Geoffrey

It's about time to redo my garage floor now that the epoxy is comming off. I'd really like to do something different than a grey painted floor. I did see Groit's Garage had some polymer tiles that would be the ideal solution but are cost prohibitive. Has anyone used industrial floor tiles like one would see in a school? Would they withstand the edges of a jackstand? Gasoline and other chemicals? Brake fluid? How hard would it be to keep the surface from wearing out prematurely?

RJT

Geoffrey......
I did my garage 3 years ago using Armstrong Tile. These aren't the "industrial" type, just the kind you can get at Lowes/HD etc. Prepping the surface is VERY important. Use Armstrong adhesive and then lay down the Peel & Stick Tiles. I recently rebuilt the motor in my 356 in the garage. I used pieces of 1/4" plywood under the jackstands just to make sure not to damage the tiles, but the floor jack rolled all over the garage with no scratches or marks.

Geoffrey

Robert,

Thanks for the info. From the looks of it, your garage is much nicer than mine. Although clean and organized, I tend to do a lot of work in it on my car and on friend's cars. How has the floor held up? What do you think chemicals such as gasoline or brake cleaner would do to the tile or the glue?

RJT

When I pulled the motor, there were oil and gas spills, not alot but enough to have to do a good clean-up. I also did new rotors and calipers on all 4 corners with a new master cyl. So there was brake fluid spilled on the tiles. There were NO effects on the tiles. As you can see in the 2nd pic the engine hoist was used to pull the motor. Again, NO marks or scratches from the metal wheels.

Good luck with your garage!

Geoffrey

Thanks, I'm going to look into them.

Eyal 951

That is one nice garage. Good job, I geuss the room you spend most of your time in should be nice.
~Eyal

J. Brinkley

I don't mean to cause offense, but I'd thought I'd show you what it looks like after you rip those peel and stick tiles up and try to get a clean surface. The residue from that glue is a bitch to get off. I even tried to get it with acid.
My advice (not worth much) is resuface and dye the concrete- any color-
you can even score it to look like any tile, design, color you want. IMHO better
resale to

NICK G.

GEOFFREY, I checked into putting tiles on the garage floor in my garage.I'm a floor layer so i figured I should put tiles on the floor , since I'm around the floor business i't would be what i would do. All of the tile I found where really expensive, at like 2-4 dollars a tile or more. I found something that mite work better on your floor.I have't tried it yet ,but have done a lite research on the product.It's from rust-oleum, and it is called epoxy shield and all the car mag. are giving it a great review. The web site is rustoleum.com or paintideas.com also it's at home depot.let us know which way you go on your floor.and RJT993 your floor looks great what tiles did you use.you said you also glued the floor and used peel and stick tiles.Do you think that the glue helped the glue on the peel and stick,i was going to try some tile like that but was worried that the tires would hurt the tile and they are a real pain the --- to get up off the floor , i know from experience. Let me know thanks NICK G.

RJT

Thanks Nick......Armstrong Peel & Stick tiles. Lowes, .79 each, 12"x 12". Three car garage with a 993, a 356 and a Cayenne calling it home. All three come and go with no adverse effect on the tiles. No tire marks at all. Next month will be three years since laying them....No problems!
Armstrong advised that in a "high traffic" area to put the adhesive on the floor before laying the peel & stick.

JasonAndreas

If your garage is not heated Armstrong suggests that you DO NOT use their Peel'n'Stick tiles, they claim the adhesive is useless below 55F.

tchanson

Geoffrey,

The climate difference would be a concern that I would have as well, as I would imagine that your winters in NY are substantially harsher than Robert's are in Hot Springs.

If you've got other cars in the garage, with typical undercarriage/wheel well snow and slush that will melt and puddle on your floor with some frequency, the peel and stick tiles might not be ideal. I would guess they get pretty slippery with that kind of water as well, as opposed to most epoxies to which you can add sand for some "grip" on the floor.

Does anyone have any direct expericence with any of the polycarbonate tile options such as Kiwi Tile, RaceDeck or MotorMat in a four seasons environment? All have open, self draining versions that may be an option to epoxy. It would be great to hear some first hand opinions on those modular products.

Tim

By the way, here's a gratuitous photo of RaceDeck's standard diamond pattern (non-self draining) tile:

RJT

Jason may have a valid point with the heated garage issue. I did not hear or read that before I did my application. I can imagine the tiles might expand and contract a fraction due to severe temp changes. High humidity could be a factor too. BUT my garage is heated and cooled, kept at 75 degees year round.

Tim.....I was on a pit crew with an American LeMans Series race team and we used Kiwi tile for our set-up next to the 18 wheeler transporter at all the different tracks. Kiwi's were a PAIN if you dropped a small screw or washer or etc.....it would fall into the open grid and it was impossible to retreive without a magnet. Alot of dust and dirt would need to be vacuumed out of the tiles in a garage, and if there was a oil , gas or soda pop (or beer) spill you would have to lift several tiles up for cleaning. I noticed that the Kiwi's also showed tire marks.

Geoffrey

Thanks all for your input. I did finally heat my garage last year when I replaced my boiler. I put in some hot water baseboard and keep the garage about 65 degrees in the winter. I too wondered about the snow, weter, etc. on the tiles since one side is where my wife's car is and the other where I keep/work on cars. At this point, I'm back to probably repainting the floor.

tchanson

Robert,

Given the fairly tight grid pattern of the Kiwis, the even smaller hole pattern of the MotorMat tiles, and the non-existent holes in the RaceDeck standard tiles, I assume that dropping very small bolts/washers would be much less of a concern in a residential garage than in a working ALMS GT3 pit with Kiwi's on a race weekend?

I would further assume that fat, hot Michelin race slicks, coated with equally hot marbles after a full session at Elkhart or Road Atlanta, would be significantly more prone to leaving tire marks on the poly tiles than the comparitively skinny, cold 205 Conti's on my wife's street car after a run to the grocery store...unless, of course, she was really hitting her apexes on the way home. In which case, I may be kicked out of HWFM by association, if nothing else.

Again, though, I'd love to hear from anyone with real world experience with polycarbonate tiles like the Kiwi's or equivalents in a home garage where there are actual winters...

Tim