. It was kind of a tough job, putting the glue down with a trowel, and placing each tile. Took about a week to complete the garage floor, but it looks terrific. You need to apply a commercial wax with a buffer once a year to keep it looking good. In addition I painted all of the walls with a Kitchen gloss white paint to maximize the reflected light. I fI had it to do over again only thing I owuld change is the pattern of the tile. I had the pattern all going the same direction, I would alternate the pattern every other tile. It makes it look like a very subtle checkerboard style and looks much better. Tile is durable, no problem with solvents and it is not as slippery when wet as a painted floor.

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[flash]

i thought about that too - i had a few problems with it which prevented me from doing it in the last place, and i did not solve all of them for this place



the slippery thing was one



the garage floor had been epoxy sealed, so the glue would not stick well was another



dent resistance was another - i put jackstands down all the time, and the corners were an issue



also, i could not find a source in los angeles for the commercial stuff - all i could find were the ones you can get at home depot and such



tile looks great, and is easy to keep relatively clean - buffing, as you said, is the key



i did use tiles as the entry to the last place, and they worked ok, but some of them them did the normal "edge lift" thing that i have seen them do before - also, after a year, they just didn't look new anymore



ah choices - ain't it cool?

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[au968]

Re wet-slippery.



I didn't consider it, but the Durafloor product has an option for non-slip components to be added into the topcoat. Haven't had the opportunity to walk on it wet yet, but I guess if it's a big issue, I might have to do something about that.

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[flash]

it was probably the same stuff that i have - little flecks - you have to put them in in the top coat with the epoxy jobs, and before the resin coat on mine - the result is a gritty surface that is pretty non-slip



having taken a header on a slippery garage floor before, i can tell you that the sudden jarring stop at the bottom is no fun

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