I've been going back and forth with what to do with my garage floor. I like the look of some epoxy coatings, and certain RaceDeck flooring options. The "runway" bay (where the boys seem to like to leave their muddy cleats and clothes) gets a lot of traffic, so I want something durable, yet "finished" looking.

While researching the epoxies I noticed a pretty broad range of options, prices, and project times. One professional quoted $3k (site unseen) for my double bay garage, and told me the process takes about 4 days start-to-finish. Assuming my car gets here this week, I really don't have 4 days to leave it outside for. Not to mention, I don't think there's any way to keep the family out of the garage that long. Other sites I have visited claim a "same day" process. Seems like a pretty big gap, and I assume there is some performance benefit to the elongated application?

On the RD flooring...I like the easy install, and the fact you can pretty much be done in a few hours. No chemicals, no waiting. I'd love to do a checkerboard in either Red / Black, White / Black, or UT Orange / White (she'll never let this one happen), but I'll probably end up with a more subtle Graphite / Black if I opt for the RD.

I realize this isn't specific to the 991, but wanted to stay "in community", as I have received a ton of great advice already. Thanks in advance for the feedback!

 

Where do I start? I really screwed this up, so I hope I can help you not make the same mistakes.

I wanted my floors to look like the ones in Home Depot. I posted on Garage Journal and asked how to get that done. Most everyone suggested I not due polished concrete. The problem with it is that it will still stain. Also, the big box stores have their floors touched up very often to not show wear.

I was recommended a local concrete company. He agreed that polished concrete wasn't the way to go and suggest we do a clear epoxy topped with a clear urethane. I thought that was a great idea. He said he couldn't do too much sanding to the get every last stain or blemish out as the sanding marks would show through the clear. When he rolled on the clear epoxy it turned the concrete to a super dark gray and amplified every last blemish. It looked terrible.

I hate the chip systems, or so I thought. It reminds me of my grandmother's garage. He suggested I pony up the extra cash and do a Metal Epoxy System. The clear and urethane was to cost $1,900. The metal system would cost $3,800. I decided to do it. It is supposed to look like Aluminum. It took about 4 hours worth of work and probably about $500 worth of product.

The result is that I hate it more than anything on the planet. It is super slippery. I now know why everyone uses the chip systems. I can see every roller mark and blemish. What a waste of money!

It looks great in pictures but not in person.











The chip systems are easier, can be done in a day or two and hide all of the roller marks and blemishes. I'm going to have premier garage do it again.

http://www.premiergarage.com/flooring.asp

I know people love floor tiles, but I would get so much oil and dirt under them. Also I don't like walking on plastic. It reminds me of walking on temporary Volleyball courts that I hated playing on in college.

 

This guy's floor is pretty nice.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...premier+garage

 

Six years, six cars and two houses later, my RaceDeck floor is still looking and functioning like the day it went in!
For an existing garage setup, it is easy, cost effective and attractive.
Building from scratch, I'd go with a tile floor like the dealers have (what I plan to do when I break ground on my new 3 car garage )

 

I think the difference between "same day" and 4 days is the cure time....you can strip and re-coat a floor in 1 day but no matter what type of epoxy you apply there is a cure time.....typically 3-4 days.

I went with Polyurethane instead of epoxy.....supposedly 4X stronger...we shall see.

 

The paint systems will all show more wear over time than tile or race deck. We went race deck 5 years ago and it looks absolutely great today.

Race deck or tile gives the longest lasting most consistent looking surface. Race deck is now available with rubber isolators underneath that remove that hollow sound when walking on the surface.

With race deck or tile everyone initially thinks black and white checkered. We went with silver and dark gray with a red border. The silver and dark gray don't show the sand and dirt as badly as white and black would. Surface sweeps easily enough with a shop broom and can be vacuumed, swiffered, or mopped. When putting down the race deck floor buy some powdered insecticide and spread it lightly as you install the floor - we had ants try to move in under one section and ended up pulling a section of the floor up and spreading insecticide before putting the floor back down.

Race deck is a great choice for a garage where you store cars and do light to medium mechanical work. A section of 3/4" plywood should be used under any jacks or jack stands to spread the load. The tile must be protected if you are doing any welding or serious torch work.

Ryan

 

If you're interested in marble tile, I can give you a guys name in Tampa that sells end cuts. I got 500 psi tile from him, enough to do a double garage floor for just over $1000. Got a laborer to help and did the whole job in less than a day. Grouted the next day, sealed the following. Use marble dust in the sealer and no problem with slipping. Not even when it's wet! Cars back in the garage 24 hours after the sealer.

 

I'm really interest in this. What does your finished product look like?

 

On my second garage using RaceDeck-style plastic tiles. Happy with it. Some considerations:

• Plastic tiles are great for areas where there is any concern about water. I had originally really wanted an epoxy floor, but our garage guy warned us that it's often futile to do so here on Long Island where there is a high water table. Even with a barrier layer under the concrete slab, water finds its way up through leeching and eventually bubbles/ruins the epoxy finish, often within a couple of years. Not sure if the situation is similar in NJ.
• Lighter colored plastic tiles obviously brighten up the garage space, but be aware that they do get dirty and grimy over time. Darker colors help to hide the dirt.
• If you're handy with cutting the plastic tiles yourself for the installation, you can do it yourself. But I think the key is to make sure the tiles fill almost the entire floor area of the garage, almost all the way out to the perimeter. Otherwise the flooring can tend to move under the car as you come into the garage--kind of like when you were a kid and you would run and slide on throw rugs on the hardwood floor. This is prevented by filling the whole garage, and running cement screws through a couple of the tiles on either end. Leave a little bit of room at the edges, though, because with high temps in the summertime the plastic expands a bit and can buckle if there isn't a bit of expansion room.
• Good luck--it really transforms the garage. Also consider a modular wall system like GarageTek that allows you to mount various cabinets, baskets, holders, etc. on the walls and move them around when you wish.

Sorry to hear. It does look good in pictures, though!

 

First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone that's taken the time to share their experience, I really appreciate it. Seems like there are definitely some pros and cons to all applications. I think paradocs98 experience with the water table might have closed the case, as I would have the same bubbling problem.

You guys are awesome, thanks again!

 

I'm currently coming into Malaysia, and then onto Vietnam. I'll try and see if my GF can get on my home computer and send some pics of the install. In the mean time, I'll send an email to my guy in Tampa and see what he's got in stock and a price. He's collecting an order for me for 5000 sq.' for my garage in N.C., but I'm not getting that till November. (Will be getting that when I'm in Orlando for the PCA event)

 

Money, is your garage air conditioned?

 

http://www.swisstrax.com/garage-floor-gallery.php

I have the ribtrax and love it. It's a very high quality and still looks brand new 2 years after being installed.

 

I have RaceDeck for about a year now, and both me & my family love it. I opted for the Freeflow version for the majority of the garage due to the fact (and recommendation from RaceDeck) that I live in the snow band. After this past winter, I could tell you I just love it! The water, sand, mud, salt, just fall under the tile and your garage floor will always keep dry & clean. A couple weeks ago, I just hose down the floor and wash out most of the sand/mud that are trapped underneath the tile. And I'm planning to "wash/rinse" the car during the upcoming winter months when it's too cold outside.

 

What a night and day difference! I think based on my area I'm going to need to go the tile route regardless. I probably should have guessed this with the cupping of my HW floors in the formal areas; I'll be redoing this with bamboo in the weeks to come. Is shipping on the RD tile expensive? I assume, based on weight, it has to be close to the cost per sq. ft.?