Hi guy i'm about to pull the trigger on a Race Deck floor, but I wanted opinions on it as it sure looks good but I want to know if it's going to stand up to abuse, I work on my cars regularly and often fabricate parts for my jeep.

How will it hold up to tools being dropped on it, jack stands and heavy jacks being dragged across it, will oil seep between the tiles and be a pain to clean up?

Also our Canadian winters mean lots of snow and slush dragged in during the winter, I have a drain in the middle of the garage, and plan on putting some of the free flow tiles in that area so they drain, but will there be lots of moisture, and or mold/mildew under the tiles and such?

Is this a good choice for someone who actually works on vehicles as opposed to just something that looks good?
Thanks
Shalil

 

dont do it. the water and snow will get underneath and start to smell...i ripped mine out and put epoxy down...the racedeck gets slipper too...the white ones stain...id use racedeck if u had a spare garage where u basically used it for storage...for any type of daily use id stay away. my 2 cents

 

I second RickyN.. I don't like mine at all. It is a ***** to clean, the white tiles will stain no matter what. I'm in Seattle.. rain and dirt is a bad combination. I'm stuck with them.. but if I were to do it again it would be epoxy or something similiar. I suggest against it..

 

I did some research and ended up going with the epoxy as well. I am very happy with it. My neighbor has the race deck and it looks nice, but he does not do any work in there and his garage cars never leave during inclemant weather.

 

As you can see, I am RaceDeck....

I am sorry to read the above about your white RaceDeck tiles staining? did you call us to see what we can do? The should not stain and if they do, we will replace them. For commercial application we recommend our TuffShield line which has a gloss protective finish http://www.racedeck.com/tuffshield.html ...But white being white, it shows dirt and grime the most, no matter what the surface type.

As for water getting underneath. We have many styles of floors from solid top versions to open grid. We are based in Salt Lake City and I live in the mountains where we have a ton of snow , mud etc...In the area where my daily SUV's go, I have FreeFlow http://www.racedeck.com/freeflow.html so the slop goes through the floor and out the door..I even wash my cars in the winter. The solid top also has channeling underneath for air and liquids to flow...this is an important part of the design.

As for the other comments about RaceDeck getting slippery when wet? The tread design gives greater slip resistance than that of painted smooth epoxy floors.
As for odor's - High Impact Poly-pro is non porous and unable to promote odor causing mold and mildew..Plus we load our product with anti-microbial which actually prohibits mold and mildew and out of the 10 million+ feet of flooring we produce each year, I am not aware of a single floor coming back due to mold issue.

Modular flooring is not for everyone and Epoxy is not for everyone. I can tell you that most of the floors we sell go to customer who are putting it over their old epoxy flooring.

 

well i don't want to highjack the thread but since we have someone of the company that answers, what would happen if you have either the free flow design or the regular type and get a small oil spill or coolant. Oil would get underneath and you would not be able to get under it to clean it. Is there a way to remove a tile that would be in the middle of the floor without having to take each one out starting by a side?

Are there customers that actually work on their cars and do a lot of messes in their garage?

 

Very interesting thread. My question is this: What about fitment at the edges and corners where the poured concrete tends not to be perfectly straight nor sharp 90 degree corners?

Can some people post some disadvantages to epoxy?

 

Epoxy requires meticulous preparation of the surface. Failure to prep and etch the concrete will leave the epoxy susceptible to hot tire lift.

 

To answer your question, it is very easy to just pop one tile to get under neath. If you garage is pitched, you can just wash it out and it will flow out the door. On the solid top flooring, the gaps are tight enough so there is hydro-static tension, meaning water and liquids will not just flow unless you spill a large bucket or run a hose...then you would see dripage. We sell a tremendous amount of flooring for die-hard car guys who also work on their own cars, infact that is the majority of our customers. What is great about racedeck for custom builders of street rods, race engines, etc... is that if you drop say an expensive billet part, you will not damage it as you would on concrete. It is very easy to clean and in the event you do damage a part of your floor, it is simple to replace a single tile, rather than re-doing an entire epoxy floor.

RaceDeck can easily be trimmed for a custom wall to wall finish and we also offer ramp edging for the entry. See the RaceDeck gallery for many example http://www.racedeck.com/racedeckgallery/index.html

The other great thing about RaceDeck is that you can install your floor in just a few hours...No prep,glues, toxic paints, or days of drying time. Proper epoxy installation is very tricky and if not done right or if the concrete floor is not properly installed with vapor barrier intact ( no moisture issues) and no cracks.. you will have problems with tires lifting the coating, blistering, etc. But if you do it right on the right surface it does look nice.

 

What are people doing with the side or let say people with a lift. Are they just cutting a tile so that it fits?

I understand the ramp edging but what if we need only half a tile on one side?

 

RaceDeck is very simple to install and can easily be trimmed along the walls for a perfect custom fit.
check these videos out
http://www.youtube.com/user/RaceDeck#p/u/2/8Xp9fB3dx80

and a time lapse install

http://www.youtube.com/user/RaceDeck#p/u/3/5d8x3H4ZnQM

 

I have this issue with a lift and will post up some pictures after I do mine - I am about to order from Racedeck. I plan on cutting out around the lift posts.

 

You can also place a 4 post lift right on top of Racedeck if you like, it will easily handle the load. Either way will work , feel free to call us to help you during any step
Thanks

 

I just put in the gladiator garage tiles that are very similar to the race deck tiles. I absolutly love them.

I think it really cleaned up the look of the garage and actually makes the cars look better!

 

Hi
Great looking garage, We actually manufacture the Gladiator garage flooring for Whirlpool. They are different in design and material, but a very good product.