Domer911

I'm building a new garage and I'm curious what people with more experience think about flooring options.

I'm down to an epoxy or tile. It's an oversized one-car space. I will install a lift and will keep a restored 914 and a newer p-car. What are the pros and cons of both?

My plans specs call for epoxy, but my builder loves his tile guy and was trying to get me to let him do a special pattern with porcelain tile instead.

Thoughts anyone?

Mojo31

Look into the polyaspartic polyeuria coatings. Supposedly much more durable than epoxy coatings and less prone to lifting under hot tires. I've had mine for about two years and it looks like new.

Tile can crack and have crack bleed thru from the underlying concrete. Also, very slippery when wet.

okbarnett

Im satisfied with plain old H&C concrete stain / coating from home depot or lowes. Its smooth, easy to sweep or blow off. Cheap, and Its easy on your feet . You can wipe stuff off of it .

MessyMarvin

I have the Racedeck Tile now, in my last Garage I had Epoxy. I like both for different reasons. I think if I was doing a garage like yours I would do Epoxy, as long as it is done right and you do not have water issues there is not chance hot tires will pull it up, when done right it becomes part of the Concrete. Look up Racedeck, it is another great option and Rennlist members get a Discount.

If tile is done right it should have little or no chance of cracking, but I would not do regular tile, would not want all the grout lines.

Mudcat

I went with modutile.com. Good price, free shipping and easy to install. My garage floor had some cracks so tile was the way to go.

MJBird993

I concur that tile would be very slippery and the grout difficult to keep clean. However, it would look awesome!

iammulva

I had epoxy professionally installed on my 30 yr old garage floor. I believe from my investigation that, if done properly, epoxy should not lift from hot tires. My guy told me to let it dry for 3 days (I think) before parking on it. I actually gave it a little more time than that, but have not had any issues yet. Have had it maybe 6 months now. I've not had any other type of flooring in a garage so I cant give pros/cons, I'm posting this mostly to relay my experience with epoxy re: hot tire lifting. I chose epoxy because it does what I want and seemed cheapest alternative for me. It seals the floor, makes it easy to clean, looks good, is durable. My floor is 400 sq ft and, given the condition (not level, broomstick finish, etc), it cost me $1800 to do. I had to ponder the cost/benefit for a while since I had previously used Home Depot epoxy (on another garage) for about $150 (of course, the Home Depot epoxy lifted from the tires). I decided to go for it and am SUPER happy with the results. My guy did an excellent job and I have no concerns about its durability.

For anyone in the Houston area this is the company I used. He paid as much or more attention to detail than I probably would have. http://www.garageflooreffects.com/

Mojo31

Here's my poly floor after two years:

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Minok

based on the tire residue that has accumulated on my bare concrete garage floor over the past 5 years, I'm suspecting I'd have to re-do any garage floor covering every 5-10 years at a minimum. Its not worth it for me for that sort of longevity. If a coating was guaranteed to not stain or lift for 30 years, I'd go for it.

RED HORSE

Had Race Deck down for 6 years and very happy. I have been in charge of facility maintenance at various Air Force and civilian installations for 50 years and I have yet to see any epoxy, or any other type of painted on floor covering that didn't eventually come up.

Mumbles

Cheaply you can get garage floor paint from big box stores, add fine silica sand and backroll for grip.

Cheap and easy.

Domer911

My priorities are longevity, appearance, ease of maintenance, price...in that order

Chris from Cali

If those are your priorities, get a polyurea floor. I got a Rock Solid floor in my garage. It's survived two winters of salt, crud, etc. I just hose it out when the weather improves. I got a semi-rough surface so my wife and I don't slip when it's wet. Here are some pics:

Domer911

Apparently the polyurea isn't all that popular here due to high moisture content in the air. I don't understand the ins and outs but I've been asking a lot of questions today.

Mojo31

Read this: http://http://www.concreteconstruction.net/finishes-and-surfaces/polyaspartic-polyurea-coatings.aspx