Barry Schultz

I have about 20 boxes of ceramic tile waiting for me to put them down in my garage. They were given to me as outdated stock by a local tile store. But I am now leaning to just leaving it painted concrete. The tile is the shiny kind like the type used in bathroom and kitchen applications. seems like a lot of work to go through and if you drop a hammer or other heavy tool....there's goes a big chunk of tile! Anyone else agree?
Thanks

Arthur

What about using a cement stain? There are some cement mixes that have a stain in the mix so that when it dries, it looks like the color of brick. It seems that any paint that is applied over the cement will come off one way or another. The same goes with tile. It is obvious that Griot's product is good from reading everyone' opinion on it. It would be a lot less expensive and painful if you just used colored cement, and maybe put a clear coat on it.

John D II

Barry,

If you use tile, you must use industrial grade tile - made for fork lift use. I had my garage floor painted with a two part epoxy paint Garage Pics and it held up for two years or so and has now started to deteriorate. I called the contractor, who called Benjamin Moore and they are replacing the product with something better and the contractor is eating the labor. they were talking about some sort of quartz based system. I am not sure yet, what the final coating will be. I would be very cautious with paint type finishes.
Garage Pics

Barry Schultz

John D,

I'm a little jealous of your garage. It's nicer than some of the places I lived while in college.
The classic 911 parts are a nice touch, as is everything else including the very beautiful (and air cooled!) Arctic Silver 993TT!

I didn't know they made 'industrial grade' tile but even if I had it, I think the epoxy coating is the way to go. It would be interesting to hear what they eventually use to replace yours with, (whenever that happens.) I'll bookmark your website and check back from time to time for an update, if you don't mind.

Thanks and good luck!

Ed Bighi

I would just like to posish the concrete on the floor of my garage to a shine. Anyone done that?

Barry Schultz

Hi Ed,

I am a former sales manager who for ten years worked out of a glorified warehouse facility with concrete floors. To maintain a nice shiny and presentable finish we used a water-based concrete product that we applied with a mop. After it dried it left a nice smooth and shiny finish without any further treatment. These type of products are sometimes called sealers and can be found at most home improvement outlets. If there is a janitorial supply facility in your area, that would also be a source for this type of product. We even had white rubber tires on our forklift to prevent undue scuffing. Can you envision white tires on the P-car?
Hope this helps sir.

John D II

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the compliments. We are in the middle of the refinish analysis now and I should be hearing what they recommend shortly. I will e-mail you what I learn - it may be a few days or a few weeks.

Barry Schultz

Thanks John, I'll look forward to hearing the results. Good luck!

Pat 87 Carrera Coupe

Very interesting opinions on garage floor finishes. One more question. Is it safe for the environment (aka sewer) and newly paved blacktop driveway when the cleaning agents (e.g. hydrocholoric acid) run off the floor and down the driveway? I am environmentally sensitive but I am not a nature nut. And as importantly, I don't want to damage the new blacktop! Thanks.

rickc

Its all in the surface prep no matter what paint you use. I have installed a two part grey epoxy floor(5,000sf) over an old service bay at the local chevy dealership.You should plan on using a stripper if you have old finish, followed by a pressure wash , followed by an acid etch to remove contaminants to fresh concrete,followed by another pressure wash to remove all of the acid. Let it dry well. Follow manufacturers recommendations to the letter. Some of the floors require a primer coat first. I never had much luck with the stains or latex based stuff. Stick to a two part product.The epoxy will last the longest, but its tedious work. I do a lot of tile work in kitchen areas, and the grout joint is typically the weak link. It does not matter if its epoxy or a latex modified grout, it will fail after x years and will need to be regrouted.The epoxy grout will outperform, but it takes awhile to cure(sometimes two weeks or longer for 100%duty). If you rush the install and get it wet, all bets are off.